I am wondering how light I can get a 24" barreled Weatherby Mark V. Trying for 6.25 pounds without a scope, but not sure if that is doable. Any real life input would be appreciated. Trying to stay away from the lightweight factory option if possible (yes I am either frugal, poor, or dumb). Thanks in advance.

I have a Wby. Mark V 6lug 30-06 that I chambered to AI and it's a good shooter at .9". 24"bbl. and factory plastic/fiber stock. Bedded the action and floated the bbl. except for the end of the stock. It weighs 6 lbs. 12 oz. WITH rings and no scope. This is pretty close to what you are trying for but maybe not quite there. You could drill out the butt stock but not sure that make sense as at some point you lose integrity of the piece you're working on. Good Luck, I got a Tikka and didn't have to screw with this anymore.

They used to sell a 7-08 in the Super Big Game Master at 6 1/2 ish

And they were sure "whippy" with that #1 contour. Tough to shoot accurately offhand IME, but I only had the 30-06 & 338-06 for a short time.

I'm sure someone could shave some weight off the action like Rifles Inc does with 700s.

KLM;
Good morning to you sir, hopefully this still Sunday finds you well.

While this isn't exactly real world experience with a Mark V, it might be able to point you in a direction that will enable you to accurately calculate the combined parts weights of your project.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth.../Rifle_Parts_Weights_Library#Post6692788

Based upon a bit of a foggy memory this morning, I'd say that if you're starting out with a Mark V bolt with 9 lugs it's going to be a tall order to hit your goal.

I worked with a couple of the older Browning BBR actions that had a 9 lug bolt and while they were wonderfully smooth actions, the bolt itself was not that far off of a pound.

Whenever I'm attempting to build something with a specific weight target in mind, I've found one of the handiest tools is a decent kitchen scale.

I'll warn you though that light rifle projects can be a bit of a frustrating windmill to tilt at, especially so if one starts out with a beefy action/bolt combination.

Hopefully that was some use to you sir and good luck on your rifle build.

Dwayne

I have a Lightweight MkV 6-lug that weighs 6# bare & a Mk V 9 lug that weighs 7# bare.