Tractorman, there's a LOT of updated furniture you could put on your R25 to lighten it a little, and make it feel a bit smaller perhaps. I wear a medium to large glove, so not big hands, and that big float tube is always what bothered me the most. A slim m-loc tube would go a long ways towards changing the feel of the rifle. It won't save a ton of weight though.

For kicks, look on GB at what those are bringing, around 1500. I don't see any atm, but there were a couple recently. I would consider selling, and building what you want from the ground up. Aero makes nice receivers fyi from what I can tell.

Conversely, the gii stuff is going fairly cheap. There's no 243's on there now, they must have dried up, but there will be something at some point. 243 is always a crap shoot if they're shot out or not. And the barrels are not interchangeable between the two styles, so to rebarrel you either have to have a stash of factory barrels like me, or find someone who can re-use the BE and make you up one. There are a few aftermarket out there, mostly 6.5 Creed and 308.

Thanks. That was a big help.

204AR has the info and has shot this stuff extensively. He is spot on. I have not shot the G2, but understand it was a game changer in the large frame AR world. He is also correct on the after market parts for the G2, they are G2 ONLY. What you find with the LR308 or R25, is that alot of the after market parts, in fact most, are using the LR308 as a base line. In other words, most parts you can find are all referenced to LR308 compatible, or DPMS pattern. Float tubes, barrels, BCG, bolts, etc...
Now, you are still stuck with the LR308 receivers, but like AR204 stated, you can really change the feel and in some cases, lose a few ounces.
Having said all that, I did have an LR308 laying around for years that never got shot due to weight and bulk. Having a thermal, and wanting to play around in the AR platform, I got to thinking .243 for that rifle. I spun a Wilson Combat 16" barrel on it, real skinny float tube, and a light adjustable stock on it. That changed that rifle night and day! We are probably talking ounces in the weight change, but the feel was phenomonal. Again, this was all possible because the after market part world is primarily all referened to the DPMS pattern.

1229(3) by jrhranch, on Flickr

I did not weigh the two between changes, but this one is lighter than my 20" chassis 22-250 that I had my thermal on. I also stuck a pmag 10 rounder in there to replace that steel mag. Again, huge change in feel, that bulky mag is just not in the way anymore.
This was just a way I could utilize what I already had laying around. I was pleased with the end result. YMMV.

Well put BP, your rifle looks great too. How does that WC barrel shoot? I've read good things and the price point isn't bad either.

What you said about the handguard is spot on. That huge tube DPMS used for years turned a lot of people off imo.

How does yours shoot now tractorman? That would probably be the deciding factor for me, if it shoots great, rebuilding to your liking wouldn't cost much really. Those barrels were pretty slim but not threaded iirc.

204,
The barrel seemed to shoot good. It was kind of an expedited affair because we were already in the height of coyote hunting. Minimal load work up gave me a 75 gr sierra hp load that I was satisfied with given the time I spent. So, you might say my barrel is still breaking in .
I bought it on sale for like $237. I was very satisfied with the quality. The only thing I will say is, although the 16" barrel is awesome for weight and balance, it will handicap you a bit for speed. But inside 200, the coyote doesn't know that. Think I'm running the 75 gr at 3000, maybe 2990 something.
Because the Hogster is so light, I honestly think this things weighs about the same as some of my AR15's with digital on them.

204 I have not shot it in a couple years. As a matter of fact I have to find it. I never really messed with groups on it that much because the factory trigger was down right awful. I looked into triggers and was about to get one then moved on to another project. With the trigger and burly attributes I never spent much time with it. But I was thinking it was what I wanted when starting on a thermal setup. I had some 70 grain NBTs I ran through it a few times. That load worked great in a Rem bolt gun but never tweaked it for the r25. When I read this thread it got me to thinking about the old gun.

Thanks for all your help guys.

I just bought a 2.5 pound CMC single stage trigger from palmetto for $119 shipped. You will like your gun again after it’s installed.