Thread: Where to trim weight (rifle)

A comment from Greg from terminator products has had me thinking.. it went something like no matter how accurate a rifle is, if it’s not lightweight, it will live in the safe. Bloody true!

In the quest to get animals out to 800yds I’ve put some time into this Hardys custom 6.5x284 but at 4.7kg it’s a heavy beast.. where can I trim weight? I’m a bit stuck for ideals

My thought is the stock which I absolutely love, I don’t really want to take it apart to see where the weight is.. is it the barrell or the stock?

I’m not willing to sacrifice optics I know I’ve got 1kg on top

It has a Rem 700 action, 26in barrell and brake.

If you have a carbon barrel and carbon stock there isn't much you can do to easily drop weight other than in the scope.

The rifle is just over 10lb which honestly isn't a bad stop to be. It's clearly not a rifle you'll e doing any bush stalking in and weight is actually a good thing as far as stability goes for taking longer range shots.

A shorter barrel is probably the best place to start but as it is carbon you won't be able to chop it.
A lighter stock would be the next place but for longer range shooting you want a decent stock.

Personally I'd get a decent 2 point sling and attach it via QD studs on the side of the rifle(AR15 style). You can then wear the rifle to take the additional weight and still have the ability to take a shot quickly.

The modern trend is to pile the weight on the bones and then blame the rifle for being overweight.

Sure is. Cheeper to eat healthy and do stuff. Heavier rifle does cut back recoil too.

Get fitter and stronger if your not willing to change optic or stock it’s going to be hard to shed weight

Start again

For what it is, 4.7kg is pretty good.

Do you ever use the sling?

I think you ruled out the obvious solution with the scope where you could easily drop 400gm.

It sounds like your happy with this rifle and even when shedding some weight in places it won't be a sub 4kg so may as well keep it as is.

My current setup is 4.2kg suppressed. Goes everywhere, does everything.

Sounds like a good reason to setup another rifle. A lightweight one this time!

Get some chinese scales man it helps a lot

You could save a couple hundred grams by dropping the NF for a March F or a Mk5 or similar.

As others have hinted at, get ‘match’ fit and get used to carrying the rifle as it is. My ‘every day shooter’, a 223, weighs 4kg. From time to time I think about lighter rifles but other times quite pleased with the weight when breathing hard or taking a 300+m shot. Having a day off today but tomorrow will do a regular bush loop checking traplines/goat shooting. From near sea level to 650m altitude variation. Gotten use to carrying that rifle weight, you should too.

It's a beautiful rifle but it sounds like when you built this you didn't have the above concerns re: weight in mind , I'd either put up with it knowing that you are benefiting when it comes to pulling off a long range shot, or start again and build a lightweight rifle from the ground

Leaving the ammo at home saves lots of weight. Can't shoot anything = guaranteed you don't have to carry meat back out. Lighter in, lighter out. Can't loose.

That rifle is never going to be particularly light weight you'll only be able to tinker around the edges. As other's have said it's pretty light for what it is.