As you said, "changing the balance" is the more accurate way of describing it than " lightening it up" (my emphasis). Just as one gun, and one owner may want the gun lighter on the butt, the next man may want it heavier on the butt, to quicken the movement of the barrels somewhat. One man's meat is another man's poison.
As someone alluded to earlier, and as has been bandied about here so many times before ..... it's not all about how much it weighs, but more about where that weight is located on the gun, that affects handling characteristics so much.
SRH
