Modified my AICS Chassis skins

[AtOne]

I've gotten use to shooting competitions using my RBros rifle in a Manners T2, love the flat bottom and being able to run the magazine against barricades.

Just got my back up RBros, AICS stocked rifle from Travis and had been thinking of a way to make it work the same while it was off getting re barreled.

Looking at the chassis itself without any skins, it's really is almost like a Rock Solid designed stock except for when the skins are on.
AI decided to add the tapered section in front of the mag well which looks nice but on a barricade really sucks when you like leaning into your rifle for support, especially when your not 90 degrees to the barricade it not only adds up and down but a nice tilt too.

So I thought I could either sell it and get another T2 or look into the Rock Solid. Or I could make 2 cuts on the skins, file, sand and scrape with a sharp blade to get the best of both worlds. So here it is.

Think its going to work out just fine the way it is

 

[hewlett260]

Looks surprisingly good.

 

[Papagallos]

That actually turned out quite nice.

 

[koz]

looks like it was made that way.. Nice job

 

[Papa Zero Three]

Very well done. Care to elaborate more on how you did it? This is something that I think Michael from Viperskins might be interested in. It'd be great if one could order skins made like this.

 

[AtOne]

Thanks for the kind comments.

You'd think someone would of already modified the skins by now as it just makes sense instead of keeping the AI slope in front of the mag well for aesthetics.

Here's a picture I'd taken awhile ago to give you an idea of the part I cut out. The molds on the legacy skins already had thickened edges along the chassis so really all your doing is removing the sloped portion of the skins leaving the rest of it in tact.

Here's the part I removed

I'd like to see the inside of the new pistol grip AI skins to see if you could remove the portion along the butt butt stock and under the cheek riser to further slim the stock profile down. You can see the thickened edges along those lines too.

 

[Papa Zero Three]

So what did you use to do the cutting? The end result looks near factory.

 

[AtOne]

Only the highest quality tools avalible... not really.
Hacksaw blade free handed.
File and block sanding.
Followed up with pulling a utility knife blade at about a 75 degree angle to smooth the sanded surfaces. Basicly using it as a scraper blade.

 

[PittsDriver]

Nice Job. There was always something that buged me about the look of the AICS stock but I could never put my fingger on it. IMHO you just found it and fixed it.

RT

 

[poison123]

Congrats dude. You just fixed the biggest problem with the stock. LOL now I wish I had kept my older AI and modified the skins like that because you can't do the same thing on the AX chassis.

 

[ShtrRdy]

That's a great idea! Thanks for sharing! - Todd

 

[ballistic1]

Innovation is what breeds evolution.. excellent, clever, better...

 

[bottom_gun]

Well done, should work quite well.

 

[Papagallos]

Thanks for the kind comments.

You'd think someone would of already modified the skins by now as it just makes sense instead of keeping the AI slope in front of the mag well for aesthetics.

Here's a picture I'd taken awhile ago to give you an idea of the part I cut out. The molds on the legacy skins already had thickened edges along the chassis so really all your doing is removing the sloped portion of the skins leaving the rest of it in tact.

Here's the part I removed

I'd like to see the inside of the new pistol grip AI skins to see if you could remove the portion along the butt butt stock and under the cheek riser to further slim the stock profile down. You can see the thickened edges along those lines too.

Patent the skin design, for crying out loud, and get rolling!!!!

 

[AtOne]

I hear you Papagallos !
Build it and they will come.

Between AI and Viperskins you would think a modified version of skins scaled down and form fitting to the chassis lines that are already there would be a fairly easy modification and less materials used.
They can call it the '@1" version, I'll need a few sets for T&E though for sure

There's a reason Rocksolid and Whiskey Chassis are so poplular, its function first on those stocks and they do a great job of it. Mind you I'm plenty happy with my Manners stocks as well they perform the same function but in a standard stock design.

Remembered I had taken a picture while I was cutting the stock. Decided to grab my phone when I was in the "Holy crap you can't turn back now " stage lol. Figured what the hell if it ends up screwed up I'll order a new set of skins but knew something had to change.

 

[swhiteh3]

Damn, I really like that. It certainly makes it more functional - being able to lean into the CHASSIS, and not the magazine. But I also really like the way it looks. Time to pull off the skins on my AICS and take them to the bandsaw.