The precision rifle market has matured fast in just the last 10 years from a niche where customers were spending huge sums of money in the pursuit of accuracy to a market where big advantages are being gained at value price points. Much of the customer’s money was spent on upgrades of higher precision barrels, triggers and aftermarket stocks. In the past decade, we have seen huge advancements, with factory precision rifles delivering exponentially higher out-of-the-box accuracy and tolerances, great triggers, and even outstanding stocks thanks to OEM relationships with companies like MDT — Modular Driven Technologies. MDT has been one of the frontrunners in the aftermarket precision rifle market and is the largest volume aftermarket precision stock manufacturer globally, with agreements with companies such as Remington, Mossberg, Savage and Howa. If dealers have factory chassis model rifles on the shelves, chances are high that they feature an MDT chassis. MDT has also been a leading innovator in the precision rifle market, with eight different models in the MDT brand, a precision polymer magazine line, the configurable Oryx brand, precision rimfire chassis, and several new product lines coming in 2021.

From the original Tac21 chassis design to the universally loved MDT LSS (Light Sniper System) chassis to the newest HNT26 ultralight carbon-fiber stock, MDT has continuously innovated to provide precision shooters more than 26 firearm platforms. We had an opportunity to speak with Maarten Van Ruitenburg, the CEO of Modular Driven Technologies (MDT), about the company and what makes it unique.

 

Tactical Retailer: Where did it all start for MDT?

Maarten Van Ruitenburg: The very first MDT Tac21 chassis was created in 2009 by our founder, Laszlo Klementis, who wanted to buy a precision rifle chassis but simply could not afford it. He was a machinist by trade and started doing some SOLIDWORKS designs, and by version 21, he created the prototype. It was a tactical stock and version 21, so it became the TAC21 stock. Laszlo started posting some pictures online, and lots of people wanted them. That was the start of our product line.

In 2012, TAC21 sold for $700 without a buttstock, which was still a lot of money. I asked Laszlo, can you design something that is much less expensive, offers magazine feed, simplifies the install, accepts AR buttstocks and is lighter, and streamline it to be as compact as possible? He came up with the LSS based on that conversation and actually prototyped that $399 LSS chassis overnight. Once we published what we had done, sales went crazy, and we had hundreds of orders overnight. Every time we added another inlet, more sales flooded in. The TAC21 launched us, but the LSS really put us on the map with customers and every manufacturer on the market.

TR: MDT has become the largest OEM stock manufacturer across nearly every manufacturer.

MVR: At this point, we have a working relationship with every major rifle manufacturer on the market, and a lot of that growth has been our flexibility, design and production speed. For many of our manufacturers, it is obvious they are featuring MDT-based marketing bundles of our chassis, and with other manufacturers, you probably will not realize they are our custom designs.

We started first working with Remington on the Remington Tactical Chassis (Tact 21 Chassis), which was one of the first factory rifles with a modular chassis, but it was a $3,000 rifle. After we introduced the LSS, Mossberg contacted us, and we worked with them on a complete factory precision rifle with a chassis that retailed below $1,500. Mossberg noted it was our ability to deliver quickly that allowed them very quick speed to market. The Mossberg package was an MDT-branded chassis, and when they published that Mossberg model, sales for it and all our LSS sales skyrocketed for all our other chassis fitments. It was a fantastic kickoff of the LSS chassis.

Currently, the public relationships we can discuss are with Remington, Mossberg, Savage and Howa through their global distribution. We also use a single global distributor for every other country except the U.S. and Canada.

 

TR: Since the LSS really pushed the company into the market, can you talk a bit more about that chassis?

MVR: The LSS or Light Sniper System chassis really opened up an otherwise untapped market with an affordable chassis that delivered the advantages of the expensive chassis. The $399 LSS appealed to the largely stock rifles and also the budget precision rifle builder, and it delivered immediate accuracy improvements, all with more comfortable AR-like ergonomics. A good example is the FBI upgrade contracts that provided upgrades to a lot of older, factory-stocked FBI Remington 700 action sniper rifles, and similarly, we did a LSS version for the Israel Defense Forces, upgrading similar older but still accurate rifles.

The LSS has evolved into the LSS 2. We improved the magazine drop, added MLOCK slots, and offered an XL version with a longer forend and the ability to add a fixed buttstock interface. The LSS remains one of our hottest sellers.

 

TR: Talk about some other MDT product brands in the market and coming in 2021.

MVR: We brought the budget-friendly drop-in Oryx Chassis to the market, and we own the design rights for the futuristic J Allen chassis we are hoping to relaunch soon on JAEChassis.com. We also have MambaMag.com launching later this year, which offers a straight fit 10-round magazine for most standard hunting rifles.

Our magazines were a big area with a lot of emphasis. We have three versions: polymer, metal and polymetal magazines, and they have evolved over the years. It is very difficult to make mags that work extremely well in a variety of setups without much or any adjustment, but we think we have hit that perfect compromise that minimizes magazine or mag release adjustment.

 

TR: The Oryx chassis has been a huge hit with shooters.

MVR: Our original lightweight LSS chassis was part of the inspiration, but we wanted to offer a complete chassis, including a stock, at that $399 price point. MDT is a premium chassis where we don’t pay attention to cutting cost and let performance dictate the design. The color polymer side plates still deliver some customization for customers. With the Oryx, we had to look at how to drive affordability with more efficient manufacturing for the best possible chassis. It is very interesting today to see how much customers love the Oryx despite the availability of other higher-end products.

 

TR: Many precision rimfire shooters are rejoicing that the LSS and Oryx line supports nine popular rimfire firearms.

MVR: Over the years we have had so many requests for various rimfire inlets and a 10/22 chassis option, but we really believed that any of our potentially compatible chassis designs would be too expensive for most shooters. With the LSS and Oryx line and $399 retail pricing, we knew that it would be in a price range that would be accessible to a very wide set of customers, and it provides an upgrade option above wood and polymer aftermarket rimfire stocks.

 

TR: How have MDT designs evolved over the years.

MVR: We have a company culture where we are always looking for ways to become better shooters. All MDT staff have a monthly ammo allowance, and we encourage our staff to go shooting all the time, including monthly employee matches. Trophies are awarded, including a “Poop Trophy” for worst all the way to the best shooters. We are hunters and shooters and are always looking to solve the pain points and come up with the new stuff, and we usually have two or three product releases per month that could be everything from new inlets to major product releases. We have a lot of new projects, including our new HNT26 (26-ounce) chassis to get a light and very dead chassis that should come out in June 2021, plus the MambaMag and J Allen chassis.

We distribute to about 50 or 60 different countries. Of course, the U.S. is our largest market, and we distribute all the products ourselves for Canada and the U.S. Globally, we sell through distribution because of the very restrictive gun and gun part regulations. In the U.S., we take care of dealers and customers directly. We are very sensitive to ensuring dealers and customers have an easy transaction.

 

TR: How do you look at the industry vs MDT?

MVR: We are very unique. We really work hard to keep customers happy. We ship quickly, and we have fast production, 100% 30-day satisfaction and a 1.5-hour customer service response time. Once customers got that experience and experienced the quality, we grew even faster.

From an industry perspective, we are different, with a chassis and precision shooting company first mentality. Magpul as an example has a chassis for the Remington 700, but you don’t need to look very far to see we are completely different companies. We are extremely passionate that the products we make are products customers will love. We are not trying to be someone else — there is no company like MDT, with our family, product and precision shooting focus.