Masterpiece Arms CZ455 Chassis

[kl3309]

Originally a 16" Tacticool. Chassis was delivered in a little over 6 weeks. There's not a whole lot of clearance at the front of the forend so a Lilja straight taper probably won't fit (my McMillans fit the same way but being fiberglass, I was able to open those up). Weight is 11.4 lbs. as it sits.

 

[westtexasrancher]

Very nice. Sad it wont fit full bulls tho.

 

[djdilliodon]

A custom fitted shilen .850" straight should fit just perfect .

 

[westtexasrancher]

How about a benchmark?!

BTW, I still have not shot the benchmark build. Nearly a year later. But have glass waiting on rings showing up tomorrow, so that will change soon. I don't plan to swap the stock, but if I go to a chassis on my new creedmoor, I might go with a chassis that I can get for both rifles. But I prefer a real stock, so we will see.

 

[kl3309]

A custom fitted shilen .850" straight should fit just perfect .

Would that be a glue-in with a cone breech?

 

[djdilliodon]

Would that be a glue-in with a cone breech?

Thats how I would do it. A benchmark could be done but if clearance is an issue, only .900" straight blanks and .920's are readily available. An 850 would need to be custom ordered but the shilen blanks are available and that taper should give perfect clearance.

 

[darth_ritis]

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Originally a 16" Tacticool. Chassis was delivered in a little over 6 weeks. There's not a whole lot of clearance at the front of the forend so a Lilja straight taper probably won't fit (my McMillans fit the same way but being fiberglass, I was able to open those up). Weight is 11.4 lbs. as it sits.

I got mine last week and can confirm that a Lilja bull barrel has issues. The front of the chassis clears the barrel by a few thousandths, maybe. The front action screw is too long and can't torque the action to the chassis before hitting the barrel shank inside the action. I haven't had time to shorten the screw and see how it fits when torqued properly.

 

[kl3309]

Yep, also had to fit the front screw.
This is the factory varmint barrel with the action torqued to 45 in-lbs.:

 

[nhunt46051]

Wow! that is awesome!!!

 

[TheBeard413]

Yep, also had to fit the front screw.
This is the factory varmint barrel with the action torqued to 45 in-lbs.:

That's tight. I didn't know MPA made a chassis for the CZ. I think you just opened my wallet to new possibilities. I have been thinking about a Manners to replace my walnut stock on my CZ. Now I might go MPA. I'm sure they can deliver the chassis with a wider barrel channel.

 

[TheBeard413]

What stock it that exactly? Just went to the MPA website and they don't have any Chassises listed at all anymore. Don't know if they are out of stock or they moved forward to just building complete systems.

 

[kl3309]

The chassis are listed under the MPA BOLT ACTION header: http://masterpiecearms.com/cat/mpa-b...assis-systems/

The front of the stock is a massive boxed cross-section so there's no concern that it's going flex or anything. If you had to have a .900 or larger contour barrel, it would be pretty straightforward to mill out that little bridge at the tip of the forend. A Lilja Varmint taper would go in there nicely though.

 

[EddieE]

Looks cool. Is there a benefit to a chassis over say a Manners stock? I will eventually upgrade my stock, trying to figure out what the benefits of a chassis is over a quality stock?

 

[stillbuster]

So will a CZ 455 Varmint clear without any issues?

I wonder if there would be any ill effects if you were to use shims under the action to gain the barrel clearance desired?

Recoil shouldn't be an issue.

 

[kl3309]

Looks cool. Is there a benefit to a chassis over say a Manners stock? I will eventually upgrade my stock, trying to figure out what the benefits of a chassis is over a quality stock?

Chief benefit of a chassis over an out-of-the-box Manners (or any other readily available composite stock) is adjustability in LOP and comb height.

 

[kl3309]

So will a CZ 455 Varmint clear without any issues?

I wonder if there would be any ill effects if you were to use shims under the action to gain the barrel clearance desired?

Recoil shouldn't be an issue.

You could affect the ergonomics by making the trigger and magazine release harder to reach as those will both be pulled up into the chassis since you're raising the action relative to the inlet.

 

[darth_ritis]

So, I got my action screw issues sorted and got the action torqued into the chassis, I think it's pretty well set up now. The Lilja bull barrel DOES clear the chassis, a dollar bill slides between them without touching and there's no flex between the barrel and the chassis even at the fore end. Here's a photo of how close it clears. I wish it were more centered in the channel, but this should be OK.

 

[K_4c]

Anybody got a picture of an MPA chassis with the factory 16" tacticool barrel in it? How much clearance does one have?

Also, how easy is it to change the length of pull with a slimmer recoil pad? I ask because my kids will be shooting it quite a bit, but I too will be utilizing it and want a 13"-13.5" lop.

 

[kl3309]

Anybody got a picture of an MPA chassis with the factory 16" tacticool barrel in it? How much clearance does one have?

Post #1 and #8. Not much clearance but it does float the barrel.

Also, how easy is it to change the length of pull with a slimmer recoil pad? I ask because my kids will be shooting it quite a bit, but I too will be utilizing it and want a 13"-13.5" lop.

Apparently, there's now a youth-sized chassis option ( http://masterpiecearms.com/shop/mpa-ba-cz-455-chassis-copy-youth-model/ ) but that'd be too short for you. Ask them if they can set you up with a chassis with both a youth and a regular-sized butt-stock. Don't think you could get less than 13.25" with a thinner pad.

 

[K_4c]

Post #1 and #8. Not much clearance but it does float the barrel.



Apparently, there's now a youth-sized chassis option ( http://masterpiecearms.com/shop/mpa-ba-cz-455-chassis-copy-youth-model/ ) but that'd be too short for you. Ask them if they can set you up with a chassis with both a youth and a regular-sized butt-stock. Don't think you could get less than 13.25" with a thinner pad.

Appreciate the feedback

Did you notice any accuracy improvements?

 

[kl3309]

Did you notice any accuracy improvements?

I don't shoot groups with it and I don't use premium ammo so I would not be the one to quantify any accuracy improvement. I can say that due to the improved ergonomics of the chassis, I am more consistent in getting behind the gun and breaking the shot.
If you do go this route, you'll need to try a couple of different grips to get the right fit and feel (my pics show a Griffin Armament AR grip but I've since gone to the BCM Mod 0). And, since your finger will interface the trigger at a lower point, you may have to do some minor contouring of the trigger blade for comfort.

 

[.50 Cal Cow]

I got mine last week and can confirm that a Lilja bull barrel has issues. The front of the chassis clears the barrel by a few thousandths, maybe. The front action screw is too long and can't torque the action to the chassis before hitting the barrel shank inside the action. I haven't had time to shorten the screw and see how it fits when torqued properly.

How were you able to tell about the front action screw? I didn't think much of it but I do now recall the front screw not torquing down the same way the rear one did. I'm wondering if I've not got the screw into the barrel.

 

[kl3309]

How were you able to tell about the front action screw? I didn't think much of it but I do now recall the front screw not torquing down the same way the rear one did. I'm wondering if I've not got the screw into the barrel.

Pull the front screw and look for marks on the tip. The front screw for mine was long enough that with the front screw bottomed-out, you could undo the rear screw and move the action up and down in the chassis.

 

[.50 Cal Cow]

Pull the front screw and look for marks on the tip. The front screw for mine was long enough that with the front screw bottomed-out, you could undo the rear screw and move the action up and down in the chassis.

Thanks I'll check out both those things tonight. When torquing the action I definitely notice that I didn't get hardly any extra turns stepping from 25 inch-lbs to 45 to 65 as I did when torquing the rear action screw so this might explain that.

 

[darth_ritis]

How were you able to tell about the front action screw? I didn't think much of it but I do now recall the front screw not torquing down the same way the rear one did. I'm wondering if I've not got the screw into the barrel.

After torqueing to 25 in/lb (CZ spec, not MPA spec) I could lift the barrel up from the action about 3/16" until the front action screw made contact with the chassis. I concluded I was torquing the screw against the barrel inside the action rather than tightening the action to the chassis.

 

[.50 Cal Cow]

Thanks both of you guys. You both called it precisely. Lot of slop with only the front screw torqued and wear marks on the barrel inside the threads and screw. Time to shorten this screw. Did either of you take a before and after measurement with calipers to see how much it needed to be shortened by?

 

[darth_ritis]

Did either of you take a before and after measurement with calipers to see how much it needed to be shortened by?

I didn't cut mine, I found a washer that fit in the chassis opening and it worked fine. This one is 0.058" thick.

 

[.50 Cal Cow]

I ended up taking the plunge and trimmed it down. Blew the dust off the micrometers and calipers first though to prevent a chop shop fail. Torqued for end down and action was rock solid mates to the chassis. No more teeter tottering like before. Thanks for the help could've been chasing tails a long time on this.

 

[.50 Cal Cow]

455 Varmint 20" Unthreaded barrel

 

[kl3309]

Was thinking of ordering a 2nd chassis so switched out the factory-barreled action for a Lilja-barreled one to see if it would fit. I had posted previously about how little clearance there was to free-float the barrel at the front of the chassis. Well, I actually have more clearance with the Lilja. It has to be that the Lilja's tenon is a tighter fit than the factory and so has less droop when hanging off of the action. Apologies to anyone who was dissuaded from ordering one of these because of my earlier observations.

 

[darth_ritis]

Has anyone tried the Timney trigger in this action/chassis combo yet? I want to get one but I want to make sure it will fit before I spend money I don't really have on something I don't really need. Oops, ignore that last part. ;-)

 

[djdilliodon]

I'm gonna build a rifle soon in this chassis for R&D and will do a custom fitted Lilja 3 groove at 18" threaded. If they copied the factory inlet a timney should fit and if not nothing a little milling won't take care of. Keep you all posted

 

[SleepDoc]

I ordered one a couple weeks ago and I specifically asked about the lilja barrel and they said the "new" chassis will accept "at least" 0.920" barrels. Lets hope thats correct since I ordered the 0.900" Lilja barrel. So maybe they made the chassis accept a larger barrel recently since he said new chassis?

 

[Zebra]

It's an interesting question on aluminum chassis vs Manners elite carbon fiber type stocks. If you look at the list of what gear the pros use, there is a mix of both in the top 10. The number one spot has consistently gone to Manners over the last few years though. Does that mean that carbon fiber stocks are better or does it just mean that people look at those lists and try to buy the same gear as the guy that got first place last year? Who knows.


As a general point, carbon fiber parts are stronger and stiffer than aluminum by weight and volume. Important qualities in a stock. If made right, they also have superior dimensional stability with changes in temperature. The "if made right" part is key though.

I enjoy making my own carbon fiber stocks for personal use. Lately I have been wondering why nobody makes a carbon fiber chassis system. I generally prefer the tactical looks of the aluminum chassis systems and I like the idea of being able to switch out the grips and stocks etc. I would like the being to get the benefits of both. I.e. A strong, stiff, lightweight, modular, cool-looking cf chassis system.

I think that, at the top level, the best shooters can probably perform well with any of the stocks or chassis systems used by top 10 participants. In other words, neither is superior if they are both well made. They are both better than wood stocks.

I really like the looks of the Masterpiece chassis systems.