Last week I posted some pictures of Condition Red Ordnance Mfg (CROM) new milled chassis for the Ruger PCC. I looked them up and found out that they are local to me so I reached out to them. They invited me over to take a look at their Ruger PCC Chassis, .500 Blackout and bullet proof carbon fiber armor.

CROM PCC Chassis

The CROM PCC Chassis is as awesome as I expected it to be. Already CROM is further developing their PCC Chassis and working on version 2.0. I will explain the changes as we take a closer look at the prototype.

The chassis uses a Mossberg 500 stock interface. So the Magpul SGA they are using is for the Mossberg 500. Why Mossberg? That comes down to the ergonomic differences of the Remington vs Mossberg SGA. The 870 SGA stock has more material between the grip and receiver. This would push your hand further away from the controls than the Mossberg SGA stock. The good news is that you can use any Mossberg 500 compatible stock that you want. Want a wood 500 stock? Bolt it on. Want a Mesa Tactical LEO adapter with pistol grip and AR stock you can have that too.

As you can see the chassis has a mag well flare for easier mag changes. One of the changes they made for the new version is reshaping the mag well flare exterior dimensions to match the factory Ruger PCC stock. This was a request by Timothy Ubl of TACCOM so that he could bolt on his competition mag well funnel.

The extended magazine release is like a pry bar. It is pinned to the chassis and that acts as the fulcrum for the mag release extension. This pulls the mag release out to the side. One of the changes for the new version will have a mirrored slot on the right hand side. You can flip the mag release around for left handed shooters. The mag release lever is made of steel for better rigidity and will be textured for the production version.

Just above the trigger you can see a deep cut out of the chassis. This allows your trigger finger to reach the trigger better and easier. Otherwise you would have to reach around the metal chassis.

The chassis still utilises the factory Ruger magazine adapters. This simplifies the chassis as CROM does not have to concern themselves with making the ejector and it leaves it open for future modularity around the Ruger PCC regarding potential caliber changes.

For those who do not want the CROM PCC handguard, you don’t have to buy it. CROM will be selling the chassis separately. I brought the new Ruger PCC, with factory free float rail, in with me to compare against the CROM PCC. We legoed the Ruger front end and surprisingly it flows very well with the CROM PCC Chassis.

Below are the 3D CAD drawings of their updated PCC chassis. First is the taller rail version. This centers the barrel inside the handguard. This would be good if you SBR the PCC and want to tuck a suppressor underneath the handguard. You will also notice the matching magazine lever channel on this side of the chassis.

CROM is also working on a lower rail handguard that positions the top rail in line with the PCC receiver top rail

Right side of updated PCC chassis.

I did request they add MLOK slots at the 2 and 11 o’clock positions for adding flashlights. It is one issue I have with the factory Ruger free float handguard and the Midwest Industries handguard supersedes it.

Below are some closeups of the handguard interface. The tall handguard version interfaces with the rail riser. The riser has a built in detent that acts as an additional lock up for the barrel.

The green part is bolted onto the barrel where the rear sight used to be. Underneath the rear sight are three threaded holes. CROM utilizes all of those to mount that green block. Then the handguard bolts to said green block. Then there is a bottom shoe that bolts to the bottom of the handguard. There will be a witness hole to allow you to see the caliber markings on the barrel.

The lower rail handguard has a slightly different design. It will bolt directly to the same three holes at the top of the barrel. The interface block has been relocated to the bottom of the barrel and the shoe bolts to that block.

Did you notice the logo on the magwell of their PCC chassis?

CROM .338 Lapua/.500 Blackout

CROM actually makes AR-style firearms. One of their guns is a semi-auto, piston driven, side charging .338 Lapua Magnum.The gasblock is self regulating so if you suppress it, the excess gas and pressure is vented out the front of the gas block.

See the logo milled into the side of the magwell? One of their employees did not recognize it and said “it looks like a thong”. LOL sure lets go with that to avoid any IP issues.

Below is their prototype receiver. You can see it has an elevator system similar to the Remington ACR. Rather than bolting on some form of BAD lever, CROM wanted something built into the firearm. The design had to be controllable all from the firing hand. Other than the side charger you can manipulate all the controls with one hand.

Their magazine is based off .338 CIP dimensions rather than SAAMI. This allows more room for shooters to load hotter rounds or larger grain projectiles. Oh and their magazine is made out of carbon fiber.

CROM also makes a .500 blackout. Rusty checked it out at last SHOT Show. It is a trimmed .338 lapua case with a 911 grain projectile. The chamber will accept a 2.1″ – 2.4″ brass casing. OAL of the cartridge is 3.82″. The weight of the projectile is very specific. According to CROM it is a reminder of 9/11.

Pacific Tool and Gauge was instrumental in helping developing this round with CROM. He makes the tooling for the .500 blackout cartridge.

Unlike the demo cartridge above, the real projectile is loaded just like .300 blackout. You trim a straight walled full length case and size it to .51cal,

CROM makes an 11.7″ bbl version of their .500 blackout rifle. They have plans in place in their barrel design to help stabilize such a large projectile out of such a short barrel. They will of course make civilian length barrels in 16″ and 18.5″. They just came back from Canada’s Cansec show and the Canadians are very interested in the .500 blackout.

Bullet Proof Carbon Fiber Armor

CROM is collaborating with Armourer’s Choice on developing light weight bullet proof carbon fiber armor. They funded the technology for this project. Below is the top sheet from a 7 layer sheet armor sample. It stopped .44 magnum and the pojectiles did not even penetrate the top layer. Their seven layer armor is NIJ IIIA rated.

Here is something one of the engineers at CROM worked on. It is based off the Wakanda shield given to Captain America in Infinity War. The guys at CROM are big Star Wars and Marvel fans. As you can tell by their “thong” logo on the side of their guns and the Captain America shield.

The carbon fiber armor is in its early stages and they are looking into a number of applications. If they can mold this material into a helmet, it would be thinner and lighter than any ballistic helmet on the market with the same NIJ rating. Very exciting stuff.

Cool Things Coming Soon From CROM

CROM has a lot on their plate. The CROM PCC Chassis looks like an instant success based on the amount of emails and messages they have received since my last article. I can’t wait to pre-order one for my PCC. Their AR-style rifles with the “thong” logo is cool that the nerd in me wants one just for that alone. Fortunately the updated PCC Chassis looks like it will have that marking based on the CAD drawings. I am sure everyone is asking about price. CROM is trying to get the chassis down to $250. Their handguard will be $200 and the riser will be $50. So $500 for a complete CROM setup. Of course this does not include the Magpul SGA stock. You need to provide that yourself. Right now they will be offering the PCC chassis cerakoted in black or federal elite Cerakote, aka FDE. I hope they offer it in the gray they are using on their .338 Lapua rifle.

Their .338 rifle is ready and they are delivering one of them to a customer in the next couple days. The .500 blackout is also coming along as they are working out details on the barrels. I am eager to see what they come up with regarding their bullet proof carbon fiber armor. If it is as light, strong and affordable as they claim it can be, it could shake things up in the armor industry.