62 AMERICAN RIFLEMAN • November 2001

In recent years, titanium hasreceived increasing attentionfrom gunmakers, as its com-

bination of strength and lightweight makes it ideal for weight-sensitive applications such ashandguns for concealed carry.Titanium offers the additionalbenefit of being impervious tocorrosion from water, sweat andother substances to which gunsare often exposed.

Despite its advantages, tita-nium has been used for majorstructural components of bolt-action rifles by only a handfulof custom and semi-customgunmakers. The introduction in2001 of the Remington 700Titanium Lightweight marksthe first time a major Americanmanufacturer has entered thetitanium rifle derby.

The Titanium Lightweight isessentially a Model 700 Moun-tain Rifle with additional weight-reducing features. Both short-and long-action variants are

offered, with the former cham-bered in .260 Rem. and 7 mm-08Rem. and the latter in .270 Win.and .30-’06 Sprg. The rifle’scapacity is three rounds in theblind internal magazine in itsADL-style stock.

Despite its name, only thereceiver of the TitaniumLightweight is made of titani-um; the rest of the rifle is ofsteel. While the gun’s titaniumreceiver is in large part respon-sible for the its light weight—some 11⁄4 lbs. less than itsMountain Rifle sibling—othermodifications also contribute toweight reduction. For example,the bolt has six 0.25" wide spi-ral flutes around its body, askeletonized bolt handle and ahollowed-out bolt knob.Furthermore, the rifle sports anew Bell & Carlson carbonfiber/Kevlar composite stockthat is both trimmer and lighterthan its Mountain Rifle coun-terpart. That stock, which is

designed to exert upward pres-sure on the barrel at the fore-endtip, features quick-detach slingswivel studs, a 3/4" rubberbuttpad and aluminum beddingpillars around the stock screws.

The Titanium Lightweight’smain story, however, is itsreceiver. The exact titaniumalloy used is proprietary, but isdescribed by Remington as a“commercial aerospace-gradetitanium alloy.” According tothe company, the titaniumreceiver is fully as strong and ashard as receivers made of themore familiar chrome-molyand stainless steels used in gun-making. Shooting tests seem toconfirm that, as the TitaniumLightweight passed the same10,000-round factory en-durance test to which otherRemington rifles are subjected.

We shot a .30-’06-cal.Model 700 Titanium Light-weight for accuracy at 100 yds.off sandbags using Federal

MANUFACTURER:Remington Arms Co., Inc.(Dept. AR),870 Remington Drive,P.O. Box 700, Madison,NC 27025-0700;(800) 243-9700;www.remington.com.

CALIBER: .260 Rem.,.270 Win., 7 mm-08 Rem.,.30-’06 Sprg. (tested)

ACTION TYPE: bolt-actioncenter-fire rifle

RECEIVER: titanium alloy OVERALL LENGTH: 421⁄4"BARREL: 22"RIFLING: six-groove, 1:10"

RH twistWEIGHT: 51⁄4 lbs. (short-

action), 51⁄2 lbs. (long-action)MAGAZINE: internal, three-

round capacitySIGHTS: none, receiver

drilled and tapped forscope mounting

TRIGGER: single-stage,51⁄4 lbs. pull

STOCK: Bell & Carlson car-bon fiber/Kevlar compos-ite: length of pull, 131⁄4";drop at heel, 11⁄4"; drop atcomb, 11⁄8"

SUGGESTED RETAILPRICE: $1,199

MODEL 700 Ti

The American Rifleman has used the phrase “Dope Bag” at least since1921, when Col. Townsend Whelen first titled his column with it. Eventhen, it had been in use for years, referring to a sack used by target shoot-ers to hold ammunition and accessories on the firing line. “Sight dope”also was a traditional marksman’s term for sight adjustment information,while judging wind speed and direction was called “doping the wind.”

WARNING: Technical data and information contained herein are intended to provide informationbased on the limited experience of individuals under specific conditions and circumstances.They donot detail the comprehensive training procedures, techniques and safety precautions absolutely nec-essary to properly carry on similar activity. Read the notice and disclaimer on the contents page.Always consult comprehensive reference manuals and bulletins for details of proper training require-ments, procedures, techniques and safety precautions before attempting any similar activity.

Remington Model 700 Titanium

Lightweight

The Remington 700 Titanium Lightweight is ahighly specialized rifle offering powerful cham-berings in an extremely light, handy package.Stiff recoil is the price paid for the TitaniumLightweight’s extreme lightness.

Premium High Energy loadswith 165-gr. Sierra GameKingBTSP bullets, RemingtonExtended Range loads with178-gr. flat-base soft-point bul-lets and Winchester High-Velocity loads with 150-gr.Power Point Plus projectiles.There were no malfunctions ofany kind. The results of thosetests are given in the accompa-nying table.

Best grouping was obtainedwith the Federal load, which pro-duced a 1.77" average for fiveconsecutive, five-shot groups.That load also boasted the mostpower, pushing a 165-gr. bulletto an average of 2968 f.p.s. and3,228 ft.-lbs. of energy. Averagegroups of 2.81" and 2.48" wereproduced by the Remington andWinchester loads, respectively.

Recoil was stiffwith all loads, aswas to be expectedwith a rif le thatweighs only about61⁄2 lbs. with a 3-9Xscope installed. Wetest-fired the rifleusing a PAST recoilpad; even so, theTitanium Light-weight’s kick madeshooting techniquemore critical andlikely limited thedegree of accuracy we wereable to obtain.

The gun’s recoil made scopemounting (and scope quality)more critical as well. The scopeoriginally mounted on the gunhad to be replaced because itsreticle began to wander, possi-bly as a result of recoil. We alsofound that we had to tighten therifle’s scope rings more secure-

ly than usual to prevent thescope from creeping forwardwith each shot.

Another factor that mayhave influenced performancewas the speed with which thebarrel became hot. Typically,after only about five to sevenrounds were fired at a moderatepace, the barrel became far toohot to touch comfortably. Even

the synthetic fore-end becamenoticeably warm. This level ofheat could produce variations inthe barrel/stock contact,affecting grouping. Onthe plus side, the Titan-ium Lightweight is amaz-ingly light and yet verywell-balanced. The tex-tured surface of the syn-thetic stock allows asecure grip, and the min-imal rearward slant of itscomb keeps the gun fromslapping the shooter‘sface, even with the stiffrecoil generated by thehigher-intensity loads.

The Remington700 Titanium Light-weight is a highly spe-cialized rifle offeringpowerful chamberingsin an extremely light,handy package. Whileit is clearly not for theplinker or occasionalhunter, it will likelyhave strong appeal tothose whose huntingconditions requirethem to spend manyhours on foot withtheir rifles slung ontheir shoulders.

AMERICAN RIFLEMAN • November 2001 63

The TitaniumLightweight’s bolt fea-tures six spiral flutes, askeletonized bolt handle,and a hollowed-out boltknob to further reduceweight (r.). The boltshroud incorporates thecompany’s firing-pinblock safety lock. TheTitanium Lightweightretains the MountainRifle’s slender 22" bar-rel with a recessed muz-zle crown (top r.). Thebarrel measures only0.550" in diameter at itsmuzzle. The new riflefaithfully adheres to thefamiliar Remington 700pattern. The TitaniumLightweight features anADL-style new Bell &Carlson compositestock. Note the alu-minum bedding pillars(arrows) around stockscrew holes (below).

The Remington700 TitaniumLightweightoffers severalpopular cham-berings in anextremelylight, all-weather rifle.

.30-’06 Sprg. Vel. @15' Energy Recoil Group Size In InchesCartridge (f.p.s.) (ft.-lbs.) (ft.-lbs.) Smallest Largest Average

Federal P3006Y 2968 Avg. 3,228 20.6 1.34 2.22 1.77Sierra 165-gr. BTSP GK 16 Sd

Remington ER3006C 2739Avg. 2,966 20.4 2.14 3.32 2.81178-gr. FB SP 13 Sd

,

Winchester SHV30061 3034 Avg. 3,066 18.4 1.89 2.77 2.48150-gr. Power-Point Plus 18 Sd

Average Extreme Spread 2.35

Measured average velocity for five rounds from a 22" barrel. Range temperature:91°F. Humidity: 71%. Accuracy for five consecutive, five-shot groups at 100 yds. fromsandbags. Abbreviations: BTSP (boattail soft point), FB (flat base), GK (GameKing),Sd (standard deviation), SP (soft point).

SHOOTING RESULTS

the Lo-Pro has no forwardassist, brass deflector or ejec-tion port cover.

The inherent accuracypotential of an AR-15-style riflecries out for a scope, yet scopebases that attach to the carryinghandle tend to shift or wobble,and the height of the carryinghandle requires a cheek pad toraise the shooter’s head highenough to see through the scopeand still maintain contact withthe stock. Strap-on cheek padscan shift and interfere with theretraction of the charging han-dle. Whatever means one uses tocope just seems to trade oneproblem for another. Accord-ingly, DPMS dispensed with thetraditional carrying handle andrear sight base in favor of a flat-top Picatinny rail better suitedfor the attachment of a scope orthe holo- or reflex-type sightsthat are growing in popularity.

Two polymer 10-roundmagazines are included with

the Lo-Pro, but its magazinewell accepts all commercial andmilitary surplus AR-15/M16magazines. Ribbed forstrength, the walls of the Lo-Pro’s magazines are clear,allowing the firer to see howmany rounds remain.

Internal components of theLo-Pro’s upper and lowerreceivers, such as the boltassembly, charging handle,magazine release and single-stage trigger components, arecommon to most commercialAR-15 clones. No iron sightsare provided and the gas blockis machined from a solid alu-minum billet and secured to thebarrel by two set screws. Thegas block holds a standard car-bine-length gas tube protectedby a ribbed thermoplastic hand-guard with an internal alu-minum heat shield. Externalfurniture is finished off with anA2 pistol grip with finger restand an M16A2-length synthet-

ic black buttstock with an A1-style buttpad containing a trapdoor compartment for a G.I.-style cleaning kit that is includ-ed as an accessory.

We fitted a Leupold M8Compact 6X scope to the DPMSLo-Pro’s Picatinny rail for accu-racy testing. Results shown inthe accompanying table com-pare favorably with other com-mercial AR-15 carbines. Asexpected with the 1:9" twist, theLo-Pro shot well with 62- to 69-gr. loads, but did best with car-tridges loaded with lighter 50-to 55-gr. bullets. At 61⁄2 lbs. pull,the trigger was a little heavierthan desirable, but was free ofany stacking or creep. We func-tion fired the Lo-Pro with itsprovided magazines, as well asmilitary surplus and commer-cial units that had proven reli-able in previous tests. Emptymagazines dropped free of theirown weight, and there were nofailures of any kind.

The Lo-Pro’s lack of certainfeatures limit its utility as a tacti-cal/law enforcement carbine. Ithas no forward sling loop, noshell deflector for weak-handshooting from barricades,no dust cover to limit foul-ing from a hostile envi-ronment and no back-upiron sights for use in anemergency. Furthermore,if you are of a mind to addthose features there is noplace to put them. How-ever, the Lo-Pro is suit-able for Three Gunmatches and is alreadyproving popular in thatcapacity. The Lo-Pro isa rifle best suited forrecreational use suchas competition, plink-ing and varminting,where performance isthe bottom line andthere is no sense inbuying more gun thanyou need.

AMERICAN RIFLEMAN • November 2001 67

.223 Rem. Vel. @ 15' Energy Recoil Group Size In InchesCartridge (f.p.s.) (ft.-lbs.) (ft.-lbs.) Smallest Largest Average

Black Hills 2985 Avg. 990 2.6 0.78 1.52 1.1350-gr. V-Max 17 Sd

Remington R223R6 2588 Avg. 925 2.9 1.27 2.79 2.0162-gr. BTHP 29 Sd

Winchester X223R 2640 Avg. 852 2.5 0.77 1.14 0.9755-gr. PSP 27 Sd

Average Extreme Spread: 1.37

Measured average velocity for 10 rounds from a 16.5" barrel. Range temperature:75° F. Humidity: 21%. Accuracy for five consecutive, five-shot groups at 100 yds.from a sandbag. Abbreviations: Sd (standard deviation), BTHP (Boat-Tail HollowPoint), PSP (pointed soft-point).

SHOOTING RESULTS

A red polymer Accu-wedge (below l.) reduces playbetween the upper and lower receiver and providesthe firer with a more solid-feeling gun. The Lo-Pro’s gas-block (l.) is machined from an aluminumbillet and secured to the barrel with two set-screws.The Lo-Pro’s investment-cast lower receiver con-tains standard single-stage trigger components thatyielded at a pull-weight of 61⁄2 lbs (below).

The Lo-Pro’s butt-trapprovides space for a G.I.-style cleaning kit that isincluded as an accessory.