Still on the quest for a light .308 Win.

[Paul B.]

"For some reason this thread puts me in mind of a scene in the 13th Warrior.

The "arab" is given a large sword, and says "I cannot lift this!"
The Viking replies with a laugh, and says "Grow stronger!!!""

I think you got it right. Movie was IIC was a flop.

Back to the subject at hand, when I decided to build a lightweight rifle the synthetic stocks were few and far between. I built two .308 lightweights; the first on a Remington 660. Got an early H&S Precision that was made out of some foam stuff they called Fiberthane IIRC. Came out at 7.5 pounds in the final rendition. The second was built on an intermediate DWM Mauser action A 19" very slim barrel and a Harry Lawson thumbhole stock. Wood was some kind of maple I think but do not remember for sure. Whatever it was it was quite light. The 660 had a 20" barrel. The Mauser 7.1 pounds loaded, scoped and with a sling. Both rifles will shoot MOA but the Remington will sometimes slip a bit and shoot a few .75" groups. The Remington still has the original barrel while the Mauser has a barrel more like a soda straw than a gun barrel. Both are easy to carry in the boonies, especially the thumbhole stocked rifle. The Remington has accounted for many of the Mule Deer I've taken over the year in its various iterations. The Mauser only a couple as I recall.
Paul B.

[44 AMP]

Movie was IIC was a flop.

that movie is listed as a box office flop. Which means it didn't make as much in the theaters as they thought it should have. Its an excellent movie and has a considerable following among those of us who ignore movie critics and judge for ourselves.

For what can be done with a Rem 600 series rifle, check out what Harry Lawson did with his Cochise thumbhole sporter based on that action. Functional, effective, to my eye beautiful, and also pretty light.

Original 600s had 18.5" barrels. Very light barrels and not good group shooters generally, but quite good enough for hunting use. The 660 was the magnum version, later versions had a heavier 20" tube like the Mohawk 600s.

[taylorce1]

Went to the GS and held some light rifles, but none on my list. Christensen Ridgeline, Springfield Waypoint, and Fierce CF (can't remember model), all nice rifles and way over budget. The Waypoint won't make for a light rifle without some different choices.

The store owner who is about to retire from the State Patrol and go full time at the store, and we had a good discussion. He said he started looking for rifles that would extend his range and allow him to shoot longer distances. I told him I was looking for something I could carry longer on a hunting trip. We both agreed what we were looking for valid for our uses.

He still tried to sell me the CA or the Fierce rifle, I just said I like being married. We both had a good laugh.

[GeauxTide]

I'm not familiar with the Savage Storm, but I have a Left Hand Weather Warrior SS in 260. Accustock, Accutrigger and it shot 1/2" out the box. I'm re-barreling a Tactical in 6.5 Creed to a sporter configuration and I'm sure it will print tight, too. For the value and accuracy, it's hard to look at anything else.

[taylorce1]

I have nothing against Savage, and own a few rifles. I just don't like the Accufit stock on the LWS, and to buy a new stock that keep the weight down will almost double the cost of the rifle. That makes it the most expensive rifle of them all. Then I'll have to spend $125 to thread for my suppressor at my gunsmith.

I did like the CA Ridgeline, but it was the Carbon Fiber 22" barrel and $2300. I imagine the 20" steel barrel FFT will handle similarly. I missed my chance on a used .308 Montana the other day because I couldn't watch the auction, it sold for $1,100. I'm not in that big of a hurry and I still have my current .308 I can hunt with.

[JasoninSD]

Well, if it is a wilderness hunt while afoot, then everything is a trade off for weight vs. functionality and desire to carry the weight. If you can find a slightly lighter pack or slightly lighter boots, it all adds up. Just looking at the weights, it is hard to beat the Howa for that price point.

Good luck on whichever you get and if it is the Howa, I'm sure I would not be the only one who would like to hear a report on how you like it.

[taylorce1]

A little update, I found a deal on the Howa. I bought it or $821 before tax. I also took it immediately to my gunsmith for a little work.

The alloy scope rail was a little proud on the rear receiver ring, and my bolt handle would rub. So I'm having the back of the base faced off and re-coated. If there were other options for scope mounting I'd probably have bought a new scope rail. Talley is the only manufacturer right now making a scope mount.



For those interested, the rifle doesn't weigh 4 lbs 7 oz. It is 4 lbs 10.6 oz in .308 Win, so it's a little heavier than advertised. The barreled action, scope base and trigger weighed 3 lbs 7 oz, stock weighs 1 lb 0.6 oz, and the polymer trigger guard with magazine and action screws weighs 3 oz.





Howa still has a MOA guarantee for 3 shots with factory premium ammunition at 100 yards. My goal with this rifle is consistently put all shots in a 6" plate from the bench or prone bipod at 400 yards, and 10" plate from field positions of of sticks or pack at the same range. This will cover the majority of hunting I do from pronghorn to elk.

[JasoninSD]

Thanks for the update. Please let us know how it shoots.

While 4lb, 10oz is certainly greater than 4lb, 7oz, it is really an impressively light weight for a sub $1000 production rifle. I hope it shoots well.

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by JasoninSD

While 4lb, 10oz is certainly greater than 4lb, 7oz, it is really an impressively light weight for a sub $1000 production rifle. I hope it shoots well.

I had to take out a store credit card and stack my Military discount to get it for under $1000. It was between this rifle and the Mesa FFT, but the FFT was still over $400 more if applying the same tactics. The best deals I found online still were $900 before tax and shipping, then add a $30 transfer and I was back over $1000. This rifle barely went under $900 out the door with sales tax.

The only thing I'd love to see is alloy bottom metal, or polymer around metal bushings for the action screws. Just something more resistant to cracking, so I could play more with the torque of the action screws. I've been able in the past to tune in some accuracy issues with torque at the front screw. I also might have cracked a trigger guard at least once from forgetting to back off the in-lbs on my FAT Wrench.

[skywag]

Savage 99 in .308

[taylorce1]

@skywag, nice 99. However, they aren't my cup of tea. I had a 99A Brush Gun in .358 Win for several years. Finally sold it to someone who appreciated it more than me.

[JustJake]

Back in the day, the Old School Remmy M660 in .308 weighed in at about 6.5lbs, unloaded.

Sometimes these M660s in decent condition pop up on GB.

[taylorce1]

Originally Posted by JustJake

Back in the day, the Old School Remmy M660 in .308 weighed in at about 6.5lbs, unloaded.

They aren't bad rifles thats for sure. However, they aren't as light as the rifle I bought. I threw an Athlon Helos BTR Gen2 4-20X50 scope on it tonight and the rifle was 6 lbs 9 oz. Add my suppressor that I reconfigured back to direct thread at 14 oz, that has me under 7.5 lbs unloaded an no sling.

[Scorch]

that has me under 7.5 lbs unloaded an no sling

Well, loaded and scoped at 7.5 lbs is a great start. Good job!

[taylorce1]

Better picture, I think it's going to shoot okay. I shot some PPU 150gr ammunition to break in the barrel today. PPU has not shot great in our other .308 rifles. It didn't shoot great today either, but stayed around 2.5" for 14 shots.

I did one shot clean for the first 10 rounds, then three shots clean for the last nine. I used the 20th shot as a fouling shot all unsuppressed, before shooting three rounds of Hornady American Whitetail (AW) 150gr ammunition. AW shoots well in our other .308 rifles so I thought it might work in this rifle, it was slightly better than the PPU.

So I then installed the suppressor, and things went bad. The rifle shot around 8 MOA for the next nine rounds. It wasn't unexpected, I hung 14 ounces on the end of an extremely light contour barrel.

[taylorce1]

So I picked up some Federal GMM 168 grain ammunition as between honeydos, painters, and work I don't have time to work on a load right now. I'm still trying to figure out what to do next, I'll also admit I'm having a rough time shooting this rifle. At 6.5 lbs from the bench it has been harder to control than my 7 lbs .30-06.

I shot 10 rounds of the Fed GMM yesterday. Shots 1-6, fed from magazine let barrel cool 10 minutes between 3 shot groups. POA center of large diamond. Groups measured with Range Buddy app.

Group size 2.04", Group Area 1.35" Wide 2.01" High, Mean Radius 0.84", and POI 2.65" Left 2.54" Low.

Adjusted scope 6/10 mil up and same 6/10 mil adjustment right, shot 7-10 same POA as shots 1-6. Shots 7-9 from magazine and single loaded shot 10 from the top with no cooling time.

Group size 2.27" Group Area 0.82" wide 2.24" High, Mean Radius 0.81", POI 2.65" Left 0.28" Low.

All shots at 16X as it bracketed the target the best at 100 yards. I was expecting a similar sized group as the first two, but surprised it shot low first shot and actually moved left. I'm not happy the scope didnt obey windage inputs. All shots with hand resting over top of scope, and not having my thumb wrapped around grip. Sling studs were removed.



I'll be swaping out the scope for my NF this morning. I'm really not happy that the windage didn't move, and I'll test the Athlon later and see if it was a fluke or not. Now before anyone says something about my bench technique, I was just following Mark Bansner's advice for shooting light rifles. If you fast forward to 8 minutes he explains this technique, I just don't have the Bulls Bag style rest mine is similar to the Caldwell Deadshot.