I have a lettered Gr. 2E from 1896 that weighs 8 lbs. 15 ozs. I wondered why it was so heavy and removed butt plate, there is a 3/4" hole, who knows how deep, that is filled with lead.
The letter specifies guns weight at 9 lbs and in another column, "Very Close Shooter". so this was done at the factory.
As for the "R" suffix, no one knows, anyone's guess.
The easiest way to tell a Regular frame from a Fetherweight frame is the number of screws on the left lock, one for Regular Frame and 2 for FW frame.
