I like many of you fellow CGNers scour the internet searching for reviews of the products that we are after. I was in the market for a PRS rifle and torn between building or buying a high end factory gun. I had/shot many different rifles from production Remington's (5R's), Blazer, DSR, Sako, and Tikka, all the way to customs. There are plenty of reviews on anyone of them, but nothing for Cadex out there. Below are my humble observations and opinions of the Cadex CDX Lite in 6.5CM. Enjoy!
Fit and Finish:
The chassis itself is simply an engineering marvel. Each piece is well designed and exceptionally crafted. I actually dont know how it was put together as there is no marks of any kind. The Cerekote is among the best I've seen, with careful consideration taken to make sure that no coating made its way into the threaded parts of the chassis.
Cycling the bolt is very smooth, no slop. The 3-lugs slide smoothly along the action rails with vault like lock up. At the rear is a simple safety lever. Red is bang, Green no bang. To top it all off, the bolt is beautify spiral fluted.
Folding Stock:
The only thing I can say about the folding mechanism is that it is rock solid. When I unboxed the rifle, for a moment I though that it did not fold because it locked up so nicely. The hinge/lockup is adjustable should there ever be any play in it. Of course everything you could need is adjustable. Cheek piece, LOP, even the recoil pad slides.
Barrel/Muzzle Brake:
This is my first Bartlein barreled rifle and I will without a doubt buy another. It is an extremely heavy contour (1.300") fluted that dissipated that heat well. I shot a 20 round string in what I would estimate no more than 2-3 min in 2 degree weather. The barrel was just starting to get warm and not freezing like the rest of me and/or the gun. This was a weird experience for me as I would have never put that many rounds through a factory barrel (eg: Remington). I shot a 5R in 308 WIN for years and after 10-12 rounds it was cooking hot.
The muzzle brake though it appears massive works with the utmost efficiency. The spotting your shots is easy and the blast out the sides is not obnoxious like other brakes.
Accuracy:
Ah yes the question everyone is waiting for, is it accurate. Answer is YES. Regrettably my load development target met the recycling bin before I could get pictures. I broke the barrel in as described in the Cadex manual shooting and cleaning for the first 20-30 rounds. I did so using Factory Hornady 140 gr ELD Match ammo. That stuff is probably the most accurate factory ammo I've shot other than 168 gr TAP. The worst it shot was 1/2" @ 100m during break in. I do have the winning load using Lapua brass, H4350, CCI 450 primers and the outstanding Hornady 140 gr ELDs. I ran them hot getting an average of 2848 fps which I was quite happy with out of the 24" barrel. From the picture you can see I suffered from 5th shot anxiety and ruined my group.
Trigger:
The trigger came factory set at 2.5 lbs. I opted for the two stage as I'm growing to like them more and more. Once I adjusted the 1st stage creep and the 2nd down to about 2 lbs, the trigger is amazing. I would put it somewhere above timney and around Jewel. Its hard to say exactly as most Jewels Ive shot are so light they feel crisp. I can definitively say that its better than the timney's I have on other guns.
Last, but certain not least I have to give a shout out to Tom @ Go Big Tactical. I have dealt with many of the CGN sponsors buying rifles/optics. I will tell you that Tom is a cut above the rest. Right from the start he was a wealth of knowledge and eager to help with lightning fast replies to emails. If you are in the market for s Cadex and/or high end optic do yourself a favour and start with Go Big Tactical. Thanks Tom!
If you have any questions, fire away!
-TJW
Fit and Finish:
The chassis itself is simply an engineering marvel. Each piece is well designed and exceptionally crafted. I actually dont know how it was put together as there is no marks of any kind. The Cerekote is among the best I've seen, with careful consideration taken to make sure that no coating made its way into the threaded parts of the chassis.
Cycling the bolt is very smooth, no slop. The 3-lugs slide smoothly along the action rails with vault like lock up. At the rear is a simple safety lever. Red is bang, Green no bang. To top it all off, the bolt is beautify spiral fluted.
Folding Stock:
The only thing I can say about the folding mechanism is that it is rock solid. When I unboxed the rifle, for a moment I though that it did not fold because it locked up so nicely. The hinge/lockup is adjustable should there ever be any play in it. Of course everything you could need is adjustable. Cheek piece, LOP, even the recoil pad slides.
Barrel/Muzzle Brake:
This is my first Bartlein barreled rifle and I will without a doubt buy another. It is an extremely heavy contour (1.300") fluted that dissipated that heat well. I shot a 20 round string in what I would estimate no more than 2-3 min in 2 degree weather. The barrel was just starting to get warm and not freezing like the rest of me and/or the gun. This was a weird experience for me as I would have never put that many rounds through a factory barrel (eg: Remington). I shot a 5R in 308 WIN for years and after 10-12 rounds it was cooking hot.
The muzzle brake though it appears massive works with the utmost efficiency. The spotting your shots is easy and the blast out the sides is not obnoxious like other brakes.
Accuracy:
Ah yes the question everyone is waiting for, is it accurate. Answer is YES. Regrettably my load development target met the recycling bin before I could get pictures. I broke the barrel in as described in the Cadex manual shooting and cleaning for the first 20-30 rounds. I did so using Factory Hornady 140 gr ELD Match ammo. That stuff is probably the most accurate factory ammo I've shot other than 168 gr TAP. The worst it shot was 1/2" @ 100m during break in. I do have the winning load using Lapua brass, H4350, CCI 450 primers and the outstanding Hornady 140 gr ELDs. I ran them hot getting an average of 2848 fps which I was quite happy with out of the 24" barrel. From the picture you can see I suffered from 5th shot anxiety and ruined my group.
Trigger:
The trigger came factory set at 2.5 lbs. I opted for the two stage as I'm growing to like them more and more. Once I adjusted the 1st stage creep and the 2nd down to about 2 lbs, the trigger is amazing. I would put it somewhere above timney and around Jewel. Its hard to say exactly as most Jewels Ive shot are so light they feel crisp. I can definitively say that its better than the timney's I have on other guns.
Last, but certain not least I have to give a shout out to Tom @ Go Big Tactical. I have dealt with many of the CGN sponsors buying rifles/optics. I will tell you that Tom is a cut above the rest. Right from the start he was a wealth of knowledge and eager to help with lightning fast replies to emails. If you are in the market for s Cadex and/or high end optic do yourself a favour and start with Go Big Tactical. Thanks Tom!
If you have any questions, fire away!
-TJW
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