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Home made skeleton stock


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Quote:Looks good what's the total weight unloaded

 

The total weight unloaded is 8 pounds 12 ounces

 

Quote:Overmolded yugo grip? Is the rail worth the weight if 5 oz off the rear was worthwhile?

 

I can't remember what brand the grip is, but it fits my hand well. I'm going to mill off the rear part of the scope mounting rail, the part behind the red dot and the rear support arm. It will still have 3 support arms which is plenty, might save

1-2 ounces there.

My goal is to try to get the weight, with out a mag, down to 7 pounds ( lofty goal I know). So the whole front hand guard is definitely going to have to go. I'll likely have to consider lightening some factory parts so we'll see.

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As a word of advice, don't get so fixed on shaving weight, pay more attention to where you put it.

 

the more you can keep the weight of the gun rearward the less noticeable it will be. Think of it as a lever with a increasing mechanical advantage against you the further away from the center of your body it gets.

 

the first dead weight you can shave off the end of the barrel is the sleeve hanging off the front sight around the end of your barrel.

 

the Shield on the gas tube is another good target for removal.

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As a word of advice, don't get so fixed on shaving weight, pay more attention to where you put it.

 

the more you can keep the weight of the gun rearward the less noticeable it will be. Think of it as a lever with a increasing mechanical advantage against you the further away from the center of your body it gets.

 

the first dead weight you can shave off the end of the barrel is the sleeve hanging off the front sight around the end of your barrel.

 

the Shield on the gas tube is another good target for removal.

He speaketh the truth. I took the whole fsb off and use the ace bolt on front sight with the OEM handguard and it points as well as an AR now in my opinion. The rails were cool but then I got tired of lifting the extra weight.
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As a word of advice, don't get so fixed on shaving weight, pay more attention to where you put it.

 

the more you can keep the weight of the gun rearward the less noticeable it will be. Think of it as a lever with a increasing mechanical advantage against you the further away from the center of your body it gets.

 

the first dead weight you can shave off the end of the barrel is the sleeve hanging off the front sight around the end of your barrel.

 

the Shield on the gas tube is another good target for removal.

Good advice, your correct the AK platform tends to be heavy out front, I'm going to focus my attention in that area.

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  • 3 weeks later...

 

 

A little more work on the lightening project. I took the factory hand guard and lightened it as well as adding some

ventilation slots, removed the heat shield off of the gas tube, and cut off the rear section of the scope mount.

If you look at the pic with the removed pieces you can see that the tip of the Saiga hand guard has metal reinforcing

imbedded in the plastic, its still ridged with the removed pieces. I needed to blue the gas tube as the Parkerizing under the shield was very minimal, not a big deal to do. With the swapping out of the hand guards and the material removal I shaved off 8 ounces so the current weight is 8 pounds 4 ounces with out a Mag. No where near my target weight of 7 pounds ( probably not doable)but its feeling pretty good right now. I could cut off the part of the FSB where you mount a flash hider, skeletonize the sides of the RSB and mill out the bolt carrier as I've seen done in the pic thread. But I don't really believe all that

work will lighten the rifle by 1 pound and 4 ounces. I might try a few other things down the rode but I think I'm going leave it as is for now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Remove the BHO and notch your safety. Same feature (better actually since you can lock it back and be on safe), less weight. Miniscule savings at best tho.

How much does that magwell weigh?

Your side mount may not work with a ribbed cover.

Edited by Mullet Man
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Ribbed dust cover is lighter

Rs regulate side mount is lighter

 

The R S regulate side mount is 5 ounces, mine weighs the same now. Where do you get a ribbed dust cover? and how much does it weigh?

 

Apex carries ribbed dust covers as of this post.

 

Bulgarian ak74...

 

not sure on the weight savings, but the ribbed covers are generally thinner metal, the ribs give them the needed rigidity.

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Remove the BHO and notch your safety. Same feature (better actually since you can lock it back and be on safe), less weight. Miniscule savings at best tho.

How much does that magwell weigh?

Your side mount may not work with a ribbed cover.

 

The AR mag adapter and an aluminum milspec mag weight slightly more than a good 30 round steel mag, unloaded that is. Thanks for the suggestions guys but I'm starting believe that in order to remove any more weight I'd have to sacrifice some things I'm just not willing to. I could probably save 1-2 ounces If I used a gas tube mount and removed the side mount plate from the side of the receiver, but I prefer my optics up close.  

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aimpoint t-1 micro

drill a bunch of holes in the gas tube

 

I would really like to have an aimpoint micro, it would save about 1 and a 1/2 ounces, but $500.00 to save an ounce and a half is too rich for me. biggrin.png

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  • 3 months later...

My Christmas eve project. Shaved off almost 5 ounces with this mod. It took around 2 hours to do. It could be lighter if I eliminated the sling swivel but I like it with it.

great job on that !! how is it holding up over the few months so far ? 

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Which brand of AR mag adapter is your ?

How much work was it to fit ?

 Its the Magnolia arms? adapter. I didn't find it that hard to install, but then again I do own a milling machine and used it to mill out the magwelll and front trunnion. You could use a dremmel and a few files, but I'd be sure I had plenty of bits and take my time. Dremmeling the front trunnion is not going to be easy and probably won't look to pretty when your done.

 

 

My Christmas eve project. Shaved off almost 5 ounces with this mod. It took around 2 hours to do. It could be lighter if I eliminated the sling swivel but I like it with it.

great job on that !! how is it holding up over the few months so far ? 

 

I've had it out to the range twice, around 120 rounds through it, I really like it. No flexing, bending or other issues. The stock comes from the factory with thick plastic ribbing on the top and bottom so its plenty strong with the sides cut out. It might not be strong enough for head bashing Zombies, but I live in a "Zombie free Zone" so I don't worry about that.laugh.png

 

 

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I just finished a new hand guard for my Saiga. This mod lightened the front of the rifle by about 1 1/2 ounces.

It feels and handles great, gotta get out to the range soon.

 

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Edited by jmeck
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  • 2 months later...

I had the opportunity to test out my Saiga's carbon fiber hand guard a couple of weeks ago. It works and handles great.

I gave it a good heat test by firing 40 aimed shots in around 3-5 minutes ( not exactly a mag dump I know). The hand guard

didn't heat up much but the screws that attach it to the mounting brackets got pretty hot , fortunately they are at the ends of the hand guard and I don't grip there when shooting.

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You can shave off 1oz by switching out that tapco buttplate for a surplus AK model without the trapdoor. The factory TAPCO buttplate is 1.5 oz. 

 

Also someone mentioned losing the BHO, that was good for about .25 oz IIRC.

 

I'm at 7.5 lbs unloaded with the light

 

Saiga223_zpse1b949f7.jpg

Edited by mrwiggles2004
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