New at this: what’s the difference between MDT and Cadex chassis?

Melnibonean

Melnibonean

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New at this: what’s the difference between MDT and Cadex chassis?

Looking at putting my Savage 10TR (24” barrel if that makes a difference) in a new chassis. Can’t figure out what differences, besides price, are there between the MDT and Cadex brands. Are there any?

Cadex has the pedigree and reputation, but MDT is more popular it seems.

Choice is between the Cadex OT Core and MDT ESS or LSS
 
Both good quality made and both Canadian.

It's going to be a coin toss.

You'll have the CADEX Fan Boys saying go for CADEX and the MDT Fan Boys saying go MDT. I myself is a CADEX fanatic, so I'll say, GO CADEX.

But either choices, you can't go wrong. :)
 
MDT stuff is great, I own 6 or their full chassis setups, price is great, quality is great, customer service is top notch, they go above and beyond, I'm more than happy with all my MDT stuff.

Cadex is also all of the above, I own 2 of their complete guns and have a 3rd on order, the fit and finish is perfect, machining is perfect, if MDT stuff is a new ZR1 Corvette, then Cadex stuff would be a Ferrari, both fast, handle great, top of the line machines, but one cost way more and the attention to detail is better.


You just need to decide if the added cost is worth it to you for the extra refinement, or if the style of one draws you more, maybe options of one suit you better, either way you can't go wrong.
 
Just off the top of my head... Looks, cost, feel/ergonomics, weight, accessories and bedding type. Both companies are canadian, and when I was looking, prices were VERY similar (Cadex looked more expensive, but it shipped with a grip, rail, mag and magpul PRS stock while you needed to buy those in addition to the MDT chassis, bringing the prices to within 50$ of each other).

From my own experience, Cadex was superb to deal with, and from talking to friends I trust, MDT is also superb to deal with.

Neither my cadex, nor my friends MDT have had "issues" or suffered from poor design

Ideally you could see and handle both and decide which one works better for you but I don't think you can go wrong with either (assuming you've determined what features/options you want and both chassis meet your needs).
 
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As mentioned both companies product excellent quality products and have amazing customer service. Go with the chassis that provides the features and style you prefer and be confident in the purchase!
 
I would check out the MDT LSS GENII XL.

It has a very simple design which IMO is what is best for PRS. You don't need a lot of doodads.

MDT also a new chassis coming out which has some neat features.
 
There was one thing that steered me towards MDT rather than cadex, I got the MDT ESS btw.
I wanted a closed handguard.
With MDT, they notched the top of the handguard, and the handguard itself sits lower, enabling the use of regular scope rails.
With Cadex, they have these jacked up scope rails, scope is noticeably higher to clear handguard.

Many will say it doesn't make a difference, and probably doesn't.
So in this case, we can say I went MDT ESS for personal aesthetics preference.

Edit, let me find a picture of my factory unmodified 10TR 24'' in an ESS, at least you could picture it better if you like it or not.

There we go, Savage 10TR in factory configuration, in an ESS. If I would push my scope forward, past the groove, and with flip covers, it interfered with handguard. But scope is ideally placed for eye relief anyways.
I am at 1.35'' ring height, 34mm scope tube.

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MDT supports local and national competitions. They care about their customers and take feedback well on any product improvements.
MDT has donated Chassis, mags and other accessories to the PRS and other matches around the country.
CADEX chooses to focus any support to 1 or 2 matches down east... and forget about giving them any feedback, being told to F** off from the guy on the phone with CADEX is an awesome potential customer experience .

Support those who have a great product and even better customer service and support. MDT for the win.
 
I presume the reason for this is that Cadex main customers must be the military, the target shooters are just a miniature slice in their sales pie.

MDT on the other hand depend from civilian sales, so makes more sense to cater to that market.
 
MartyK2500 said:
There was one thing that steered me towards MDT rather than cadex, I got the MDT ESS btw.
I wanted a closed handguard.
With MDT, they notched the top of the handguard, and the handguard itself sits lower, enabling the use of regular scope rails.
With Cadex, they have these jacked up scope rails, scope is noticeably higher to clear handguard.

Many will say it doesn't make a difference, and probably doesn't.
So in this case, we can say I went MDT ESS for personal aesthetics preference.

Edit, let me find a picture of my factory unmodified 10TR 24'' in an ESS, at least you could picture it better if you like it or not.

There we go, Savage 10TR in factory configuration, in an ESS. If I would push my scope forward, past the groove, and with flip covers, it interfered with handguard. But scope is ideally placed for eye relief anyways.
I am at 1.35'' ring height, 34mm scope tube.
Click to expand...
Thank you. It helps to see the rifle in the chassis, you're right.

What length forend is on your rifle? And is that the skeletonized stock or the folding one?
 
MartyK2500 said:
I presume the reason for this is that Cadex main customers must be the military, the target shooters are just a miniature slice in their sales pie.

MDT on the other hand depend from civilian sales, so makes more sense to cater to that market.
Click to expand...

In the same vein, then it makes sense for the consumer to not support a company that is not interested in your market. Why support a company that you know is not really interested in your business? Especially one that personally tells you to "##### off". That's not the first time I've heard something like that about Cadex.

Now, I don't have any dog in this fight. I don't own any MDT or Cadex products, and likely never will. But I do understand Spyderfire1's point, and I wouldn't completely dismiss it.
 
Melnibonean said:
Thank you. It helps to see the rifle in the chassis, you're right.

What length forend is on your rifle? And is that the skeletonized stock or the folding one?
Click to expand...

This is one of the very first ESS to leave MDT, I had pre-ordered on day 1.
At that time they didn't have a folding stock, and many times I wish I had one for gun case versatility. So yes to skeleton stock.
I recently found a 52'' Cadex drag bag, at least it will fit in it without a folder, as the folding stock is 2.5x the price of the drag bag I just purchased.

15'' handguard.

And a small bit of info to add, even if action on 10TR was torqued down to 60 in/lbs, it would have some wear marks in chassis from slight movement under recoil.
Just bear in mind you may need to bed the recoil lug. The recoil lug on my 10TR from factory wasn't that straight, so it's not MDTs fault.
They even offered me a new replacement chassis to try and see, but just opted for bedding.

And if you bed, in factory configuration like I did, it means you're stuck with factory recoil lug that doesn't have an index pin once you re-barrel.
So once I installed my IBI barrel, I had some recoil lug indexing to do while torqueing barrel nut and headspacing, did not facilitate the job, but wasn't that horrible either.
 
kthomas said:
In the same vein, then it makes sense for the consumer to not support a company that is not interested in your market. Why support a company that you know is not really interested in your business? Especially one that personally tells you to "##### off". That's not the first time I've heard something like that about Cadex.

Now, I don't have any dog in this fight. I don't own any MDT or Cadex products, and likely never will. But I do understand Spyderfire1's point, and I wouldn't completely dismiss it.
Click to expand...

I did say presume, as I do not know what are Cadex's true intentions. If confronted, they'd probably say they support civilians, and maybe they do too I don't want to stir something I am not aware of.
At the time my chassis debate wasn't even over principles, but was rather over looks.
Today, buying a chassis or a barrel, i'd see through that #1, the business is Canadian, and #2, they support local matches and events.
 
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