. Mine weighs in at around 11 pounds. I would love to get it down to 8 Lbs. Planning on keeping the original stock.
An excellent question! There is a good FWB 300 discussion group on Facebook, where Scott Pilkington recently put up the image below. The gun on the left is a 300S action, placed into a gorgeous custom stock obviously designed to match the center fire beauty on the right. So you aren't the first to ask the question, LOL. I've wondered why FWB didn't do something like this themselves.
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An excellent question! There is a good FWB 300 discussion group on Facebook, where Scott Pilkington recently put up the image below. The gun on the left is a 300S action, placed into a gorgeous custom stock obviously designed to match the center fire beauty on the right (both of 'em lefties, too). So you aren't the first to ask, LOL - I've wondered why FWB didn't do something like this themselves.
As you can see from the posts above, the earlier models 150 and 300 had a stock fore end that was shallower than on the 300S. I have a 300, and while I love the lines of it, to be honest I would not really call it a "sporter" stock. The fore end is longer than the 300S, and actually slightly wider. When you pick one up, you definitely don't forget you have a heavy match rifle in your hands.
A major factor in how the 300S handles is the barrel weight. Contrary to appearances, this is not a separate piece on the end of the barrel, but a full-length sleeve that is fatter at the end - the actual barrel is only 15 mm in diameter. The sleeve was a factory option, so there are guns out there without one, and not having that weight out there so far in front of your hands makes a HUGE difference. You may find this is the key to your question; you aren't going to shave 3 pounds off the gun by changing the wood.
My current favorite FWB shooter is this one - a Junior ("Mini") action in a 300SL stock. The Junior has a shorter barrel with no sleeve, and the "L" stock is similar to the basic "Match" model of the day, but with a longer fore end and extensive stippling. It's still no R7 in the handling department, but a lot more "sporter-y" than my other 300's for sure.
Yikes! I actually sent Scott P an email and he responded. The 300S in the photo cost him 2 grand and he felt lucky to get it so cheap. Estimates that in today market such a piece may cost between (are you ready for this?) 8 thousand and 10 thousand dollars.Yikes!
An excellent question! There is a good FWB 300 discussion group on Facebook, where Scott Pilkington recently put up the image below. The gun on the left is a 300S action, placed into a gorgeous custom stock obviously designed to match the center fire beauty on the right (both of 'em lefties, too). So you aren't the first to ask, LOL - I've wondered why FWB didn't do something like this themselves.
As you can see from the posts above, the earlier models 150 and 300 had a stock fore end that was shallower than on the 300S. I have a 300, and while I love the lines of it, to be honest I would not really call it a "sporter" stock. The fore end is longer than the 300S, and actually slightly wider. When you pick one up, you definitely don't forget you have a heavy match rifle in your hands.
A major factor in how the 300S handles is the barrel weight. Contrary to appearances, this is not a separate piece on the end of the barrel, but a full-length sleeve that is fatter at the end - the actual barrel is only 15 mm in diameter. The sleeve was a factory option, so there are guns out there without one, and not having that weight out there so far in front of your hands makes a HUGE difference. You may find this is the key to your question; you aren't going to shave 3 pounds off the gun by changing the wood.
My current favorite FWB shooter is this one - a Junior ("Mini") action in a 300SL stock. The Junior has a shorter barrel with no sleeve, and the "L" stock is similar to the basic "Match" model of the day, but with a longer fore end and extensive stippling. It's still no R7 in the handling department, but a lot more "sporter-y" than my other 300's for sure.
An excellent question! There is a good FWB 300 discussion group on Facebook, where Scott Pilkington recently put up the image below. The gun on the left is a 300S action, placed into a gorgeous custom stock obviously designed to match the center fire beauty on the right (both of 'em lefties, too). So you aren't the first to ask, LOL - I've wondered why FWB didn't do something like this themselves.
As you can see from the posts above, the earlier models 150 and 300 had a stock fore end that was shallower than on the 300S. I have a 300, and while I love the lines of it, to be honest I would not really call it a "sporter" stock. The fore end is longer than the 300S, and actually slightly wider. When you pick one up, you definitely don't forget you have a heavy match rifle in your hands.
A major factor in how the 300S handles is the barrel weight. Contrary to appearances, this is not a separate piece on the end of the barrel, but a full-length sleeve that is fatter at the end - the actual barrel is only 15 mm in diameter. The sleeve was a factory option, so there are guns out there without one, and not having that weight out there so far in front of your hands makes a HUGE difference. You may find this is the key to your question; you aren't going to shave 3 pounds off the gun by changing the wood.
My current favorite FWB shooter is this one - a Junior ("Mini") action in a 300SL stock. The Junior has a shorter barrel with no sleeve, and the "L" stock is similar to the basic "Match" model of the day, but with a longer fore end and extensive stippling. It's still no R7 in the handling department, but a lot more "sporter-y" than my other 300's for sure.
Below is an example of a 300S rifle in a factory long stock and no barrel sleeve.
A few weight comparisons below.
1982 300S Long stock _ 9.8 lbs
300S Junior Model _ 9.2 lbs
The heavy weight is a dressed up Model 300SU _10.4 lbs
Below are weights of bare stocks.
Model 150 stock _ 2.2 lbs
Model 300 stock _ 2.4 lbs
Model 300S stock _ 2.4 lbs
Another Sporter Stock option may be to find an old 300 stock, get the sander out and thin it down. Then drop in a sleeveless barrel and action. That combo may get the rig under 8 1/2 lbs. Still not light.
MDriskill, Did the long stippled 300S Match stocks ever run simultaneously with the shorter match stocks?
Steven
