4.5 pound 30-30 contender recoil pad help

[yfarm]

Curious where the balance point is with the 16” barrel?

 

[Trackselk]

I have a Contender with a Choate survival stock and forend and a 23” 6.8 spc barrel with 3-9 scope. Considering chopping the barrel to 18”, my gun weighs 7.4lbs currently any idea on what the 5” would do to the weight?

Depends on the profile/ taper, but usually around 1 oz an inch

 

[Trackselk]

Curious where the balance point is with the 16” barrel?

I'm waiting on the heavier 223 barrel to be built, but I can check on the 30-30, although the muzzle is a minuscule .5", and the smith started cutting really far back, so it's ridiculously light. Actually, it was milled down by a small town smith, and after talking with bullberry, I'm actually afraid to run full power rounds in it. I need to have an expert look at it, but I don't need the 30 30 anyhow. I've only used hornady reduced recoil rounds, and they work great. Plenty for deer and blackbear (small) within 200 yards anyhow. Recoil is brisk, but the suppressed 223 will solve that.
I'll also change the balance a ton with the 8oz suppressor on the end, but I know from my kimbers that light rifles suck to shoot offhand anyhow. Currently, 100 yards is too far for offhand shooting with my 5.5 lb kimber .308, but hopefully practice will fix that.

 

[yfarm]

mine currently is barrel heavy which makes it easy to shoot off hand, is 37” long, may leave it alone. Also have a 308 encore with a 26” fluted barrel, plan to have Mike Bellm cut it to 20” and port or thread. He feels the 20” barrel balance is ideal.

 

[Trackselk]

mine currently is barrel heavy which makes it easy to shoot off hand, is 37” long, may leave it alone. Also have a 308 encore with a 26” fluted barrel, plan to have Mike Bellm cut it to 20” and port or thread. He feels the 20” barrel balance is ideal.

Yeah, don't go ultralight unless you don't mind needing a rest. I primarily hunt where there's burnt deadfall all around, so I don't have much trouble with unsteady rifles. Tripod for the one open area I hunt.

 

[Stocky]

Cool rifle I have a similar build on a G2 frame. Do you have an end goal? Also what are you running for Projectiles. We have a few lightweight contenders floating around in NZ. Here one of the more extreme ones.

 

[Trackselk]

Cool rifle I have a similar build on a G2 frame. Do you have an end goal? Also what are you running for Projectiles. We have a few lightweight contenders floating around in NZ. Here one of the more extreme ones.
View attachment 585426

End goal for me is probably just the 16.5" 223 barrel with dual performance mono projectiles because I like to shoot copper. I unpacked the new bullberry 223 last night. Not sure if I'm going to spend the cash to get it fluted since it's so short, probably only lose an ounce. But, I really should send it to Mike Bellm to have him lengthen the throat (223 wylde), as he said every one that he's seen will blow the primers with 5.56 ammo, and that's what my factory black hills dual performance are. I will probably eventually roll my own, so I could make the 223 ammo work. Probably go that route if the barrel dislikes the factory blackhills stuff. The main end goal is a takedown rifle that goes on one of my packgoats, for when I don't feel like carrying my 6.5 or 22 Creedmoors. I haven't had a bear after my goats yet, but I'm spending 2+ months a year packed in the wilderness, so I always have a bear tag on me. Any legal bear that's even sniffing around the half mile vicinity of my camp is getting eaten

 

[PLhunter]

Interested in this build. Thinking of doing the same. What .223 barrel did you end up with?