Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Going light

Swarovski 3-9x36 or leupold 2.5-8x36 or something along those lines

Uncut 270 Montana for me. Tweaked with an aluminum trigger guard and a recoil pad from an Italian O/U shotgun. Oh, and a paint job. That's one ounce over six pounds.

6.5 CM Kimber MT. Hopefully factory ammo still available

I like it.

If the OP already has a M700 with 22" bbl, an Edge, Wildcat Composites, or other stock of that ilk would be a light set up.

What it's chambered in doesn't matter much--just use enough bullet is the trick.

Lot to like on the m700 edge route slightly cheaper than a Montana all I’ve heard about is the poor kimber ergonomics trigger reach and kimber roulette

An edge and a triggertech, even if bought well in the classifieds, is going to put you within a few hundred of a used Montana - BEFORE your barreled action.

Nothing wrong with the Montana trigger reach.

A known shooter from the classifieds would eliminate any “roulette”.

I know you said no fieldcraft but you can looking on gunbroker or classifieds here and get one from 13-1500... by the time you go after putting one together with parts is going to put you around that price range.

Your loss.

Actually if you can afford $1600 for a Fieldcraft youd never regret the 6.5 creedmoor. Barrett nailed the 6.5CM. at 300yds or less even on big bulls a 140 Partition is your huckleberry. Hate to admit I've been looking at the kimber hunter in .280 AI. Anyway at 300yds or less a 7MM-08 or a 6.5 CM with a 140gr Partition will flat out rock. A 120 TTSX in either would be my second choice.

Don’t believe everything you read on the www. I’ve seen people fuss over both the FC and Alpine on their ergos. I have both, and they feel just fine to me, though different. Maybe I’m just an unsophisticated fugg, but very seldom have I had an ergos problem with a rifle. Shotguns are another matter.

Anyway, handle rifles yourself before deciding.

Ergonomics depends a lot on the size of the individual. I'm 6'2" and the ergonomics, and trigger pull, work very well for me. I must be very lucky as well, cuz I beat roulette twice. Both my Montanas shoot better than the Rems I've owned.

I dug deep an bought the Fieldcraft 6.5 X 55 with the 24' barrel and am very happy with it. Most accurate rifle I've ever owned, shoots in the .2 & .3's , at first I couldn't believe it but it does it over and over with 120 and 140 Nosler BT's., way more accurate than it needs to be for a hunting rifle. If fits me well and IMHO it balances perfectly. My only bitch is I don't like safeties that do not lock the bolt down. My second choice is a tie between my Mod 70 FWT 270 Win a McMillian Edge or my Tikka 6.5 Creed. The only reason I bought the Tikka in 6.5 Creed is I like 24" barrels The mod 70 is a little heavier,but easier to hold steady. Kimber's don't fit me well, but have been good shooters for me. Get the Fieldcraft, over a life time it's only a few more bucks a year and they should hold their resale value.

BTW I find myself hunting with my Ruger # 1 or my Savage 99 FW more and more. They just have "Soul". Walnut just feels good!

I can't speak to the Fieldcrafts, but agree completely with the last paragraph...particularly the Savage 99Fs.

Yup. Money well spent. My 6 CM hasn’t done that well, but I see no reason to burn it up chasing tenths. Got another 6 and some others I can use to gratify my obsessions.

On days I want to obsess over the safety locking the bolt, I have others that do that too😜

This one should do ya !
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...tweight-30-06-stainless-synthetic#UNREAD

I’m running a pair of Kimber Hunters and am completely satisfied with their performance. 6.5CM & 7-08. They both shoot better than I do..... SWFA’s riding on them.
I pretty much like everything about them. Stainless steel, 22” tubes, composite stock that has great ergonomics for me. Excellent triggers! I wasn’t too sure about the DM on them, but have come to like the feature very much.
The FDE colored stock is the perfect canvas for a personalized paint job and if you want any added weight in the fore end thats simple to do with a little bird shot and epoxy.
The only add-on I’ve done to mine is a Ti Tac bolt handle from Chris84 here on the fire and a bit of paint......

I’ve shot Tikka’s and they’re a fine rifle, but I don’t care for long actions for short (308 based) rounds.
The Fieldcraft I handled (24” 6.5CM) was nice, but I wasn’t crazy about the stock and saw nothing to convince me that they’re worth we’ll over double what I can get a Hunter for..... ymmv

If you’re dwarfish , get a Montana


If you’re a bigger individual , a Fieldcraft is your huckleberry.

Kimber Montana is the obvious answer. Of newer vintage.

I’m neither, and they both work for me. I probably prefer the kimber stock by a small margin.


I think so too. OP needs to at least give them a consideration.

I am going to do some math here. Not just for the OP and others, but also to remind myself.

For sub-$1000 rifles, the Tikka T3 Lite is probably the best "light" rifle you can buy. I know that is an opinion, but it seems to be fairly well agreed upon by others. Assuming a Tikka will work you as far as ergonomics. Now for the math part:

I don't have a Tikka in .280, but I do have one in 30-06 so it is comparable. Added item on it is a Limbsaver recoil pad. Weights will vary 1-2 ounces in some cases, so we are just using this as a baseline. Also, I am ONLY comparing weight here. Not rifle operation or anything else. Just weight.

Tikka T3 Lite 30-06 Rifle bare with Limbsaver recoil pad: 6.18 pounds (6 pounds, 2.88 ounces)
With lightweight sling and 3 rounds in the magazine: 6.77 pounds (6 pounds, 12.32 ounces)
Stock with Limbsaver Recoil Pad: 30.93 ounces
Rifle in full hunting setup with Vortex Razor LHT 3-15x42mm scope, Modified Talley Low Rings (from Whittakers (16bore design)), and a scope sock: 8.16 pounds (8 pounds 2.56 ounces)
Scope is 19 ounces
Talley Rings are 2.25 ounces

So, we have that as a baseline. Let's start shaving weight!

For a thin-ish sporter barrel like the Tikka has, it will be about 1 ounce per inch cut. Tikkas in long action calibers (and my rifle specifically) are 23.4". So we can save 3.5 ounces cutting the barrel down to 20"
Fluting the barrel will save around 3 ounces according to the Tikka T3 Superlite weights and a conversation I had with Karl Kampfeld (already thin barrels so can't go too deep on the flutes)
Fluting the bolt with shave 1/2 ounce
Replacing the stock with a McEdge will save 4-6 ounces at best (probably less, not sure here because I have never weighed one; this thread says 3-4 ounces at most: https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...2645/re-tikka-stock-weight-vs-edge-stock). If you go for a super ultralite stock (like a Wildcat) you might shave 10 ounces.

For the above, the stock and the fluting will, at best, shave 1 ounce per $50. More likely 1 ounce per $75 - $100 though.


Now to compare to the 2 most common factory ultralight rifles, a Fieldcraft and a Kimber Mountain Ascent in 30-06 to keep it apples to apples:

Tikka T3 Lite - $600 - 6 pounds, 3 ounces
Fieldcraft - $1600 - 5 pounds, 5 ounces
Kimber Mountain Ascent - $1800 - 5 pounds, 5 ounces


The Fieldcraft will cost $1000 more for 14 ounces of weight savings. That is $71 per ounce of weight savings.
The Kimber will cost $1200 more for 14 ounces of weight savings. That $86 per ounce of weight savings.

Now, if we apply weight savings to the Tikka with cutting the barrel and fluting the barrel (assuming it will be done by the same gunsmith) and putting it in a McEdge stock we would have:

Tikka T3 Lite with fluted and cut barrel and a McEdge stock - $1500 - 5 pounds, 9 ounces
-- Assuming $500 for the stock and $400 for the fluting and cutting of the barrel and bedding the action in the McEdge; weight savings of 3.5 ounces from barrel cut, 3 ounces from fluting, and 3.5 ounces from McEdge