October 9th, 2022Sunday gunday: Light is right — 4.93-lb, 6.5×47 Hunting rifleIn our Shooters Forum, there’s a thread about a very lightweight hunting rifle. This lightweight 6.5×57 Lapua weighs in at 4.93 pounds, including scope and rings, thanks to a Defiance ultralight all-steel operation. This rifle is light at just 4.93 pounds including scope and rings. A half-gallon worth of milk weighs in at 4.3 pounds. This is the report of the proud owner who built this rifle for a future Kodiak Island Alaska Mountain Goat hunt. It was the perfect excuse for me to build an ultralight, something that I have wanted to do for many years. I wanted to see how light a bolt-action rifle could be. My goal was to keep the rifle under 5 pounds. I didn’t want to go to Titanium, but I did have to include rings and scope. This was a difficult goal, but I managed to accomplish it. I started with a Defiance anTi Rem Model 7 short action. This action is extremely smooth and weighs only 19.2 ounces. Carson Lilja from Lilja Barrels programmed a barrel taper to my dimensions for a 6-inch 1:8?-twist stainless 3-groove 22. barrel. The barrel is free-floated as it is fitted into the rifle. An aluminum adapter was also installed in the foreend to accept a magnet mount Javelin carbon fibre bipod. The rifle was chambered in 6.5×47 Lapua from Sportsman’s Outfitters in Knox. The barreled action was then sent to Wayne at Oregunsmithing in Pendleton, OR to have a Kevlar Stock made. The stock is 14 ounces in weight! Everything was Cerakoted when it returned (see bottom photo before coating). This stock was a custom made, built around my barreled action. Wayne’s work was reasonable priced and delivered within three months. Excellent accuracy — 5/8? Three-Shot Groups at 100 yards
It was now time to shoot the rifle. I was not disappointed. It can shoot both Barnes TTSX 100s and Swift Scirocco II 130s at 5/8? at 100 yards. Three go into 3 from a 400-yard bipod. or so. This thing is light, even though it has a 22? barrel. This 6.5×47 rifle weighed in at just 4.20 pounds (67.2 ounces) without scope and rings before Cerakoting it’s action and barrel. It’s worth a look:
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