I recently had the opportunity to try out a Woox Furiosa chassis for my Remington 700. What I experienced completely changed my view and appreciation for what had been an older, unappreciated rifle.
A short video detailing that experience and showing the Woox Furiosa up close is below, more detailed descriptions and photos follow.
A chassis, for those unfamiliar with the concept replaces the stock of a rifle. This is done generally to increase accuracy and provide other features the factory stock did not. Rifle makers need to include a stock, but in many cases that stock is made as inexpensively as possible and often lacks adjustability or the attention to details that can impact accuracy. I know it sounds crazy, why would a company who sells rifles knowingly decrease accuracy? For one to keep the price down, and two because they know that for many shooters that extra edge of accuracy would likely go unnoticed.
Specifications as pulled directly from the Woox website:
TYPE HAND: Right-handed / Left-Handed
COLOR OPTIONS: Walnut / Midnight Grey / Micarta Black
SIZES: 30.9 – 31.8” or 78.5 – 81 cm
OAL: 31" or 78.7 cm
LOP min: 13“ 11/16 or 33.9 cm
LOP max: 14“ 1/8 or 35.9 cm
WEIGHT: 4.8 lbs or 2.19 kg Furiosa Micarta: 5.0 lbs
BIGGEST FLOATING BARREL: 1.17" or 2.971 cm
Available Models:
Remington 700 DBM (AICS) Short action RH/LH and clones
Remington 700 DBM (AICS) Long Action (3.715") and clones
Remington 700 DBM (AICS) Long Action CIP (3.850") and clones
Remington 700 DBM (AICS) Long Action CIP+ (3.865") and clones
Remington 700 BDL Short Action and clones
Remington 700 BDL Long Action and clones
Ruger 10/22
Savage 110 Short Action
Savage 110 Long Action
Tikka T3/T3X
Sauer 100
Howa 1500 & Weatherby Vanguard SA/LA
The biggest way a chassis increases accuracy is by free-floating the barrel. This means that there is no physical contact between the fore end and barrel. The classic way of testing this is to see how far a dollar bill can be slid between the two. As seen above I can slide a dollar bill all the way back to the action. By free-floating the barrel harmonics are not interrupted as the barrel whips with each shot and then vibrates afterward. It may sound strange, but it's real. The other way is in the bedding, how the action mates to the stock or chassis. With the Woox Furiosa the only contact I could detect was precisely where the two screws pass up through the bottom metal into the action.
With my basic Remington 700 SPS chambered in 300 Blackout I had never had groups better than 1.5-2" at 100 yards. Since I bought with suppressed subsonic ammunition in mind I'd always kept it in mind as a 50-yard gun. To be realistic a 220gr bullet going subsonic has less energy than a 230gr bullet going the same speed. Ready for your mind to be wrecked? Subsonic 300 Blackout has less energy than many full-sized 45acp handguns. With the Woox Furiosa and Callaway Ballistics ammunition I had groups touching at 50 yards for the first time since I've owned this rifle.
One of the big changes for me came from the adjustable stock. The two round objects you see in this picture are push buttons which free up both the walnut cheek piece and rubber butt pad. Seen above tucked all the way in, but the adjustment can stop on each of the threads you see on the central bolt.
Anyone who has ever shot in hot or cold weather will also appreciate that the skin contact points are walnut, not metal. No more singed or frozen cheeks and hands!
The walnut grip is another very nice upgrade. Seen better in the video than this flat picture, there is a nice progressive contour that I imagine fits a wide variety of hands. This grip is also comfortable shot with a traditional grip, or with the thumb on the right side of the gun.
The fore end has aluminum inserts to provide MLOK slots. This is of course necessary, but what I loved is that they are removable. No more fussing with the MLOK nuts and hoping they're truly in place. I simply removed the bottom panel, attached my rail adapter for the bipod, then reinstalled the plate. It was the easiest time I've ever had with MLOK.
In conclusion please accept my lack of range footage, but as explained in the video nice weather in Oregon means the range is busy and on this first outing it was too busy to film. The Woox Furiosa essentially cut the group size of this rifle in half. I can't say it will do that for your particular application, but it made a big difference for me and turned my Remington 700 SPS into a rifle I actually enjoy shooting.
One small lesson learned was in converting my Remington 700 from an internal magazine to a detachable magazine. This was a welcome upgrade, but of course meant I had to buy some AICS-pattern magazines. I was concerned about .223 magazines not working well with 300 Blackout, especially fat 220gr bullets. a quick internet search confirmed my suspicion. There didn't seem to be any absolute answers. I ordered two experiments from Brownell's. An Accurate Mag made of steel and an MDT Polymer magazine that was far less attractive and clashed with the beauty of the Woox Furiosa.
In dry feeding both seemed to work well. At the range however it was quickly discovered that the Accurate Mag couldn't handle more than three rounds and often failed to feed or ended up with rounds somehow rotated nose down in the magazine! The MDT magazine proved reliable. Loading either magazine required some tricks as the narrow opening in the single-feed magazines requires starting a the next round load at exactly the point where the case ends from the previous load. It's not impossible, just requires cheating the next round forward for brass-to-brass contact, then tapping them all back in the magazine. If you've had a similar experience and know a solution or better magazine please let us know!