Just got the rifle and then I broke my shoulder so havent fired it yet. But , **** that is a heavy rifle to cary from the car to the line. My first rounds willl be next month with Lake City, Ball ammo. As to expected weight loss, not sure. I am looking into what is possible. I am leaning toward NOT fluting it and using the extra weight as recoil mitigation. It will all boil down to how it shoots with the current configuration and the big Tank Brake.