huntinglight? sub 4 pound centerfire rifle

[David Chenault]

6.5 Swede factory ammo is loaded pretty soft because of the older milsurp rifles out there. Handloading should get velocities a couple hundred FPS faster than the .260 using the same bullet.

But that's neither here nor there.

The Kimber Montana is a sweat rifle. The Mountain Ascent is kinda silly; you're paying ~800 dollars for an ugly camo paint job, flutes on the barrel, muzzle brake, and alu bolt handle and trigger guard. Weight savings in .308 compared to the Montana runs a little under 200 bucks an ounce.

Look forward to seeing what you come up with Tim. If you can build a 4.3 lb 6.5 for under 2 grand I might have a reason to get interested in ARs.

[Tim Marshall]

That's the hope. Iteration 1 will be just over 5# I believe as my budget was only $700 to start. The wife has a death grip on my wallet;). Upgrades will finish the weight reduction and caliber swap and I can sneak away cash in the following months. I'll keep a full list of parts used and weight I can share when done if wanted. Right now it all counts on the mfg correctly advertised weight and me not missing anything important. This is after all my first rodeo;)

-Tim

[Dave P]

Yeah, Mountain Ascent is kind of silly when one considers they could do custom works for more significant weight reduction for less money.

See: http://www.thealaskalife.com/guns/kimber-rifles/

Although I would imagine finding a titanium bolt would be difficult to find these days.

[Dave P]

Came across this article easier today:

Petzal: Why I Hate Detachable Magazines

"Here is why I dislike detachable magazines.

Very often, either because they are defective in design or manufacture, or because you didn’t shove them in all the way, they fall to the ground where they break, are lost, or become so loaded up with dirt or snow that you now have a single-shot.

They add to the weight of a gun.

You can lose them.

A stock with a cutout for a detachable magazine is less rigid than a stock with a blind magazine.

Hinged floorplates pop open accidentally, but all you lose are your cartridges."

[Tim Marshall]

I got to work on this over the winter. I built what I believe is the lightest center fire rifle ever made. I’m waiting on a custom 6.5grendel barrel to show up but the 5.56 version weights in at 3#2oz. I expect the Grendel version to be sub 3.5#! This is with stock parts and full functionality, no holes drilled in anything or special custom pieces made, not yet.  Fully functional semi auto ar-15 just over 3#.  I’m pretty sure if I start cutting, grinding, and modify the funcation to be “bolt action” I can get a 16″ Grendel rifle built under 3#.  The Grendel barrel is mentioned as custom, it’s from x-caliber so even though I asked for special contours and fluting it’s no more custom than any other barrel they offer, all made to order.  Oh, and I got a new upper that is 2.5oz lighter than the one used for 3#2oz weigh in!  I’m having fun for sure;)

-Tim

 

[Luke Schmidt]

Wow that is seriously light Tim. I wonder what the kick will be like on that with full bore loads.

[Tim Marshall]

I haven’t shot it yet, just finished it the other day. I already want to swap some parts around as I got a new polymer upper receiver to try. This is about as plastic/carbon fiber as a gun can get.

-Tim

[tkkn c]

Tim, Can we get a “parts list” of the build?   Have you had a chance to try it out yet?

[Tim Marshall]

Barrel is 14.5″ and not pinned yet so last night I ran 100+ through it on a pistol lower I have. Needs a lot of oil for the aluminum bcg to run smooth. I let a couple buddies try it and they had feeding issues but they are new to ARs and it worked fine for me once I got it sloppy wet:). Gas was adjusted just enough for the bolt to lock on empty mag and it shot very soft. The lower was lighter than milspec but not as light as my carbon fiber one.

Parts from memory w/o weights

smoke composites short open stock + castle nut and buffer plate

tegra arms carbon lower

new frontier polymer lpk

magpul k grip

v7 buffer detent

faxon 14.5″ pencil barrel

mag tactical aluminum muzzle break

mid length gas tube

slr titanium adjustable gas block

smoke composites barrel nut

.03″ thick carbon tube 10″

Anderson slickside upper (replacing with polymer soon)

v7 titanium firing pin

AIM nib bolt

whiskey arms aluminum bolt carrier

v7 charging handle

 

once the Grendel barrel comes in I will do a full parts write up with weights and some pictures

-Tim

 

[tkkn c]

Thanks for the list, it has gotten my gears going on my build.

[Tim Marshall]

I left off these two

tubbs flat wire cs Spring

taccom ultralight buffer set

-Tim

[Doug Smith]

I’ve never been hunting…actually, that’s not accurate, I shot a prairie dog 22 years ago.  Haha.   But I can say this, if the day comes that I go hunting, I will be carrying my M48 in 8mm Mauser with Nosler 200 grain accubonds moving at 2700fps.  I know, it’s a silly choice (and yes, it is stock with iron sights).  But there is something romantic to me about the idea of hunting with a bolt action Mauser.  Since I’ll never go on an African Safari, this is the closest I could see myself getting.   I’d go light on the other gear, but not the rifle.

I really don’t have much interest in hunting, personally (though nothing against it for others).  I’ve thought about going with one of my buddies as his spotter.  At least I’d still get to wander the wilderness with my Mauser and pretend it’s the turn of the century.  Hahaha

[Dave @ Oware]

Fostech now has it down to 3.5 lbs in a commercial AR 15 centerfire rifle.

 

[Tim Marshall]

3#2.3oz 6.5grendel ar-15

Still need ammo and Grendel mags to give it a test fire but the rifle is finished, for now;)

i can drop .4oz by removing the bolt catch, it’s not a combat rifle and quick reloads will not be needed.  However, I wanted a complete rifle before I start removing functionality.  Also it is currently using a Milspec selector instead of the polymer one from the LPK, I just couldn’t get it to work so I moved on, another .2-.3oz saved.

for those interested the x-caliber 16″ pencil fluted barrel came out at 20.5oz, only 1oz more than the lightest 16″ .223 barrel from faxon.

i’m in my happy place for sure

-Tim

 

[tkkn c]

That is impressive!

[Dave @ Oware]

That is the best looking AR rifle. How is it working these days?

[Tim Marshall]

It works pretty good. I have occasional feeding issues. I need to tweak the gas system a little I think. I am thinking about removing the gas and buffer systems and adding a side charge to make it “bolt action”. That would easily get it under 3# and very likely solve feeding issues related to bolt speed. It would also quiet down action noise and allow removal of the bolt catch. I still haven’t switched to ti grip screw and trigger pins which can save more weight, as would the next adjustable gas block.  I’d like to drill a magazine out skeletonizing it inside the mag well,  just been busy with other stuff

Im not much of a shot so I haven’t really been able to test its accuracy. Had some ammo problems at first but factory Hornaday has been working great.

-Tim

[Dave @ Oware]

The new Nosler book has reloading data for it. Some nice bullets too including

solid copper alloy at 120 grains that should be pretty tough. Save your brass.

I think I will start researching a bit. Would like to do a build.

[Tim Marshall]

Dave,

PM me and I’ll give you my email. I have complete parts list and optional parts also categorized:)

youtube videos by NSZ85 pretty much cover everything. You can ask me anything else or I can point you

if you reload consider .257 bobcat or 7mm Valkyrie. Should be able to build same light rifle with tons more power

[Dave @ Oware]

Hi Tim-

How has the rifle worked out for you? Has the lower held up okay? Read a review about one cracking.

 

[Dave @ Oware]

With a new law here in WA starting in the new year,  about any semi auto purchases, even little 22 kids rimfires, requiring extra training, fees and loss of medical privacy (the DMV and police getting to paw thru medical records annually), I am thinking about at least getting a lower to avoid the red tape.

Also it looks like the Grendel is the most viable of the current SAAMI rounds for deer hunting at longer ranges. Any experiences you could share. I used a 25 cal to put meat in the freezer this year. It worked fine at 360 yards so a 26 cal should work too.

meats in the freezer lets go skiing, woods all cut and in the shed

[Tim Marshall]

I agree Grendel is the best saami round that will fit in the AR platform.

Gun is holding fine but I never use it. I don’t hunt but I might some day;)

[Author]

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