Looking to lighten my Rifle

U

UNCLEDAN25

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 21, 2011
139
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SoCal
#1
SO I just got through with my rifle build and it ended up at just above 13lbs. w/out Ammo...I'm looking for ideas(simple ideas) that I can lighten the total gun weight. So here is whats on it

Rem 700 Long Action-Stock-(7 Rem Mag)
Trued Bolt Face( No other Bolt work)
McMillian HTG Adjustable Stock
Badger Bottom Metal, with 5rd Mags
Brux 1-9 Rem Varmint Contour (Cut to 25")
3port Muscle Brake
NF 20MOA Base
NF ultra low rings
NF 3.5 x 15 x 50 (NEW)

Some of the things I'm Leaning towards is
-Fluting the bolt.
-Maybe taking out the adjustable cheek piece on the McM and replacing with a lighter filler and stock pack (I got a Killer deal on the stock, that's why I have it)
-Any ideas?
-Can you send out to have a barrel fluted?

Thanks in advance for your help!





 
#3
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

Listen to Mike, he knows of what he speaks. You aren't saving any weight of significance with the above. Your best bet is to start over with light weight in mind.
 
#5
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

Is it worth it to have the barrel fluted - now? I'm sure it was way cheaper to add the 120bucks when I bought the barrel.....but this ended up heavy than planned.
And yes 13lbs Isn't bad, but I spend a lot of time packing around these hills, wouldn't mind couple pounds less on the gun....
 
#6
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

My stick is just over 14lbs. which doesn't seem all that heavy to me. I guess you cut your barrel down, flute the shit out of everything, hog out the stock or live with it.
 
#7
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

13 is nothing, my bolt gun is 17.25lbs unloaded..


heck, take the scope off and use a red dot
smile.gif
 
#10
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

I recently built a rifle (6.5 Creedmoor) for my father and wanted to have it light and manageable for him due to some recent injuries and health conditions. I went with a standard fill for his McMillan stock rather than the sniper fill and I also put on Badger's alloy rings rather than the steel ones. Also, I used a fluted Bartlein modified medium Palma barrel with a surefire overlap muzzle break.

The combination of all of the small reductions kept the weight down and the balance just right.
 
#12
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

Is it the weight of the rifle that's the issue...or the balance?

I've got two Savages with 26" varmint barrels in McM A5s that each weigh about 13.5lb including optic...but the rifle with the thumbwheel cheekpiece balances much, much better than the one that does not. The rifle without the cheekpiece feels very muzzle-heavy.

You could always have the barrel turned down from a varmint contour to light varmint or magnum contour; that should shave 3/4lb+ of weight. Shortening the barrel would help a wee bit too, but you probably wouldn't want to go any shorter than your existing 25" with a 7RM.
 
#13
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

Swaped my PR 5-25 to one March 3-24 and bought one Eberlystock X3 lowhung so i can carry my rifle butt down = better balans
 
#15
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle


I heard that fluting this barrel would shave 3/4-1 lb without giving up too much accuracy. I think I may start with that. Does anyone know how much the Adjustable piece of a HTG McMillian Stock weighs? I don't have a scale that can measure small amounts.

Thanks again guys for the input in advance.
 
#16
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

I say flute the barrel. All that other fluting and slimming won't be worth the money. If you start taking all the weight out of the stock then you will just end up with a muzzle heavy gun. Like BoilerUp said muzzle heavy is a lot worse than overall heavy. Fredrick is right that a biathalon sling is a big help. I encourage you to check out Timber Butte Outdoors "Outlaw Sling" a whole lot cheaper and very well made. Also drop that DBM bottom metal for a Pacific tool and guage floor plate. that will save you some. You could easily seel you Badger in the accessory section.
 
#19
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

would be shocked if all the fluting even got to 1/2 pound....an ultralight stock w/o adjustments might get another pound....


12 is pretty light....chop the bbl to 24 for a few more oz...i would agree that your rig is already pretty darn light....i think most of us have them in the 15-17# range.
 
#20
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: i_rep</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i think most of us have them in the 15-17# range. </div></div>
20" .308 mag fed w/ Leupold, Ready to run 9.5lbs
22 .308 mag fed 17X SN-3 RTR 11.25 lbs
26" 300wm mag fed 22X SN-3 RTR 13.3 lbs
All 3 have HS/P stocks, and Harris pods w/locks

Once you hump a heavy weapon, the hunt for a lighter one is always, job one.
 
#21
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: tigerfan9</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Nightforce is an awesome optics but not light. A vortex pst 4-16 would save you 2/3 of a lb. </div></div>

This is a true statement. I have an NF 5.5-22 on my target rifle, but opted for a PST 4-16 on the hunting rig for 2 reasons:
1. Lower magnification range
2. Lower weight

As for stocks, McMillan Edge stocks are very light, but as other folks have said, your weight is in your barreled action and scope.

Good luck!
 
#22
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

Go for a lighter optic like many have said and chop it at about 22"

Fluting will do little to nothing except cost more cash

Or you could go with a feather weight barrel

its hard to have a mountain rifle that is also a precision rifle and keep it light
 
#23
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

It sounds like you built this up as a long range preicions rifle. If you want a huntin rifle I there are other things you could have done but 13 isnt bad at all I ran a 17lb gun without ammo through a recent precision rifle competition and ended up placing quite well along with getting the fastest overall time. Weight in the rifle is nice to shave but I would just look at shaving off some other gear. You could easily drop a few lbs by going with lighter binos or no binos as you already have great glass for instance. Just my .02 you have a great rifle if is already shooting well why mess it up?
 
#24
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

Get a good pack with an Internal/External Frame for hunting and keep your rifle on your back while hiking the hills... That is what we would do hunting the mountains in NM, and when you feel like you are in a good area to see something take out your rifle and carry it then... Usually the heavier the rifle the more stable the shot (Unless firing off hand)...

Get a good pack and don't take the chance of a gunsmith screwing up your tack driver...
 
#25
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

I agree with the above reply; you're best off hunting with your current rifle and a better sling and backpack. Save the $$ your gonna spend to whittle a pound off and start talking to a smith about starting a new build with a pre-determined weight in mind. You're probably going to have to sacrifice some features that you have in your current rifle but if you spend 90% of the time hiking and 10% shooting then you'd be better served with a 9-10 lb rifle.
 
#27
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

Dude,

I had a Sendero SF .300win mag in an HTG Edge stock that was about 9lbs w/o scope.

13lbs is nothing for the rig you put together. Really sounds about PERFECT!

But since you asked...

Lose the NXS scope, other than the 24mm objective jobs they are Boat Anchors. Go with Warne Maxima weaver slot rings and Leupold mk4 6.5-20 or 4-14 scopes which weigh half the NXS weight. Not "great glass", but very fine & they work..

Put the factory floorplate back on and save another pound.

Now you're down to about 11lbs maybe 10.5


Actually, think you screwed up using the HTG stock. Forend is just too thin for any varmint profile. I happened to luck out with the Fluted Sendero bbl because the flutes line up to fit the standard barrel contour, just barely; so didn't have to open up the barrel channel. I have a varmint contour HTG stock on a Win 70 and the channel is just too flimsy for anything more than a #4 contour.

You might try a H-S Precision Sendero take-off stock. Not much more weight, but lots more to grab up front...

Really 13 pounds for the gear you have is most guys dream around here. What's not to like?
 
#28
Re: Looking to lighten my Rifle

You can lighten your rifle by at least 3 lbs if you want to. That said its up to you if you want to spend the $ or just build/buy another rifle.
weight loss: start with the scope, even the 2.5-10x 32 NF is much lighter
next go with quality lightweight rings bases, Seekins are great.
Get a non adjustable Edge fill stock from Mcm.
Fluting your barrel should save about 8 oz. if done well.You can also have the barrel shortened to save weight [I would want more not less barrel on a 300 if it were mine].
Going with a bdl style bottom metal will save a litle more weight.
Fluting the bolt looks cool but has no significant weight savings.


 
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