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lightening an AICS

2_many_dogs

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Aug 8, 2006
208
0
Chatham County, NC
ok, guys - this might sound strange. i'm getting old and tired of lugging around 17 pound rifles. i'm also not a lottery winner so just getting a new mcmillan (with light fill) isn't really an option.

i've got a barrel on order much lighter than the MTU profiles i've used in the past. that will help a bit.

but there's a fair amount of weight in the AICS.

has anyone tried to lighten an AICS? viper skins will take off about 4oz. if i wanted to get another pound out, i wondered about milling off some aluminum from the forearm. has anyone tried this? i did a search here and came up dry - apologies if this is a repeated question.
 
Your going to be hard pressed to loose a pound of weight off the AICS. The forend is aluminum and mostly hollow at that, so your talking about removing a lot of material that isnt there in the first place. Maybe some fluting type cuts on the mid and rear end sections. But again, your working with aluminum and would need to remove a good amount of material to loose some weight. Your best bet is going to be what your already doing with a lighter barrel contour, next best thing would be to go to a traditional style stock like the Manners Elite Hunter series. The EH1 could fit the bill nicely at 24-26 oz
 
Just start pumping some iron or even your rifle daily even when not shooting and it will lighten up. Also if your use a hard case to lug the rifle around in, get a small soft case. Good luck.
 
300, that is what I was thinking of! Same question as sonic - about how much weight came out after you made those cuts?

That looks like great work.