Cutting Weight on a Sig Cross

[Spindrift]

I used to hate chassis guns. I like traditional rifles and thought chassis guns were for tactinerds and holster sniffers. Then I was gifted a Cross in 6.5CM, bought a barrel from Schnees, and now I absolutely love hunting with it. For big western hunts, they are flat out luxury in their packability, balance and comfort. And with the aftermarket barrel, it's an absolute tack driver with 143 ELDX.

That all said, I've been underwhelmed with their weight. Mine, with carbon bipod and Leupold VX6 optic, is around 11lbs which seems heavier than it should be as compared to a traditional bolt gun. So...anyone successfully shaved weight? Seems like the forend could be much lighter? Anyone found a solution there?

Curious to hear the opinions.

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[Lwarner03]

11lbs with bipod and optic is pretty decent in my book!
You could get a carbon grip from MDT or XLR but I suspect you’ll pay 150-200 bucks and be lucky to drop an ounce? I’m interested in other peoples ideas…
What bipod are you running?

 

[Spindrift]

Backlanz. I'll weigh it tomorrow to make sure I'm not full of it but I'm pretty confident in my recollection of ~11lbs because it nets out the same as my Tikka and Weatherby setups.

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[Spindrift]

11lbs with bipod and optic is pretty decent in my book!
You could get a carbon grip from MDT or XLR but I suspect you’ll pay 150-200 bucks and be lucky to drop an ounce? I’m interested in other peoples ideas…
What bipod are you running?

Sorry,still learning chassis/carbine lingo.

I meant foreend/foregrio. Big hunk of metal.

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[Phinehas25]

The most effective way to cut weight on most rifles is to go to a thin profile barrel

 

[mt100gr.]

I really enjoy my Cross, too! But cutting some weight would make me like it even more.

I haven't gone too far down the rabbit hole, but I've wondered if having an interface milled to accept an XLR buttstock may be a way....the folder knuckle would add weight, but it'd be optional. I'd be curious to spec it out.

And the handguard. A carbon one like the CA MPR would have to be lighter, no?

 

[bruceleroy]

I am trying to find a stock similar to the Sig folders on their AR rifles to have milled. They are half the weight of the Cross stock.

 

[tysonmax]

Are you sure about the 11lbs? I'll have to weigh mine again tomorrow and respond back. Right now I have a chunky Delta Stryker 4.5-30x56 sitting on it, a full length ARCA rail, and a Atlas Bipod and I wanna say I came in under 10lbs...or I'm completely full of *%$!.

 

[z987k]

Sell it and put a pierce Skele-Ti into an XLR MG4.0 with a carbon butt stock with a thin steel barrel.
My XLR with a tikka action, kinda heavy .750 contour barrel, scope, suppressor and steel magazine is under 9lbs.

Carbon barrels are not for light guns. They weigh more than most any sporter profile and have no place on a rifle where weight is truly a concern.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

How much does that VX6 weigh?

 

[JCMCUBIC]

I had a cross for a while and enjoyed shooting it. I recently decided to sell it as I never carried it hunting. Very accurate rifle and a useful setup, the ability to change the "fit" of the rifle is awesome. The weight did bother me as I had lighter rifles that made it tough for me to choose to carry the Cross. I think the best option for losing weight would be to go with a mt rifle/light contour aftermarket steel barrel. The weight savings on any carbon barrel is going to be minimal. The factory barrel is fairly hefty and carries a fair bit of extra weight over a light contour steel barrel.

Should someone make an aftermarket carbon handguard it might reduce the weight a good bit. Aside from that, a carbon grip, and a lighter contour barrel, I don't think the weight can be reduced much more.

 

[XFrog]

Cut the top half of the rail off so it resembles most other chassis rifle fore ends. I did this to a wrap around rail on another chassis rifle and cut 25% off the chassis weight. The vortex rzr LHT 3x15x50 is 20oz. Leopold v6 22.8oz. The glass is better IMHO in the rzr. Mounts can also be an anchor. The NF ultralight and Warne MT are good lightweight choices. Picatinny mounts are heavier than direct mounts for sure. There are composition stocks that bolt to the sig hinge. At3 has a good lightweight option if you don't want lop adjustment. Next would be a pencil profile barrel. I purchased a christensen 6.5 carbon cheaper than a used remmy action that was "shot out" by the owner. Put a take off pencil profile barrel in it and was surprised by how much lighter it was than the carbon. For a hunting rifle are you really worried about stringing after the 3rd shot? I'm interested in any other ideas you guys may have to chase oz

 

[Forestryguy]

Just looking at pictures of Cross'. Is the Pic rail removable. I know the one one piece rails add rigidity but they add weight when looking to drop it. Could you figure where you want to mount scope then remove most of it? I asked Savage the same thing about milling off part of the Pic that is on their Impulse rifle, of course they wouldn't say if it was safe or not.

 

[XFrog]

The rail slide off like an AR. you have to grab the bipod and twist hard to see any fle with the top half gone.

 

[XFrog]

 

[cuerro viejo]

which Sig cross do you have? the PRS?

mine is a 6.7lb gun before rings and scope.

 

[XFrog]

The standard cross 308. The pic is of another chassis that came with a full rail. I cut the top midway up leaving the bottom like a non tactical type chassis

 

[Verdugo60]

Yeah, best way to shave weight is barrel. Or go full custom with a light action, barrel and a XLR Magnesium or MDT HNT 26. That will be a lot more $ though.

 

[Griffbl]

Cut the top half of the rail off so it resembles most other chassis rifle fore ends. I did this to a wrap around rail on another chassis rifle and cut 25% off the chassis weight. The vortex rzr LHT 3x15x50 is 20oz. Leopold v6 22.8oz. The glass is better IMHO in the rzr. Mounts can also be an anchor. The NF ultralight and Warne MT are good lightweight choices. Picatinny mounts are heavier than direct mounts for sure. There are composition stocks that bolt to the sig hinge. At3 has a good lightweight option if you don't want lop adjustment. Next would be a pencil profile barrel. I purchased a christensen 6.5 carbon cheaper than a used remmy action that was "shot out" by the owner. Put a take off pencil profile barrel in it and was surprised by how much lighter it was than the carbon. For a hunting rifle are you really worried about stringing after the 3rd shot? I'm interested in any other ideas you guys may have to chase oz

I think a lighter stock is an obvious answer for some weight saving. I wanted to use something simple, and light. A magpul MOE fixed stock is perfect for me....It has different recoil pad options for LOP adjusting. But I cannot find any adapter to use AR type stocks on the Cross. I am specifically interested in the Cross Magnum, and it has a different stock hinge mechanism than does the original Cross. So no luck so far.

 

[bruceleroy]

Be patient on a lighter stock option. I am working with someone on a cool new model and the first models get milled in mid January.
We will test them pretty hard and have something fairly quick.
parts will be transferable...thats all I can say for now.
The current model weighs 17 ounces without the folder but if calculations are correct you could see a 30-50% (maybe more)weight savings on the new stock alone.