Thread: Where to trim weight (rifle)

Ream a .260 or creed tikka long action mag and bolt stop job done on the cheapish then theirs scope costs though suppressor etc gets spendy quick

Some carbon stocks aren't that lite, you might be able to save a few hundred grams in changing to an NZ made one?

Otherwise optics is the obvious one. nightforce isn't lightweight.

get out the bathroom scales...place on kitchen floor..then stand on them.....yip there is probably the most weight loss to be gained right there (sure as shit is in my case) everyone should own a heavy rifle....carting it around makes you appreciate the other lighter rifles..which is where I BELIEVE you should head to..build/buy a different rifle for the bush/long carry trips in a completely different cartridge or one eggzachary the same...dont go close to it or will forever be umming and ahhhing either completely different so the jobs are obvious or the same so can use same ammo in a pinch.
maybe a .308 shortish suppressed??? it will do out to 300 but will excell inside 200......vs your current will do inside 200 but excells outside that.
or go 223 so the young fella can use it too!!!! that will be much easier to have light and still shoot well...although I prefer mine with heavier stock as shoot better/easier with it.

Unless it's a light weight barrel choping it won't make much difference I have a howa 1500 heavy barrel chopped to 12.5 inches in a standard stock with a delta 1-6 hd stryker and with the suppressor on and ammo in I'm at 4.1kg could possibly drop 500gms and get a carbon stock but it's a bush/bike gun and is well balanced and recoil is manageable, I can also get a few down the spout when having a bomb up without the barrel over heating

Considering you want to shoot animals out to 800, and there's approximately a 70% corilation between precision and the muzzle energy/rifle weight ratio. It might be counter productive.

As others have said you are probably only going to be able to trim less than 10% of the total weight by switching out the scope, but of course you'll be sacrificing magnification, tube size or ruggedness (or all the above) to get there. Diminishing returns and all that..

For reference, I have a Tikka T3 lite in 270WSM with a full 24" barrel, fibreglass Bell & Carlson stock, compact 2.5-10x scope and that is 4.1 kg with a much lighter barrel profile. I'd consider that as light as I would want it to be if I'm to shoot it well. It used to be in a timber hunter stock and a few hundred grams lighter, but it was actually unpleasant to shoot Z(especially off a bipod) in that configuration.

Even with a suppressor added, making it 4.5kg it's still pretty fine to cart around in the hills, especially if I put it in the scabbard on my bag. Hardly notice it's there.

You'd be better off taking a few kilos off your own frame (unless you're already a rake) instead of spending thousands to trim a fraction of that.

I keep re reading this you want to loose weight but dont want to change anything? How does that even work?

Personally I struggle to shoot a really lightweight Rifle well .
I’d probably look at other optic options / mounts / sling etc and then just be happy that I have a great set up .

Make the kid carry it for you.

It will become strong like Conan.

Originally Posted by blip

I keep re reading this you want to loose weight but dont want to change anything? How does that even work?

Helium filled balloons that's how it works

Pretty sure you'll come up empty handed.
Carbon wrapped barrel and CF stock with a NF on top, so even with a lighter scope you won' feel any difference. These are the three major weight components on any rifle so you're stuck with what you've got
Surely you checked out the all up weight before you bought it??

Your scope weighs 1kg..... So the rifle weighs in at 3.7 ....my marlin 336 weighs 3.6..... get a lighter tent , pack, sleeping bag ...save the carry in weight there

Appreciate all the responses! Yep as I thought trim up the man with the rifle and man up and carry it! Now to drop a stag with it!

800y is a farking long way.

All of my rifles are sub 4kg with scope ready to hunt. Defiance ultralight, proof carbon, manners ultra classic, hawkijs hybrids, bdl bottom metals, trigger tech triggers and usually a hardy can with march/nightforce scope. I constantly shoot around 600m, sometimes out to 700m. Or 708 as per my last long kill. Usually I'll only do that on a cull animal, or a decent stag I want. Otherwise I'll just go for meat animals closer with an easy recovery.