An affordable chassis option made in Australia for your precision rifle.

Chassis are quite a normal site on a precision rifle in 2021 with some even starting to appear on hunting rifles as more options are released to suit various needs of the modern shooter. The TPS-X chassis from Southern Cross Small Arms is quite different from other modern chassis designs in the fact that it bolts together from a series of nicely machined parts.

The chassis arrives packaged in a rather small box and requires assembly, It’s nothing strenuous to assemble and the box includes clear instructions on how to bolt it together. Once assembled the chassis is very ridged and I haven’t had any problems with it coming loose during extended use. The chassis I got sent was inleted for the Howa 1100 22lr rimfire and is a great upgrade for the standard Howa stock for precision work with the plus side of allowing me to do a large amount of shooting with the chassis with affordable 22lr ammo that I could not afford (or find) to do with the 6mm or 6.5 centerfire rifles I have.

The chassis comes with a generic AR15 pattern pistol grip, I swapped this out for a vertical MDT option as I prefer the 90 degree grip angle. Another handy feature is the folding adaptor that comes with the chassis, unfortunately with the barrel length of the Howa 1100 this makes the rifle under 762mm when folded and make the setup become a pistol as per NZ law so that stays in the box on this project. Something to think about as you don’t want to inadvertently fall foul of the law. This is not an issue on rifles with 20-26’’ barrels so if you want to put one on a centerfires rifle you should be fine, unless you shorten the barrel significantly.

The TPS-X has an adjustable check rest that is easily lifted up or down to suit your scope height with two thumb screws. The check rest itself is a hard plastic design and I would add a layer of thin foam or something similar if I owned the chassis myself. Length of pull is adjustable via spacers that come supplies with the chassis, five spacers are included in the box and you remove the butt pad and insert the amount of spacers to suit your required length of pull. It’s not a quick adjust system but once put together it locks up well and doesn’t wiggle about. The forend of the chassis is machined to take M-LOK attachments so you can put either a standard 1911 picatiny rail on or the newer ARCA system of rail that is becoming very popular with precision shooters. There are four quick detach points machined into the chassis front and rear so you can use modern Q.D style slings and accessories, a nice touch that is often missing on cheaper chassis options.

Using the TPS-X on the range and in the field for both target shooting and pest control has been great over the last six months, now the chassis is no lightweight in comparison to the factory Howa 1100 stock, with the TPS-X coming in at 1.86kg, not including the rifle or scope. This is not as much an issue for precision shooting, but when taking those quick off hand shots on rabbits it can be a bit heavy to hold up for extended lengths of time. The flat bottom design of the forend works well when shooting off props and sits on a support bag nicely without rolling from side to side when shooting supported positional type positions.

The TPS-X is available in a series of inlets including Howa, Remington, Tikka and Sauer in various models including several rimfire options and both long and short action for most centerfires models, check out www.scsa-au.com for more info on what models they can accomodate.

The chassis system is not doing anything others are not already doing, but the advantage is that this is very affordable compared to the majority of the competition, it preforms the basic functions that you come to expect form a modern precision chassis system without breaking the bank. There is a couple minor features that im not a fan of, the chassis itself is a little blocky, nothing that interferes with it’s functionality but it’s not quite as streamline as other chassis on the market. As I mentioned above the check riser is quite a hard plastic, but these aren’t really reasons not get one of these chassis, if it’s what your budget allows, it will certainly do the job needed.

I have another TPS-X chassis still in its box tucked away for an upcoming 243 win project that I will start eventually as I collect more parts and when funding allows, so keep an eye out for that in 2022.

Thank you to OutDoor Sports New Zealand for supplying the equipment for this review and being a major supporter of TLRS and Bolt Action Media.