Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Balance of a Hunting Rifle

Is there a specific spot where a rifle should balance (i.e. in front of the trigger guard, in front of the magazine, etc...) or is it more of a personal preference? I'm asking specifically for a hunting rifle, not benchrest or target.

Too much difference in barrel contour and stock design (read weight distribution) to made a broad sweeping statement about balance at a particular point. To me it's been a matter of preference and feel. One thing I pay attention to is handling with and without a scope. I have guns that I would like to have a scope on but don't because of the change in balance when the gun comes up to my shoulder. Others keep the balance in the same point with a scope.

Examples, my CZ 55 Full Stock just doesn't get it done for me with a scope. My Guide Gun can go either way, at the present it sports a scope. My Sauer 202 in 7mm Rem Mag is nicely balanced with a scope. The Ruger front heavy bull barrel #1V needs a scope as it has no iron sights and the scope shifts balance back towards the shooter. My Rem 700 Fireball has good balance with the scope but is mostly shot from a rest.

It probably doesn't matter a lot precisely where the rifle balances ( I try to balance mine within 1/2 inch either side of the front guard screw)but a rifle will handle differently according to how the weight is distributed.
Two rifles of roughly the same weight but with that weight distributed differently will seem lighter or heavier.
An eight pound rifle on which most of the weight is carried between the hands will feel light and point quickly. A rifle of the same weight but which carries the weight further out toward the ends will be slower handling and may feel heavier in use.
A rifle which has a lightweight stock may induce the builder or the owner to use a heavier barrel. This will move the weight forward, of course, and the rifle will be muzzle heavy. So he adds some weight to the butt to get the balance back and he does; still within the weight too! However, the rifle will now be sluggish to handle.
With the lightweight stock one, assuming one wants more weight, one should make the barrel heavier at the breech end and lighter toward the front. He might want to bed with a heavier compound or use some steel pillars. If he has to add weight, he might want to add it to the grip rather than the butt.
I recently stocked a featherweight M70 in French walnut. A nice looking piece of wood and very nice to work with, it was also quite dense. As a consequence it was a bit heavy in the butt which meant the rifle balanced a bit further back and felt very light. If I had been barreling the rifle as well, I might have contoured the barrel to carry a bit more weight forward. As it was, it didn't make me want to puke or anything but was a bit lighter in the muzzle than I would have liked.
In the end, as long as the balance point is somewhere bewteen the front of the trigger guard and a point about 1 inch in front of the front screw, it will probably work out fine. Like all things which are subjective, if it seems good to the user, it is good! GD

I can't be positive of course, but I'd bet that it's so nice the owner is esthatic with it anyway! ;-)

A10AII:

That's a topic that's seldom discussed, along with stock fit. And like stock fit, I think it's a very personal thing.

Only thing to do, really, is to own a lot of rifles, shoot them a lot, and measure the balance points on each one - with scopes if they're going to be scoped.

Put the rifle that seems best suited to you to one side and find the point of balance. I prefer to measure from the face of the trigger rather than the recoil lug. Then you don't have to mentally compensate for the length of the action.

In answer to your question of where the rifle should balance, I don't think anyone can answer it but you.

FWIW, I like the POB 6-6.5 inches ahead of the trigger. Most the factory rifles I've owned have had the POB further back than that. Some much further back. In order to avoid the problem in the future, I'm going to have to go semi-custom.

- Tom

its a very personal thing that differs with an individuals build.....guns that balance amazingly for me my wife hates to hold offhand. best way to figure it out for you is the same as stock fit......try alot of rifles till you find one that just plain feels good in the hand.

That pretty much sums it up. I've owned/handled/shot several hundred specimens. Of them, the Winchester 88 and Sako Finnlight feel better than ANY others. But, as stated, it's totally on an individual level. It's REAL easy to screw up a custom build, and the best advice tends to come from those that have been there and done that. "FEEL" is an acquired taste, and it don't come easy........I could elaborate, for any truly interested.......

I think that balance is a very individual thing.

For example, as much as I like the Remington 7s, I think that they tend to be unbalanced to the rear (butt-heavy) and not as quick to point as they are when they are balanced. I find that installing a 22" barrel from a 700 MR or Ti will greatly improve the balance and make the rifle feel quicker to point, at least it feels that way in my hands.

Same/same balance issues with the Ruger 77 RSI when compared to a variety of mannlicher stocked rifles with 20" barrels. I like Ruger 77 RSIs, but they are clubs compared to the fine balance of a mannlicher stocked Husqvarna.

Jeff

I feel the same about my 7.
On the other end of the spectrum, my #1 with 26 inch barrel was the easiest gun I have ever owned to shoot offhand. Weight forward made it steady as a rock.
All my other common factory guns seem to be balanced about right with "normal" 3x9x40 scopes.

stumpy

Best rifles for offhand balance in my experience were 26" barrel lever actions with shotgun style buttstocks: a full magazine Winchester 1894 30-30 and a Savage 1899 .303. Scopeless of course.

one man's balance is another man's clumsy ... and vice versa.

and balance trumps weight, to a degree.

Funny you should mention that. My 1A in 7x57 is going to be the subject of my first foray into semi-customhood.

The 22-inch barrel is going to be replaced with one in the same caliber at 26-inches, or thereabouts, depending on where my 'smith (TBA) figures the POB will be. I'm hoping for 6.5-inches forward of the trigger with a Leupie 2.5X mounted.

Might have to play with barrel contour to get it there.

- Tom

+1

I've found that a balance point within 1/2" of the front action screw (on a rem700 action based rifle) is perfect, for whatever kind of shooting I'm doing with a hunting rifle. I'm right handed, and like to have my left hand supporting the rifle at the balance point... and with the butt securely pulled into my shoulder pocket, the rifle just seems to want to float there, making it feel very light and handy ... YMMV

Was in Bobby Hart's shop yesterday and handled one of his M700 customs with a laminate stock. Points like a shotgun and just hangs on target. Then I tried a thumb-hole laminate stocked rifle and, even though it was heavier, it pointed just like the lighter gun. Which handled the same as a McMillan-stocked rifle. The fella knows what he's doing.