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All good info, thanks guys. For reference it’s the m5 receiver not proprietary enhanced version. after finishing it up, shooting and hunting it it came in alright. Haven’t put it on the scale yet but guessing under 10 with scope and mag. Saved almost 3/4 pound on the scope/mount going with a more hunting friendly setup. Leupold vx6 over razor/Steiner options. To do it all again would consider a few hundred more for a carbon barrel, but can’t complain on how it shoots!

Fair - although that’s off the table for modification Too much $$ spent to call it a paper weight. It’s about 42oz, no muzzle device, which isn’t bad for 22” - especially compared to any of my bolt guns.

Love the 10.5 for certain applications but... I need a hand stop or my fingers can creep too far on a 9” handguard (6’ with average wingspan) and ballistically it’s pretty terrible compared to 11.5”. Ballistics of expected round is where I’d focus on my decision. How far will you actually need to engage with this? If your’e keeping things close quarter I think I’d go 10.5” again. If if there’s a chance for longer range engagement go 11.5” for the extra energy at range (and the extra inch if handguard is perfect for me).

Built up a 6.5 CM AR with “average” components. Light handguard and 22” barrel - but it’s still a bit heavier than I hoped. Aero upper/lower Standard bolt carrier Standard parts kit slr sentry 7 gas block magpul moe rifle stock (was thinking prs but talk about heavy!) Warne x-skel mount Thinking of swapping out to lightweight bcg which should be 4-6 ounces off. Questions: 1.) What’s your experience with lightweight BCG in these setups? What carrier, how does it run, weight savings compared to standard? Right now have standard rifle buffer but not opposed to Jp silent capture or something?? 2.) Any other obvious places to save weight without spending a fortune you guys see?

Kind of a stray from the recent posts, but back to the first ? In the op I've used Lapua brass for everything. Started that way on my first long range gun and have used it for everything since. Very consistent and durable and outside of price have no complaints or reason to change. If I wasn't picking all my brass up sure my answer would be different though!

Got a newer gun that has a synthetic stock that I don't shoot as well as some. That may be a nice way of putting it - it's a little short and low for my lanky frame. My actual trap gun in an over under with fully adjustable and fitted furniture, it's a dream. My question is have any of you had luck finding someone that will work through fitting on synthetic stocks as well?? I'm in front range colorado but would travel or ship if needed.

Really love the look, finish, and customer service I got from iron city. Got the C4V gold color coating and it is as easy to clean as advertised. If not better. Not a bad price either!!

Very true - after reading this I just called and had a conversation where I was walked through each of the 4 coating options with the pros and cons, and the TiN (C4V) is where I settled. Can't wait to get it in the gun! Very patient and helpful guy over there at Iron City, and he didn't tell me to buy the most expensive part...

Scope height should also be considered, especially on larger objective scopes or anything that sits above your bore a ways. A good ballistics program will have a field for this as the angles it makes you shoot at definitely show up downrange. Can take good measurements of scope and barrel under bell with calipers and divide each by 2 then use feeler gauges or guess with calipers to add the space between scope and barrel. May or may not help but figured I'd throw it your way.

This one did win the muzzle brake shootout twice I believe for percent recoil reduction on ar rifles! Price isn't bad either

+1 Never had one in 338 LM, but several other calibers in that same lineup and many of them flat out shoot, while the "bad" ones have still hit .5-.75MOA with enough load work. Even better when you shoot that barrel out (or get bored) you can throw a new match quality one on it yourself for under $400 chambered and threaded for your action and brake already.

Was going to send this same link, awesome info based on what you need. I have several brakes from Jim at Centershot rifles and they do work well! Both the blast tamer and Muscle brake, they are a bit heavy though, compared to brakes of similar size. I know the APA Little Bas**** is "most effective" and I do like the way it sits on a varmint barrel/it's size and weight, but holy cow I shot it once in the field without hearing protection (yell at me if you want) and I will never under any circumstances do that again. I've done this with other brakes for hunting and it wasn't nearly the bad experience.

I have a jp brake and just took it off for the first time after 500 rounds... the amount of hardened carbon completely covering the crown was shocking, and I clean traditionally way more than most I'd guess. Soaking the barrel every few hundred rounds would probably help keep it clean, but I will regularly remove all my brakes now to make sure I get them clean. I do like my jp brake but it is about as loud as a miculek, both very effective. I just got the Seekins ATC and have really enjoyed shooting it, noticeably quieter for the shooter (may not be a factor) and it really keeps my barrel almost movement free even on a standard weight bcg with rifle gas. Also very easy on and off with no crush washer to replace.

I do have some experience with them -- currently shoot barrels by Shilen, McGowan, Douglass, Brux, Krieger, CBI, and a few others in that realm. One of the shilen's is the Ratchet rifling, in 6mm bore (243 win). It shoots as good or better than about any other barrel I've owned (low .2moa all day), which could be a lot of things so take it with a grain of salt. What it does for sure is clean up easier than any barrel I've ever owned, and I'm putting a healthy dose of 48ish grains of RL 25 down the bore each shot with a 105 Berger VLD. Never has copper fouling and patches out noticeably faster than anything else I shoot. It would be high on my list for any new build, and if I got another Shilen in a caliber they had it available in I'd get it for sure.

I'd highly recommend that model. With a few minutes of work an accutrigger can be tuned down to 1-1.5 lbs and is very clean, so that's a step up on most other models. I've shot a lot of factory savage barrels, had those that I had to work at to get .75moa with loading and a couple that have shot under .2moa. The good news is they are easy to replace at your kitchen table, as are the bolt parts so you can never go wrong buying one. Seen some good used prices and Cabela's now has a model 10 based rifle exclusive to them that retails for $419 or something - can't beat that in my opinion.