Yeah, I'd venture it's very fair to say it's moot to compare the performance of a wildcat cartridge which takes 5+ case forming steps against factory ammo of any kind. Nobody who can produce 7 VAR brass is gonna be shooting factory 7-08 ammo anyway, even if it was a speed for speed match.

I never consider any AR to be lightweight, simply because a guy could always build a shorter and lighter bolt gun than any AR, and I certainly don't call a 20-24" AR a handy rifle for mountain hunting.

But the reality is still there - the 7 VAR is looking to be one of the highest performing midbore big game cartridges out of an AR right now. Which is what tempts me about it - I love the Grendel and SPC class of killers in the AR, but there's a limit to their efficacy. The extra weight of the AR-10 has always turned me off, so I do look for cartridges like this one to get the most out of my AR's.

How bolts hold up to that much thrust long term remains to be seen, however.