Creative ways to cut weight?

[Oregon Hunter]

Full disclosure, my first idea is a product I rep, but I would like to end up exchanging ideas that could help all of us shed ounces off our shooting rig. My question is, what are some effective and possibly unorthodox ways to lighten up our hunting irons?

It always seems crazy to me that people spend $700 for a carbon stock, $1500 for a titanium action, $800 for a carbon barrel, do all kinds of metal skeletonizing, then hanging an extra 1/2 to 1 pound of bipod than needed. A friend was complaining that our Javelin Lite and Pro Hunt bipods are expensive, but at only 4-6 ounces, I can’t think of more cost-effective way to save weight on his rifle.

What kind of out-of-the-box ways have you guys found to lighten up a rifle?

 

[Dcrafton]

Full disclosure, my first idea is a product I rep, but I would like to end up exchanging ideas that could help all of us shed ounces off our shooting rig. My question is, what are some effective and possibly unorthodox ways to lighten up our hunting irons?

It always seems crazy to me that people spend $700 for a carbon stock, $1500 for a titanium action, $800 for a carbon barrel, do all kinds of metal skeletonizing, then hang a 2 pound bipod off the forend. A friend was complaining that our Javelin Lite and Pro Hunt bipods are expensive, but at only 4-6 ounces, I can’t think of more cost-effective way to save weight on his rifle.

What kind of out-of-the-box ways have you guys found to lighten up a rifle?



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I’ll start by saying, I really like the javelin bipods.
Great product, but what bipod are you talking about that weighs 2 lbs. ?


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[Caleb Miller]

I've been adding weight lol. i just added an adjustable cheek piece and a hatch bipod it now weighs in at 10.5lbs

 

[hereinaz]

I am skeletonizing a chassis and a laminate stock for a rifle I am having built. Gonna see which I can get lighter.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

I’ll start by saying, I really like the javelin bipods.
Great product, but what bipod are you talking about that weighs 2 lbs. ?


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I don't want to give specific names and run down other products, because heavy bipods have their place. I'm referring to some of the more tactical focused bipods, that when combined with beefy mounting hardware, they unnecessarily weigh down a hunting rifle

 

[Oregon Hunter]

I've been adding weight lol. i just added an adjustable cheek piece and a hatch bipod it now weighs in at 10.5lbs

How much weight do you think the adjustable cheek piece added?

 

[Oregon Hunter]

I am skeletonizing a chassis and a laminate stock for a rifle I am having built. Gonna see which I can get lighter.

Keep us posted on your progress. That sounds interesting, and not something we usually think about for a lightweight build

 

[Oregon Hunter]

I've wondered about ditching sling mounts. Could you just tie your sling onto the swivel studs with a strong thread? Anyone doing this?

 

[rclouse79]

Less weight = more felt recoil = less accurate. I try to cut weight in other areas.

 

[hereinaz]

I've wondered about ditching sling mounts. Could you just tie your sling onto the swivel studs with a strong thread? Anyone doing this?

Look at the lightweight sling option in the sheep or lightweight gear sub forum. Short answer, yeah, paracord fits through the swivel stud eye.

 

[hereinaz]

Less weight = more felt recoil = less accurate. I try to cut weight in other areas.

100% I don't try to make my magnum rifle ultralight for this reason.

I just posted a tip talking about recoil management and accuracy here.

 

[WCB]

I've wondered about ditching sling mounts. Could you just tie your sling onto the swivel studs with a strong thread? Anyone doing this?

Concern I would have on this is the cord breaking wearing on a tough hunt and my rifle just falling off my shoulder. I would say easiest way for guys to lighten a hunting rifle would be ditch the tactical scope with a 50mm objective for lighter option. You can drop significant ounces on that alone. Go with aluminum rings and bases.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I ditched the sling mounts/studs completely since I always carry my rifle either strapped to my pack or in a Kifaru Gunbearer. I’m not a long range hunter and most of my shots are under 250 yards, and since I usually have my pack, I don’t have a need for a bipod. If I do drop my pack for a quick final stalk, I’ll just carry my rifle in my hands and improvise some sort of rest from the terrain, but I rarely do that. I’ve also used my trekking poles to cradle my rifle for a shot. Aside from mounting the absolute lightest, quality, scope I can find, and sometimes changing out a few things on my rifles to make them lighter, like skeletonized titanium bolt handle and aluminum trigger guard, I haven’t really made any other wt. cutting changes. All my mountain rifles are no more than 6.5 lbs. all up, and this includes magnum calibers. There’s no way I’d lug a rifle that was much heavier than that up into the mountains, for my type of hunting, there’s just no need for it.


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[Wapiti1]

Depends on what you really want in a rifle and how light you want to get. 4lbs is possible in a bolt action repeater.

You don't need a forearm on a rifle. That can be cut off and inch forward of the recoil lug. Insert a flush cup or T bar for the sling, or go with a barrel mounted swivel.

Barrels don't need to be fat, or long. A 20" barrel in a tiny contour can be accurate and light. Most carbon covered barrels don't take the concept to the limit for light weight. Take a look at double rifle barrel profiles. The muzzles are typically 0.070"-0.100" wall thickness. You never see bolt rifles that thin. My 24" 30-06 double has 0.095" wall muzzles and the entire barrel set weighs 4.5 pounds.

Many stocks can be inlet or skeletonized to shave weight.

Like I started. What do you want the rifle to do? If you require things like a bipod, then you will limit how light you can go.

Jeremy

 

[rayporter]

a big ol butt bag hanging on the stock full of ammo just seems wrong.

 

[hereinaz]

Depends on what you really want in a rifle and how light you want to get. 4lbs is possible in a bolt action repeater.

You don't need a forearm on a rifle. That can be cut off and inch forward of the recoil lug. Insert a flush cup or T bar for the sling, or go with a barrel mounted swivel.

Barrels don't need to be fat, or long. A 20" barrel in a tiny contour can be accurate and light. Most carbon covered barrels don't take the concept to the limit for light weight. Take a look at double rifle barrel profiles. The muzzles are typically 0.070"-0.100" wall thickness. You never see bolt rifles that thin. My 24" 30-06 double has 0.095" wall muzzles and the entire barrel set weighs 4.5 pounds.

Many stocks can be inlet or skeletonized to shave weight.

Like I started. What do you want the rifle to do? If you require things like a bipod, then you will limit how light you can go.

Jeremy

You described a lot of how I intend to skeletonize my stock and chassis. I will only have room for a 4 inch ARCA rail on the forend in front of the magazine well. I am probably going to run the cheap plastic AR stock on my chassis cause it is the lightest option I have found.

I already leave my bipod behind, cause I can shoot off my pack or my tripod in prone. And, prone shots are much less common than having to get up off the ground.

I may as well list everything I am doing for my rifle, as some has also been mentioned already. I have given it a lot of thought. It won't be a "pretty" rifle, and it won't be traditional. All customish and purpose for long range backpacking for deer and javelina.

My elk/long range rifle is 7 sherman short mag rifle with suppressor and it weighed 11 pounds 4 oz for the match last weekend, with my sling attached. I haven't figured out the weight for my little pack rifle I am building, but it will be significantly less, and is maximized to cut weight AND cut recoil so it can remain accurate. I haven't even an educated guess as to what my pack rifle will come in at, but it will be as light as possible.

For the light weight build, my smith has a Howa Mini action that is shorter and lighter than even some TI actions. I chose a full sized so he is opening the bolt face from a Grendel, but it is still a short 6mm BR case that saves weight on brass but performs pretty close to a .243 with a 20 inch barrel. Bullets will be 95 or 87 grain hunting bullets and will be above terminal velocity on game as far as I am planning. The barrel is a Sendero Light profile Proof Carbon Fiber 22" and will give a conservative effective range of 600 yards for the canyons here in AZ. I will run a suppressor sometimes. If not for long range capability, it would be a lot shorter. The magazines are also small and plastic, might even be lighter than even aluminum BDL bottom metal. I won't give up magazines to save weight...

Someone mentioned the scope. I am also dropping from 35 mm tube MK 5 to a 30 mm tube and went with the 44mm LHT from Vortex. And, I am planning on direct mount Hawkins Precision rings to cut out the weight of a picatiny rail, though I will probably have to modify the rings or my action. That saves a good proportion of weight.

Also on barrel length. I run longer barrels on my long range rifles for velocity. But, for anything inside "normal" hunting ranges I would run between 16 and 20 inches for sure. And, I would not go magnum and carry the extra weight of the brass and bullets. A .243 cartridge can weigh a LOT less than a 300 win mag. A shorter barrel can also be smaller profile because there is less whip. A 7-08 ackley improved is a solid option, just behind a 280 and 284, and can run in short action for sure. You can save pounds if you go with a shorter/smaller profile barrel and short action cartridge.

The difference in velocity between an 18 inch .243 and a 20 inch is negligible for any ballistic or terminal effect inside 400 yards on a typical short action cartridge. Even down to a 16 inch its not very material. The only thing is you get a lot more muzzle blast with short action cartridges below 18 and magnum cartridges below 20-22 inches depending on the size of the powder charge. My "coyote" bolt action barrels are a .243 shooting light bullets and 16.1 inches long and threaded for my suppressor.

For my next 7 sherman short mag, I am cutting 4 inches off the length and going to a 22 inch. The powder charge in that caliber is significantly less than a 7 rem mag, so 22 inches is a very effective barrel length and doesn't have the muzzle blast like a 7 rem mag.

When I went buffalo hunting, which is from a blind or in a meadow at most 200 yards up in the Kaibab, I found the shortest .308 barrel I could find. I wish it would have been 16, but it was 20.

 

[Oregon Hunter]

Concern I would have on this is the cord breaking wearing on a tough hunt and my rifle just falling off my shoulder. I would say easiest way for guys to lighten a hunting rifle would be ditch the tactical scope with a 50mm objective for lighter option. You can drop significant ounces on that alone. Go with aluminum rings and bases.

I worried about that too, and it would definitely be something to keep an eye on. Couldn't agree more about the lighter scopes. Especially with some cool offerings from Leupold in the VX3 line with the locking turrets

 

[Oregon Hunter]

Less weight = more felt recoil = less accurate. I try to cut weight in other areas.

I see the logic there. With the backpacks now that have built-in gun carriers I could see weight being a little more manageable

 

[Oregon Hunter]

Look at the lightweight sling option in the sheep or lightweight gear sub forum. Short answer, yeah, paracord fits through the swivel stud eye.

I wonder how much weight it saves? 2-4 ounces? Even though it's a small amount, I would consider it free weight because you don't have to give up anything

 

[Oregon Hunter]

I ditched the sling mounts/studs completely since I always carry my rifle either strapped to my pack or in a Kifaru Gunbearer. I’m not a long range hunter and most of my shots are under 250 yards, and since I usually have my pack, I don’t have a need for a bipod. If I do drop my pack for a quick final stalk, I’ll just carry my rifle in my hands and improvise some sort of rest from the terrain, but I rarely do that. I’ve also used my trekking poles to cradle my rifle for a shot. Aside from mounting the absolute lightest, quality, scope I can find, and sometimes changing out a few things on my rifles to make them lighter, like skeletonized titanium bolt handle and aluminum trigger guard, I haven’t really made any other wt. cutting changes. All my mountain rifles are no more than 6.5 lbs. all up, and this includes magnum calibers. There’s no way I’d lug a rifle that was much heavier than that up into the mountains, for my type of hunting, there’s just no need for it.


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I think being honest about where we hunt and white or needs truly are can help us select a better rifle, like you have done