Looking to buy a centurion for a range/varmint setup that I will not need it to be heavy but just am look for great balance. I have a tl3 Spurh zco looking to screw a barrel on with a barrel contour that I won’t need to add any brass weights for balance if possible. Was thinking of ordering it with the lightweight cut. Has anyone found a good balance with just a scoped barreled action and these stocks? I plan on looking into one of magwell plates to. Which one are you guys using on your foundations? Thanks in advance!
For your described purposes I wouldn't sweat the balance issue. For PRS it's nice to have a gun that sits super balanced on a gamechanger and that wants to track straighter with recoil rather than pivoting muzzle upward - again on a gamechanger shooting positional on a barricade so you can spot impacts better.
I've got several Foundations that cover all ends of the balance spectrum.
My 223 trainer in an MG2 has the heavier buttstock, no brass weights, no hex inletting in the fore-end and a 26" Heavy Palma contour barrel. It's a bit tail heavy but I shoot it positional just fine. Weighs 17.5lb w/ no mag or bipod. When I rebarrel it will probably go a bit heavier contour for balance.
My daughter shoots a Centurion with the lighter buttstock inlet, but the standard cheek piece (prefer the solid cheekpiece over the hollowed out one) and a shorter LOP. She added 2lb of brass weights and has a 26" M24 contour barrel, weighs 19.25lb no mag or bipod, and balances perfect for PRS shooting.
My comp gun is an MG2 with heavy buttstock, full set of tungsten weights, and a 27" M24 barrel. Perfect balance for PRS, definitely on the heavy side at 22.75lb no mag or bipod.
My recommendation would be to go lighter buttstock but standard full thickness cheek piece, and a barrel contour somewhere around M24 (at 26") for decent balance. If you ever wanted to go full PRS balance point you could add brass weights down the road quite easily at low cost.
No need in my mind for one of those magwell plates. We've had no need for them on any gun, we just run the Hawkins bottom metal and get great results.