Advanced Mouse Mod – Extreme Weight Reduction

If you haven’t noticed yet, we like to talk about modding your peripherals a lot in our articles. A special place in our hearts is dedicated to mouse modding and achieving incredible things with your own skills.

Previously we have talked about mods like adding a paracord to your mouse (easy mod), changing your switches in your mouse (advanced mod), or even building your own mouse using a custom 3D printed shell and the internals of a different mouse altogether (G305 internals).

This is all done to achieve better mobility, better click feeling, or even making a wireless mouse that does not exist on the market yet.

Let us assume that you have already found the perfect mouse shape that fits your mouse grip the best but you are a competitive crackhead and want to get the biggest possible competitive advantage you can get in games.

In this case, the only thing left for you to do is to gut your mouse for lighter weight which is highly beneficial to your aim since a lighter object is easier to put in motion and stop from said motion (based on the laws of physics).

What are your options and what can you do?

Tools Needed

To even start the process of taking bits and pieces out of your mouse to make it lighter you need to have the appropriate tools.

We would recommend you have at least the following items:

  • Set of screwdrivers in different sizes
  • Plastic cutters
  • Sandpaper
  • Grip tape
  • Plastic pick
necessary tools for mouse modding

These items should allow you to take apart your mouse and cut out or remove pieces that are unnecessary!

Knowledge and Prior Research

Before you proceed to an extreme weight reduction mod on your mouse you need to understand its construction, what are the pieces inside that you can take out, what are pieces that are necessary for structural integrity, etc.

A lot of mice in the lightweight category these days still come with RGB and RGB diffusers, different structural enforcement inside of the shell, and useless junk altogether that is simply there to make your mouse heavier.

By taking all of that out your mouse will definitely suffer aesthetically, but instead, you will achieve incredible weight reductions that will help your aim become even better.

A great channel that we would recommend for this process is Beardedbob. On his channel, you will find A LOT of information and examples of what he does for extreme weight reduction mods and which pieces are safe to remove for your mouse.

Non-Destructive Weight Modding

After you have done your research and know what is ok to move around on your mouse you can finally take your first steps into weight modding.

After you have taken apart your mouse we recommend you do the following non-destructive weight mod changes:

  • Remove any RGB/RGB diffusers
  • Remove RGB LED from mouse wheel
  • Remove DPI button
  • Remove any other buttons present on the mouse
  • Remove any pieces of plastic that are there for structural integrity (unless you squeeze your mouse with the intention to make orange juice out of it you are fine)
  • Remove any extra screws or only screw a couple of the screws necessary to maintain structural integrity
  • Remove backshell if your grip style allows it
  • Remove side buttons if you do not use them
removed parts from xtrfy mz1

Every little bit counts because that could be a potential extra gram you lose making your mouse that much lighter!

Destructive Weight Modding

After you have finished the non-destructive weight modding, it is time to get to the extreme part of this mod. This will require you to commit to the idea that the changes you are making are permanent and your mouse will never look or feel the same.

With your plastic cutters take out any piece of plastic you believe to be unnecessary from the construction of your mouse. During this process, it is important to remember the research you did to make sure you do not cut out too much that could make your mouse unusable.

xtrfy mz1 cut back

Example of Non-Destructive and Destructive Weight Modding

An example of this extreme weight modding process is this very special MZ1 that has been basically cut in half.

xtrfy mz1 half

All of the unnecessary parts were removed, including RGB diffusers, back shell, a lot of the backside has been chopped off and sanded resulting in this half-mouse.

This is an extremely comfortable shape for my usage since I am a fingertip gripper therefore only the front part matters to me. This mouse went from 57g to sub 40g making a HUGE difference in the way I aim and the level of precision I can have with it.

cut xtrfy mz1 side view

I loved the grooved clicks of the MZ1 and the slim middle part but hated the backshell being stuck into my palm. With this, I have solved the issue of the shape working against my grip AND reduced a lot of the weight from the mouse making it closer to something like a G-Wolves HSK.

cut xtrfy mz1 top view

In this specific case, this can be called an extremely extreme and very destructive mod that permanently altered the way the mouse feels, looks, and aims. The good part is that for me (since I have done all of these changes with me in mind) this mouse is now PERFECT!

cut xtrfy mz1 back view

About The Author

Chris (vile_is_dead)

Custom Windows ISO enjoyer, FPS optimizer, and aim improvement enthusiast. Will disassemble all of his peripherals (and sometimes PC parts) to mod them even if all of them work perfectly fine. Discord/Twitter: vile_is_dead

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments