On my hog hunt last month, I carried a LR-308 I put together myself, which was supposed to be a "lightweight" setup. Unfortunately it turned out a little heavier than I would have liked, even with the Criterion "lightweight" barrel... it was over 10 lbs. with scope, and got a little tiresome to lug around through the woods all day. Just this week I picked up a S&W M&P10 to give the whole "lightweight semi .308" thing another try. According to my scale it is 7.8 lbs. out of the box, and still under 9 lbs. with the scope mounted. Now that's more like it! Also much of the weight reduction was in the most important place... the end of the barrel. The Smith has a nice "pencil" profile after the gas block, whereas the Criterion had a backassward "gov't" profile that was heavier on the END of the barrel than in the middle! Needless to say, the Smith handles and points much better. I took the long, heavy factory flash hider off and switched it out for the DPMS factory one, and it made it even that much better. I haven't even shot this thing yet but I am already very satisfied with my purchase!