Lightening a DPMS 300 BlackOut with 16" barrel

[Macdaddy]

In another thread, I asked for suggestions for a youth rifle build and although I prefer a bolt action, I am now considering taking my DPMS 300 Blackout and replacing some hardware, to include potentially the barrel to knock of a pound or so from the otherwise 7.1 lb rifle.

Looking for suggestions on most cost effective changes that I can make to accomplish the task at hand. Budget is probably around $1k or maybe a little more.

Let the fun begin. Thanks,

 

[knuckleballz]

Check out Vseven and 2a armament for some light weight hardware. Note that they usually do 20-25% off sale for black Friday. Titanium parts can save a lot of ounces. A titanium or aluminum bolt carrier, lighter barrel, lighter weight optic? 5 or 10 round magazine?

 

[ssdrew]

I'm just throwing this out there and don't know your state laws, but with a budget of 1k, why not just build a 9" or so pistol? Just the reduced length will knock some weight down, and you can build it with some lighter weight components for even more weight savings.

 

[ShooterwithNoName]

9" is a really nice handling barrel length too. I got rid of my 7.5" 300blk and went to a 9" AAC. Way better running barrel and it feels perfectly balanced.

You can run a carbon fiber handguard. Some are pretty expensive but I run the Troy CF handguards on my 308 and one of my 556 carbine, they are tough as any aluminum HG's I've ever run.

I also run a Young Manuf SLC bolt carrier in my 300blk. Not to save overall weight as much as just to lighten the BCG to run subs without a can. I would definitely look at replacing the barrel in favor of a shorter one. Saves a bit of weight, but also makes it feel better as far as balance goes imo...

 

[Macdaddy]

Shortening the barrel to less than 16" isn't really an option (I don't believe). Gotta remember this is for a child to use while hunting. Need to avoid the NFA stuff. They may end up using this later too without oversight by an adult. Gotta keep it a rifle and not a pistol. Thanks for the thoughts though.

 

[hlee]

Can you not hunt with a pistol in your locale? The easiest way to drop weight is shortening the barrel. And pistol braces are generally lighter than rifle stocks. My 300 bo AR pistol with 8 inch ballistic advantage and KAK brace weighs 5.6 lbs with a red dot attached.

Remember that an AR pistol is a pistol and not an SBR. As such, it's not subject to NFA regulation. Unless you cannot hunt with a pistol, a pistol will get you where you want to go, much more easily (cheaper too) than a rifle. Getting a rifle sub 6 lbs will likely mean replacing most everything but the grip...

 

[ShooterwithNoName]

How heavy is the profile on your current DPMS barrel? Most of them I've seen is a pretty standard .750" profile...

You could opt for a pencil barrel, .625" dia vs. .750" saves a little weight and still makes 16". I have a DD 16" I got from here in the px and it's pretty handy. Besides a carbon fiber free float, you would be looking at lightened receiver sets, titanium parts wherever you can get them.

 

[Macdaddy]

Can you not hunt with a pistol in your locale? The easiest way to drop weight is shortening the barrel. And pistol braces are generally lighter than rifle stocks. My 300 bo AR pistol with 8 inch ballistic advantage and KAK brace weighs 5.6 lbs with a red dot attached.

Remember that an AR pistol is a pistol and not an SBR. As such, it's not subject to NFA regulation. Unless you cannot hunt with a pistol, a pistol will get you where you want to go, much more easily (cheaper too) than a rifle. Getting a rifle sub 6 lbs will likely mean replacing most everything but the grip...

Technically, I could hunt with a pistol but again, I'm doing this for my grandson and really wanted to get him started with something a little more traditional than a pistol for deer hunting.

 

[Macdaddy]

How heavy is the profile on your current DPMS barrel? Most of them I've seen is a pretty standard .750" profile...

You could opt for a pencil barrel, .625" dia vs. .750" saves a little weight and still makes 16". I have a DD 16" I got from here in the px and it's pretty handy. Besides a carbon fiber free float, you would be looking at lightened receiver sets, titanium parts wherever you can get them.

Yeah, I think I'm coming to the same conclusion. To knock a single lb would require extensive mods using titanium and carbon fiber. Probably not the way to go for what little savings I'd realize.

 

[Yondering]

Technically, I could hunt with a pistol but again, I'm doing this for my grandson and really wanted to get him started with something a little more traditional than a pistol for deer hunting.

You've been given some good advice on this; it might benefit you to learn a bit more about AR pistols instead of just dismissing it. Since it sounds like you are not familiar with them - read up on arm braces and AR pistol legal stuff.

An AR15 carbine is no more "traditional" than an AR15 pistol that's actually the right size for the kid to use. Look at some pictures of how to use these; the word "pistol" may be misleading if you're not up to speed on this.

A 9" barrel 300 with something like a KAK Shockwave brace is an easy way to go and perfect for a smaller person; in fact that (with a 3-9x Leupold on top) is what my son used for his first deer.

Also, there's very little point in completely rebuilding an existing rifle to make it lighter. What'll you save, the receivers? Might as well just build a whole new gun and build it the way you want from the start.

 

[Macdaddy]

You've been given some good advice on this; it might benefit you to learn a bit more about AR pistols instead of just dismissing it. Since it sounds like you are not familiar with them - read up on arm braces and AR pistol legal stuff.

An AR15 carbine is no more "traditional" than an AR15 pistol that's actually the right size for the kid to use. Look at some pictures of how to use these; the word "pistol" may be misleading if you're not up to speed on this.

A 9" barrel 300 with something like a KAK Shockwave brace is an easy way to go and perfect for a smaller person; in fact that (with a 3-9x Leupold on top) is what my son used for his first deer.

Also, there's very little point in completely rebuilding an existing rifle to make it lighter. What'll you save, the receivers? Might as well just build a whole new gun and build it the way you want from the start.

Just to be clear; i did in fact research the legal differences between an AR pistol vs an AR rifle before providing my thoughts above. That is why I said "technically" a 300 Blackout pistol could satisfy my requirements. So please don't make the assumption that someone who doesn't agree with what your solution would be is ignorant. It is just a personal preference of mine not to go that route.

Now I do agree with the fact that several people have made some very solid suggestions which I appreciate very much and they have provided some potential "options". I also agree based on the above comments, that in summary, you are correct that it is not cost effective to take an existing rifle and start replacing enough parts to significantly reduce the weight.

The purpose of my post was to see if there were reasonable, cost effective options to reduce the weight of my existing platform and the comments provided have accomplished what I was after.

I thank all that contributed to the discussion.