Thoughts on the Aero Precision SOLUS ?

[FuhQ]

I mean it's subjective lol. Bolt lift can be measured, maybe they mean lightest 60*. My first Solus action now has a couple thousand cycles and it's now far beyond my Tikka for bolt lift and smooth cycling. Tikka also has at least a few k bolt manipulations.

I've got easily 500+ cycles on my Solus action, and it's ridiculously smooth with a light bolt lift...Much lighter than any of my 2 lug actions. The only thing I've done to it was put some Aeroshell 33/64 on the bolt and raceways and cycle the crap out of it, and it broke in super smooth. It's ready for a barrel whenever @CarbonSix decides to finish it... It's now over 6 months and a couple weeks ago they said they still have NOT even built the blank... Not impressed with them so far. This fucking barrel better shoot absolutely lights-out...Like sub-1/4 MOA @ 100 with handloads or I'm not going to be happy. I'm already ready to cancel the order and buy a Proof blank, have them ship my reamer back to me, and then have a Proof spun-up by someone else. Probably still could get it back quicker...

 

[wind gypsy]

6+ months for a McGowan blank, that’s something else.

 

[FuhQ]

6+ months for a McGowan blank, that’s something else.

No shit... I don't like McGowan as a company (they're a bunch of douchebags), but they do make decent barrels...Sometimes.

I'm not exactly happy with @CarbonSix right now giving me the goddamn runaround. Every time I email them it's "I'll check on it, and get back with you after lunch..." After lunch it's always the same answer, "We're still waiting on the blank, so we can finish it..."

 

[FuhQ]

Update as of today...

I called @CarbonSix and talked with Gene, who was super nice and helpful. He did some digging and talked with Justin, and we found out that it was McGowan who was in-fact taking forever to build and ship the blank to them. I just wanted to clarify so we clear things up that this was NOT a CarbonSix issue...This was the dickholes at McGowan not pulling their thumbs out of their asses and making my blank (no surprise given how McGowan treated me for simply asking questions on the phone about 10 years ago ).

So... I have now temporarily halted my order for the .25 Creed barrel with CarbonSix. They were super awesome to work with, and really nice and helpful, so instead of cancelling my order, I will probably just have them build me a barrel in another cartridge (for the Solus) on a blank they DO actually have in stock. I'm thinking I will go .260 Rem Ackley Improved, to push the Berger 156 Elites...But I am also tempted to order a 7mm SAW reamer from WTO and have them build me a 1:8 twist 20" 7mmSAW barrel to be able to swap to.

But, Gene also offered to build me a 7mm PRC barrel for one of my spare 700 magnum actions that I have in the safe, and sending it to them for proper headspacing and install. Which is fine, because I had the gun custom built 10 years ago, and never shot the damn thing. I already had a 7mm STW and didn't need a spare, but had the barrel laying around. So, I might go that route. I will keep this updated. I really wish Aero would release the magnum long actions so I can just order a 7mm PRC prefit for it, as well.

I DID, however, order one of the special order 20" / .257 / 7.5" twist Proof Research carbon fiber blanks from Evolved Ballistics, and then used one of their recommended builders to commission the prefit barrel build for .25 Creedmoor. I decided to go with Blue Mountain Precision. Erik seems like a really nice guy, and very knowledgeable after talking with him on the phone. He says 4-6 weeks lead-time, and I did not pay the extra $150 for a rush job, since I have already been waiting 6 months for the CS blank...I figured there was no reason to pay extra for that because I can wait another 4-6 weeks for it at this point. I will keep the thread updated.

 

[1911Shootist]

I’m so glad I like normal cartridges

 

[1911Shootist]

Here’s the cut I’ve done for Impact trigger hangers in the Solus Comp Chassis, using a Dremel and some cheap burr bits.

 

[FuhQ]

I’m so glad I like normal cartridges

It was the twist rate that was causing it to be delayed so much, not the cartridge choice. I had already sent them my new Alpha Munitions Legacy .25 Creed reamer. They were just waiting on McGowan to spit out a .257 barrel in a 1:7 twist rate. But after running the calc's on the Berger stability chart, even at 0 ft. ASL, a 7.5" twist stabilizes the 133 Elites all the way down to like 2,600 FPS. And I'll be pushing these nearly 3,000, so they'll be MORE than stable at any elevation. That's why I decided to go ahead and drop the extra on the PR barrel from Evolved Ballistics, and then just build something else with the CarbonSix order. I mean, yeah...I paid for 2 barrels, but at the end of the day, I get 2 high-quality prefit barrels in 2 different cartridges that I can swap around on that rifle. I like options.