I am working on a video guide, for now it is text only.

Stage 1 – Invisible mods

Battery cage delete – 2.8 grams

The battery cage is intended to hold the battery in place. The stock battery has adhesive applied to keep it in this cage, which means you can remove the cage and stick the battery to the PCB. It may come off at some point, but I’ve been using my personal G703 like this for several months with no issues.

Smaller battery – 2.5 grams

The stock battery in a G703 is 750maH for the HERO, and 240maH for the LIGHTSPEED. You can also comfortably use a 150mAH battery, which will be even lighter. Depending on who makes the battery you purchase, you will need to transplant the connector from the wires of the original battery, or source identical pins to fit in the PCB.

LED shield delete – 1.3 grams

This mod is pretty simple, just remove the top cover (it has the G on it) and remove the two pieces of white plastic intended to channel the light from the LED into the translucent G. It’s still plenty bright in my opinion and your hand covers it most of the time anyway.

Click spring delete – 0.7 grams

There are little pieces of plastic with springs under each clicker, which apply mechanical tension. I’ve been using my personal G703 without either of them for years and have had no issues. However, I encourage you to feel with and without them before removing. While you’re at it, cut masking tape for each plunger, layering it up until you’re happy with the pretravel.

Standoff deletes – 0.1 grams

There are some standoffs on the baseplate of the G703 that can be removed, pictured here. This isn’t worth it unless you plan on making cut-outs in the base plate, in which case you will end up removing these standoffs anyway.

Skate/feet trim – 0.1 grams

Your results may vary with this mod! This mod is intended to allow easy access to the screws normally hidden in the base of your mouse. However, at first, you will feel a roughness that wasn’t there before. It should mostly go away within less than 12 hours of use, and you can speed this up by applying downward pressure to your mouse on a cloth pad whilst moving it in all directions. In addition, decreasing the surface area of your skates will decrease the surface area available to collide with your mousepad, leading to slightly less control and slightly more speed. The safer alternative would be dot skates.

Stage 2 – Modified look

Scroll cover delete – 2 grams

The stock scroll cover is intended to keep the elements away from the internals of your mouse, but it’s a 1.8 gram piece of plastic along with some more plastic in the shell you can easily remove.

Powerplay delete – 5 grams

Here we come to the first mod that involves those mini scissors. First remove the screws that hold the contacts for the powerplay module to the PCB, and remove this module from the mouse. Then, cut out the circle of plastic in which the contacts were mounted. I use mini scissors followed by some sandpaper to smooth out the result. You can also cut out the plastic connector and push out the pins that connect the powerplay to the PCB, which will save a bit more weight.

Bottom plate cut-outs – 9 grams

Rubber grip delete – 4 grams

This modification is a bit annoying, as the adhesive holding the grips to your mouse is stubborn and patchy. I just took a small Exacto knife and went around the edges, then peeled up as much as I could. Then I went back with the Exacto knife until it was all gone, and sanded it down very slightly.

Applying new grip surface – 0.2 grams

This requires a soldering iron/wood burning tool. I use a chisel tip to apply “L” shapes throughout at different angles, until the side grips are covered in them. This achieves a nice texture and is much grippier than the original rubber. It won’t disintegrate as nastily either, but it may get less grippy as time goes on depending on how hard you grip the mouse or if you pick at it. Note that for the first day or so you may get bits of plastic on your mousepad as the high points disintegrate, I didn’t take an Exacto knife or sandpaper to it as this would obviously diminish the grippiness.

Stage 3 – Button deletes

Extra button delete – 2 grams

First separate the “upper shell” PCB which controls all of the buttons, then desolder the two wires that lead to the extra button’s PCB. Now all you have to do is remove the piece of plastic that activates the button. This modification is reversible until you perform the modification below.

Top shell destruction – 8 grams

You can remove a lot of weight in this stage, though this modification results in the extra button being permanently removed. For this modification I cut out everything designed to hold in the extra button and the “upper shell” PCB, as well as some reinforcement around the bottom and near the clicker standoffs. This means the two pieces that hold the primary buttons will be completely separate. In addition, the “upper shell” PCB will hang free, letting you disassemble the mouse more freely without the little cutout for the incredibly fragile ribbon cable. If you want to permanently remove the forward and back buttons, you can remove the plastic that is designed to hold its PCB and the standoffs for the button covers, but I don’t recommend this. The structural integrity is still amazing after this modification, although there is slightly more flex when squeezing the mouse.

Forward/back button deletes – 3 grams

This mod is similar to the extra button delete. Separate the “upper shell” PCB, and desolder the three wires that lead to the side buttons. Then just remove the plastic piece that has the side button pressers. In my opinion, this mod isn’t really necessary for the amount of weight it saves. However, if you don’t use these buttons, or if your ribbon cable broke a pin that renders these buttons useless (ask me how I know) this is a great mod.

Stage 4 – 3D printing

RS703 scroll – 2.4 grams

RollingSloth’s G703 mod includes a scroll wheel which is significantly lighter than the stock scroll wheel. It doesn’t have a gripping surface like the original, but I don’t really mind in use. I recommend extruding the stem that goes into the encoder slightly so that you can clip it down to the precise size you need to center it in the mouse.
My personal G703 uses a modified scroll wheel from a Deathadder 2013 with the rubber grip taken off and some bits cut out, which which saves slightly more (2.8 grams).

Scroll supports – 1 gram

You can trim the stock supports if you don’t have a 3D printer, but since they are so tiny, I ended up damaging them slightly on my personal G703. They still function, but I wanted to 3D print them to get a better design with a lighter weight.