Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles New light weight rifle

Could a fellow purchase a .243 light weight rifle under 6 pounds and top it off with a lightweight scope the wouldn't break the bank in cost? Suggestions?

A 243 Kimber Montana weighs in at 5 lbs. 5 oz.

It pretty much just comes down to if you will tolerate a plastic trigger guard.

for what bullet? Heavy (1 in 8" or 9" twist) or 100 grain and under?

For light and money saver I'd look at the Kimber Hunter 1st. As Sam points out, you'd have to be able to live with a plastic trigger guard. I think it's a really good rifle though.

For really light, Kimber Montana.

Of course, there's always the Tikka too, though it is a LA.

A Tikka T3 Lite and a Leupold VX2 is a quality light rig on the cheap. I think the Tikka is 6 pounds and a few ounces.

A used Savage Light weight hunter might be about as cheap as you could find.I don't know if it is under 6 lbs.

I say bite the bullet and buy the Kimber Montana,and top it with a fixed 6X36 Leupold. that's about as cheap as I would go and it should be reliable if you aren't dialing after sighting in.


Sportsman's Warehouse did have Superlight Tikkas but I don't think they are under 6 lbs either. That would be light and accurate though.

With these heavier DNZ rings and a VX3 3.5x10x40 I'm at 6 lbs 12 ozs for this SL. If you put some Talleys and maybe a 6x36 you could drop another 6-7 ozs I think.

I'd need to know the size of the bank before I could answer that question.




Dave

The Kimber Hunter TG solution.

That is the big question, one man's bank is different then anothers

T3x Compact with a FX II 6x would do what's you're asking. In fact I see that exact setup in my future.

Savage makes one that is 5.6 pounds. I bought a stainless model last week new for $498. It will get Talley light weight rings that weigh 2.5 ounces. There are scopes from about ten ounces up to three pounds. Mine will be a 4-16X40 that weighs 16 ounces.

If you purchased the same rifle and rings and put a ten ounce scope the rifle would weigh about 6.6 pounds. Add a home made sling like I use for another ounce and you are at 6.7 pounds ready to load.

I picked up a Ruger Hawkeye SS Ultra lite with synthetic stock and a 20" barrel last year.
It`s about 6 1/2 lbs without the scope
CDNN had them for sale at $499

Just weighed a Tikka T3X .308Win this weekend and it was 6# 1.8 oz. on the postal scale. The 300WM went to 6# 3 oz..

You'll think that 300 went "postal", after you fire it.... Have fun with that one...

That's the one I'd look into. I wouldn't shed a tear about it being a long action either.

I'm thinking in the $500-$600 range. Probably only use it a few more years. Mostly on antelope. Presently I am shooting a sportarized Swede 6.5 with a Fixed Leupold 6X.

Under 6lbs, and low cost are hard to find.

Closest I can think of is the CVA Scout which is also short since it's a single-shot with 20" or 22" barrel. Never owned or fired one, but they feel handy and are low cost. CVA claims 5.8 lbs. There is a take-down version now that sells for ~$325 online, in stainless.

I'm not really a fan of single-shots but it could be handy for some applications.

Video -- CVA Scout Take-down

I don't know of anything under 6 lbs and under $600.