Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Help me build an ultra, ultra light rifle....

I've got a hankering to build an ultra, ultra-light weight mule deer rifle. I scored a Barrett Fieldcraft action (about 18 oz.) and I've ordered a Manners Classic carbon fiber stock (17 oz...but it will require some slight mods at the floorplate inlet). I think I can get a barrel with a .625" muzzle to come in at 2.0 lbs with some careful fluting. With a dab to titanium epoxy putty at the tang and recoil lug, I should end up at a little over 4 lbs. Here is my questions: should I go 6.5mm Creed or 6.5-.284? My barrel length will only be 22" and everything I've read says you want at least 24" if you're shooting the 6.5-.284 and preferably 26". So, I'm thinking 6.5 Creed, much as I hate to get on that bandwagon. The other option would be go ahead with a longer barrel (25"?) and chamber it in 6.5-.284. It would be closer to 5-5 1/2 lbs and no longer ultra, ultra light, but still pretty light. Any thoughts/advise is appreciated.

A bigger hole in the barrel would save a good bit of weight

Feildcraft really only weighs 18oz? That include trigger and bottom metal?

A #1 Douglas @ 22" and .560" @ the muzzle weighs approx 2.25 LBS . Add 2" and you gain 8 ozs , +/-.

I'm not certain. (Don't have it in hand yet. It is en route.) The Fieldcraft has no bottom metal (blind mag). The New Ultra Light Arms Model 20 (short action) weighs 20 oz with bolt and has a receiver diameter of 1.220". The Barrett has a receiver diameter of 1.225", but is slab-sided and the bolt is fluted (albeit shallow), so using the NULA Model 20 for reference, I'm guessing about 18 oz. for the Barrett action and bolt. FWIW, the Defiance AnTi (stainless steel) is heavily lightened and weighs 21 oz, but is a full diameter receiver (1.35"). Interestingly, Pierce Engineering is claiming 16 oz. for their Titanium long-action (using a higher grade of Ti than anyone else, supposedly) and also using a Ti bolt.

I have a Sauer 200 lightweight in .270 that has a barrel 22" long and weighs 2 lbs and 1.8 oz. Amazingly, the muzzle diameter is .625. It is fluted (6) and has a diameter of only .730" at 6" from the breech face, which is smaller than any barrel I have come across. Also, the fluting begins about one inch from where the barrel begins tapering after the straight cylinder, whereas most barrels start their fluting 5 inches from the taper on the straight breech cylinder. I'm wondering if the Sauer barrel is forged or a Lothar Walther product. I sure do like the taper.

Mark Bansner's Yukoner has a gorgeous fluted barrel about .625" at the muzzle I believe. With the Legendary Arms action it comes in at 5.5 lbs with a High Tech stock weighing about 23 oz. I think. However, Hart will not duplicate the contour as it is proprietary to Bansner, even though Hart makes the barrel.

https://www.bansnerandcompany.com/bansner-custom-rifles/yukoner/

Never heard of a proprietary barrel contour. I could be wrong, but I don't think there is such a thing.

I think what they were saying (or what they meant to say) is that they would not make a barrel for me in the same contour as they did for Bansner because it was Bansner's contour (design). Obviously, anyone can copy a contour but Hart was not going to make a barrel for me in a contour that originated with Bansner when they promised Bansner that the contour would be for barrels they did for him only and for no one else. That makes sense to me.

tarquin.obviously your keeping busy.my 257 bee project is underway with the 8 twist.i know the bansner stocks are a few more ounces than your needs but i have 4 and the way they feel in hand works well for me.keep us updated on this ultralite build.

This is a subject near and dear to my lunacy.
I'll try to address a few of the questions as best I can.

Short answer - I would personally go 6.5 creed and I would expect to be about 7-8 ounces lighter than a 6.5 fieldcraft (5 pounds 3 oz for the 21' 6.5 cm.)

The fieldcraft stock weighs ~ 26 ounces. That leaves 57 ounces for the remaining barreled action and all metal. Figure 20 (ish) ounces on the action, a couple for the trigger, a couple/three for the TG, box, and screws, and you are at about 25 ounces. That leaves you a 32 oz (two pound!) barrel (essentially a Douglas #1 contour with 1.25" shank and 21" length.) You are going to be hard pressed to get any lighter on the barrel or any of the components.

The Manners UC is one of the lightest stocks I know of - my adl is 18.6 ounces with pad and studs (but before aluminum pillars) so I am guessing 19 oz when finished. However, the space between the end of existing mag box cutout and pillar channel is only 0.28" - if you intend to remove more to accommodate the 3" fieldcraft box you are going to be darn thin on material. The other thing about the UC in adl is the area where the floorplate would go is completely flat - think McMillan MR flat but worse. One of the things I really like about a stock designed from the start to be adl (ks, Kimber Montana, nula, FC) is that the area under the magazine is nicely rounded.

The pierce ti that weights 16 oz is an upgrade to the standard ti action and not the one priced on their website. It will run you more than a new fieldcraft (if you can find one.) I have one on order and it will go into my adl UC as a 6.5 CM with an 8 twist 22" Hart made Douglas number two. I expect it will come in between 4 1/2 and 4 3/4 pounds. The only advantage over the fieldcraft (angels on pinheads stuff) will be a trigger tech, ability to run Hawkins hybrids, and a cost 3 times as much. Both will ultimately shoot far better than I can.

If you are wanting a 6.5-284 think about a CLR conversion - ample space in the M28 length mag box.

It's late, Im rambling, I probably forgot something ... good luck with your project and keep us updated.

Perhaps you meant 0.8 oz per inch? Adding 2 inches at the muzzle on a 22” #1 will add less than 2 oz.

Excellent info AKwolverine. Glad to know I'm not the only one overly fixated on lightweight! If you don't mind, what is a "CLR conversion"? As far as the Manners UC in ADL, I haven't got the stock in hand yet, but was thinking of making it into an ADL and yes, it could be a real challenge to make it look nice. I was also wondering if there was any way to lengthen an APA mag and bottom metal. I'll have to do some more analysis when the stock gets here before finalizing my strategy.

My 280AI is built on a Pierce Ti receiver. It has a very thin contour barrel made by Stan Taylor at Douglas. Mark Brown of Brown Precision made a custom Kevlar ADL stock. A Jewell trigger and lightweight aluminum combo rings and bases. It is light enough to hurt if shot off the bench for a while.

Tarquin,
CLR conversion is the colt light rifle conversion that Mel Forbes does.
With regard to the manners UC stock, how are you intending to “making it into an ADL?” How did you spec it from manners?

Manners offered to try to ADL it for me and I should have taken them up on the offer. They had a return stock "in stock" and it would have delayed shipment so I just said inlet for an APA mag and bottom metal and send it. I was going to try to do the ADL conversion myself (I've worked with carbon fiber and fiberglass a fair bit as a hobbyist) if the APA mag set up doesn't work. (I am thinking I can either lengthen an APA mag and bottom metal with TIG.) The Barrett mag well will accommodate a 3.0" COAL so I want to take full advantage of that.

Pierce quoted me 10-12 weeks on a new Ti long action (their super-light, 16 oz. version) so I sent a deposit. Apparently lug set back is an issue with all Ti receivers, but Pierce says with their actions set back is only about "a thou" even with a Ti receiver and bolt and then only after 1000 rounds or more, which you can accommodate by adjusting your FL die if needed. Then there is also the issue of galling, 'specially with Ti on Ti. Pierce says they use DLC on the receiver and bolt and they also have a roller cocking piece to eliminate galling at that location (aka BAT actions).

Here is how I have done it in the past: Take some wide tape (the kind they use for wrapping pipe) and tape under the action where the bottom metal cut-out is and use enough tape so you have some radius on the bottom of the stock (wrap the tape perpendicular to the stock). Then, lay up your carbon fiber with epoxy from the top of the stock/magwell and press it against the tape and let it set up. Then you have to do some fill work on the outside with epoxy putty for the trigger guard and front escutcheon and you have to clean up the inside with a dremel tool to accommodate your ADL mag box and clean up the outside too (sand paper). Then it is trial and error for fitment of mag box and action till it all works (hopefully).

FYI, Manners says they are coming out with a long action version of their UC stock in a few months. A Pierce long action Ti at 16 oz. and the Manners UC stock at 17-18 oz. and a Bartlein no. 2 contour fluted could give a guy a 4.5-5 lb long-actioned rifle which would be impressive.

Luke Moffat built a three pound+ gun, and I would too if I weren't a lefty.

Start with a Kimber mountain ascent, add a manners? and a bit of Ti goodies and viola. Anyway, check out his ultralight thread at the Rokslide for the deets.....

Barrel weights according to Douglas

https://picclick.com/Douglas-Premiu...l-351244785941.html#&gid=1&pid=4

You are comparing a number one to a number two; there is more difference than just the 2 inches at the muzzle.