I would not have a smith removing weight from the action. If you wanted a lighter action just buy a lighter action designed that way from the start. Look at the lighting cuts on the Jungle Carbines and what a dreadful effect it had. It is even worse when other's attempt to fake a Jungle Carbine. I can not imagine getting much lighter than a M7 action though or needing too. Geritol and P90X even better than machining the action lighter! That is not a joke or a barb either running, body weight exercise, weights to get ready for a hunt in the Mountain is fairly standard. Same thing for Africa getting in to shape never hurts since being fat and out of shape or skinny and out of shape always makes bad weather, high altitude, lots of activity, high heat and high humidity that much more miserable! Trust me I am fatter than I should be and I would give myself the same advice!
The barrel work all makes sense but just starting with a lighter profile would have made all of that unnecessary. Heavy barrels profiles make perfect sense for a competition gun where you might have to fire a long string with little time to cool the barrel depending on wind conditions and time left on the clock! For a medium to big game rifle it almost never makes sense unless you have someone else that carries your gear for you be it a human or a horse or motor vehicle. LOL The case can be made for a good sling and shooting sticks making some of the above a non-issue as well. I know Brux has a limit on how thin a contour they will offer but I have no clue what it is. I love Brux barrels and use nothing but on my competition rifles but not on a hunting rifle I am going to carry in the mountains or even just hilly terrain or dense woods. The older I get (45 Currently) the more stupid a heavy barrel seems on anything I am going to use to hunt deer size an larger game on foot! LOL
You are going to pay for a lot of machine time that would be unnecessary if you had just chosen a different profile maybe from another barrel maker if need be. You are going to have a Gunsmith remove metal from one of the lightest mass produced rifle actions that has already been blue printed by PTG makes no sense.You might as well cut everything off behind the locking lugs and fit a artillery canon breach with interrupted threads for the ultimate in stiffness and light weight! LOL I am joking please do not do that! For the record unlike a shorter barrel in any given profile a shorter action does not make for a stiffer action. Nothing behind the locking lugs matter's once locked in terms of stiffness. getting rid of the bolt and firing pin and the camming pressure would help but that is different from action stiffness at lock up!
You went with a wood stock which I have to say is my preference too for a hunting action. I know synthetics are more stabil, durable, and can be made lighter but they are rather ugly! If you decide to pillar and glass bed that is even more weight! I would at the very least hog that thing out and glass it completely not the modern fast, cheap, dirty skim type bedding you see so often today.
I also understand that you sometimes we buy barrels and stocks with out a need or a specific purpose in mind because a crazy good deal comes along you just can not say no! I have 8 barrels I did not need when I bought them because I got killer deals on them. I needed 2 barrels I bought 8. N+1 rings true! LOL I keep saying no to fantastic wood blanks or roughed in stock blanks because fantastic deals keep coming. So I understand!
So I went to Remingtons sight and according to them the 700 in a magnum caliper can be had in the 6 1/2 pound range if you do not get an insanely heavy stock or barrel wise. 6 1/2lbs. is not a beast at all pre scope for a magnum chambering. I did not do much research so I am sure you can do a 700 in a non-magnum even lighter from the factory and obviously more so on a semi-custom build. The Model 7's listed that they are 2 3/8 inch shorter over all than the 700 line and perfect for small stature individuals and lightning fast follow up shot but did not give an overall weight on them that I could see. I seem to recall the M7 Titanium being very light though.
I like your choices I really do but I think if you are chasing weight and you are coming in at 7.5lbs. ready to hunt in a 24.5 inch barrel and Remington M7 action you have some cognitive dissonance in total build part selection if light weight is what you wanted in a hunting rifle to carry afield. You could easily shave 2lbs. off of that with no extra machine work at all just by using a lighter barrel. You gain nothing with a heavier barrel on a medium to large game rifle accuracy wise with a heavy barrel especially not with the first shot out of a cold bore!
The Manners Hybrid is one of the ugliest stocks on earth and at $599 retail it looks cheaper than a Ramline Synthetic. Do note I am not saying there is anything wrong with it's materials or design from a technical stand point only that it is the ugliest $600 stock I have ever seen. Your stock will look much better. I hope you do not sand all the edges off of the stock to make it look like the Manners Melting Appearance. The melt down look was a cool look in the 1980's on 1911's and Browning Hi Powers not such a good look on a hunting rifles stock! I likewise hope you do not paint your stock too look like a Manners Hybrid!!! You could get some insanely nice wood even Mable with tons of figure for less than $600!
Obviously your coin you can do what you like the only person that needs to love it is you! No right or wrong for sure! I do not often build a hunting rifle with a specific weight in mind. I have to worry about weight on competition guns which means compromises all the time. I think too many people today build rifles way too heavy to be an ideal hunting rifle. You could put a 12.9lbs. barrel on a medium to large game hunting rifle and really it would not make it a better hunting rifle it would only make it heavier! Adding flutes and lightening the action would be silly in light of a 12.9lbs. barrel. I have a 12.9lbs. barrel blank. It has an OD of 1.40 straight cylinder. It is not a raw blank either it has been turned.
So do not misunderstand me! I like your build it just seems like it is trying to go in too many directions at once to me!
Have you thought about finish? I am going to try wood dyes instead of stains and then do it up in Tung Oil. Contrary to popular myth Tung Oil unlike Linseed Oil is in fact water proof it has been used for centuries in Asia to waterproof wooden boats. Unlike Linseed oil Tung Oil is hydrophobic. It is not a fast drying product and does take a lot of coats. I have used Tung Oil for about 30 years on furniture as well as boiled linseed, and French Polish but I have always used boiled linseed, Spar Varnish or French Polish on rifles. Boiled Linseed was always cheap and available every where in America. Since I kept French Polish around for antique refinishing again it was always handy. Often times I stayed with what ever a stock had already been finished with to keep things easy. Since I am starting with virgin wood I really want to see how Tung Oil just pure Tung Oil works out long term.
I look forward to seeing how she turns out and even more importantly to how she shoots! Cheer's!
