111 stock weights

[wjarrell]

I have an older flat back 111 that I built off of last year for mule deer hunting out west. I bought a 24” Criterion light Varmint barrel cambered in 260 and it shoots 140 vld about 1/2 MOA out to 550 yards. I put a Boyd’s pro varmint on it and bed the lug topped with a vortex viper hslr 4-16x44.

Now all loaded it weights 11.5 pounds which on my last hunt I got tired of carrying on our hikes. If I can find a lighter stock than the Boyd’s I will send my gun off and have the barrel fluted to cut more weight. Does the new Bell & Carlson M40 weigh less than the Boyd’s? Or can I get the standard Bell & Carlson sporter stock and open up the barrel chanel enough and still have rails? Anyone have experience in the Bell & Carlson for the blind mag savages? Thanks

[colt56]

The M40 by B&C weighs 2.75 pounds according to their website and the B&C sporter weighs 2.25 pounds. The website isn't as specific as I would like on the barrel channel as it states " standard contour". I am not sure if you could open up the channel enough, so I wont guess. Hopefully someone else can answer that for you.
A few possibilities for you: Boyds has the Featherweight thumb-hole stock that weighs 2.5 pounds in long action and stockade has their thumb-hole that weighs 28-32 ounces. Mcmillian has multiple styles of stocks that weigh 2 pounds. Also ran into a company named TPI they claimed very light stocks like 16-20 ounces light, but the prices were steep.
I cant speak on the weight of the Boyd pro varmint stock but its likely on their website. This is all info off the websites as I am also in search of a light and stiff stock for a couple of my savage builds. 11.5 pounds wouldn't be fun to pack around the Utah mountains where I hunt, and if I had a rifle that I was packing that weighed that much it would be a big magnum not a 260. Hope this helps and good luck.

[jpdown]

Consider buying one of the Cabela's Savage 12FV synthetic stocks listed for sale as a new take-off. It will around 1.6 lbs. And you don't have the added weight of metal DBM parts. It already has a heavy to LV barrel channel. The beavertail forearm is much stiffer than other Savage tupperware stocks, especially if you bed the recoil lug and fill the first stock cavity in front of the recoil lug. All of the Boyd's stocks are between 2.5 to 3.0 lbs. before you add any hardware.

If I remember correctly, my 24" CBI LV profile barrel was around 3.8 lbs verses a Savage factory 22" sporter barrel at around 2.5 lbs. I don't think fluting your barrel will shave off much weight.

[SageRat Shooter]

The Pro varmint is the Heavier of the Boyds stocks... Maybe the Prairie hunter, Classic, or Heritage would be better option for you? My Prairie Hunter is lighter than my Pro varmint by a little bit. With the Lite Varmint profile I'm pretty sure you can fit it in those stocks. I put a CBI Heavy Sporter ( profile description is the same as lite varmint) into my Prairie Hunter, and still had room to open the channel a bit more...