Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Max weight of your hunting rigs

Wondering what everybody's hunting rigs weigh as far as your heaviest rifle, all in with bipod, scope, etc.
My heaviest I ever used was just under 12 pounds , but it was a rifle I built for special conditions , my main rifle weighs just under 8 IIRC.
Cat

My heaviest rifle is a M98 action, a fairly heavy wood stock, and a heavy 27" bbl in 30-06. About 11 lbs., including sling, 3.5-10X scope and 5 rounds.

If I can hold it steady enough on a good rest, it consistently will put 3 into about an inch at 300 yards with any/all factory ammo that I have tried.

Not something one wants to take sheep hunting, but it works well off an ATV or snow machine.

Heaviest is a BAR Safari MKIII 30-06 with a 56mm scope.

It’s hard to beat at last shooting light, but it’s a brute to carry!

Weatherby Mk V Hunter in .270 Wby with a Vortex Viper HS 2.5-10x44. Add in rings and it’s right about 8.5 lbs without ammo.

I've never weighed a rifle. I am much more concerned with ergonomics than with weight. I categorize my hunting rifles as light, normal and heavy. The only rifle I have that I consider heavy is a Ruger 77V tanger in .220 Swift with a heavy, 26" barrel and a Leupold fixed 16X scope. It's about as heavy a rifle as I care to walk around with and then just varmint hunting, not around in the woods. The only ones I have that I consider light are my Kimber 8400 .300 WSM and my old Ruger .44 carbine. Everything else is between those two extremes, bolt guns and Ruger No 1's. I think I can shoot a rifle better that's got a little heft to it. Maybe if I hunted more in steep places at high altitudes I'd feel different about it.

The reason I am asking is I am setting up a hunting rifle match at our club, and the various hunter matches and rifle rodeos I have attended over the years have rules that are all over the map. One I know of even disallows " bull Barrels" - whatever that means. A fella I know was not allowed to enter his rifle with an aftermarket barrel on it even though it was the same profile as a varmint rig that the company sold! I have never attended that one one , mind you.
Others do not have a weight limit , and often you see rifles that would never be considered to take hunting in these things.
However,many hunters these days hunt from boats, or access country by ATV, or hunt from a blind, so you tend to see some "heavier than I would use " rigs! LOL.
I see lot of rifles these days that are hunted employing chassis, barrels and scopes that are heavier than normal, so I want to make sure these guns are allowed.
Cat

NRA Silhouette has a "Hunter" class. It looks like a pretty good definition of a hunting rifle. They addressed the bull barrel too.

3.1.1 High Power Hunting Silhouette Rifle - A hunting style rifle
having a maximum weight of 9 pounds, including sights and if applicable,
an empty magazine or clip. The intent of this rule is to describe a common
hunting rifle.
(a) Caliber: 6mm or larger, provided that no belted cartridges or
Magnums are allowed.
(b) Sights: any telescopic or metallic sight may be used. Scopes may not
be more than 1.5 inches above the rifle, as measured from the top of
the receiver to the underside of the scope tube, nor may the scope be
offset from the centerline of the bore. Exception: for rifles that eject
the empty cartridge case straight up and that normally use an offset
scope, the scope may be offset. Any sighting device programmed to
activate the firing mechanism is prohibited.
(c) Stock: A hunting style stock; thumbhole-type stocks are not permitted. Attachments, either removable or permanent, are not permitted.
Swivels and slings are permitted, but slings may not be used for arm
support in shooting. Dimensions may not exceed those described in
3.1(d).
(d) Trigger: Trigger pull shall not be less than 2 pounds. In the event of
an accidental discharge, range officers shall require adjustment of
the trigger or replacement of the rifle. Rifles must be equipped with
a functional safety.
All safety features, including any manual safety, must be functional.
(e) Barrel: A hunting style contoured barrel that tapers from chamber to
muzzle. Bull barrels are not permitted. A factory tuner that does not
act as a muzzle brake or compensator is permitted. Maximum barrel
length is 26 inches, including tuner. (See Rule 3.16.1).
(f) Magazines: Magazines may not be loaded with more than 5 rounds.

LHS

I’ve never weighed a rifle, mostly hunt out of a stand.

Silhouette rules disqualify a vast number of hunting rifles in the weight category not to mention that the " bull barrel" thing is not really addressed, just not allowed.
Belted magnums are more common than not, and many shooters are using triggers less than two pounds these days.

Cat

I have 5 bolt action rifles in 308, 6.5CM and 30-06. The weight of the rifle, mounts, and scope varies from 7 lbs even up to 7 3/4.

One would have to be careful with scope selection (weight) if wanting to use a regular (not Featherweight) pre-64 Winchester Model 70 with that 9-pound max. Probably couldn't quite make weight with a Zeiss Conquest, but probably could squeak by with a 3-9x40 Trijicon Accupoint or Burris Fullfield II with a modest weight scope mounting system (not heavy-duty rings and definitely not a rail). That 9-pound limit is certainly constricting for old-school rifles with wood stocks.

Barrel: A hunting style contoured barrel that tapers from chamber to
muzzle. Bull barrels are not permitted.

Pretty clear to me. Tapered, and the whole shebang can weigh no more than 9 pounds.

LHS

Many medium weight barrels are tapered like that but are considered a bull barrel by many.
Not that it matters because silhouette is shot offhand and we will be shooting prone, many with belted magnums.
Cat

My main hunting rifles weigh 7.7 and 8.3 pounds loaded with leather shooting sling IIRC.

Best of luck with your hunting rifle shoots Cat. I helped run our shoots at Phoenix Road Gun Club several years ago. We tried to create realistic scenarios with time limits and improvised shooting positions in some stages, stationary and moving targets. 50 to 500 yards. We used various animal targets with kill zones. One of the most important aspects in my opinion was scoring. Points were applied to a kill (10) , inadvertent kill(5), wound (-15) and miss (-5) as I recall. You also had the option of not taking a particular shot (0). Negative scores on individual stages were fairly common.

It was great practice and eye opening at times. It is good to have some rifle restrictions in place IMO. It wasn't long before the bull barreled varmint rifles started to appear, which was gaming the rules in my opinion. On the other hand we made it clear that it was really practice/training and no prizes were awarded. Feel free to PM for additional info if desired.

Mike I just had a crazy idea! I might have an artist friend who can whip up the likeness of a deer , moose, and elk for me and I could put them on the Shotmarker target frames!
I wanted to use them anyway.
Our rules will be pretty simple:
Legal Alberta big game cartridge - that is a cartridge of minimum 6mm . That gets rid of the 22/50's , 223's etc.

12 pounds max rifle weight. Many of the chassis rifles are approaching that , but I think most are about 10 pounds.

bipod, or pack sack- no fixed bipods or tripod shooting stye sticks. This should help level the playing field a bit.

Any sight and any trigger that is safe.

Distances will be on a draw to start , 200 to 500 and 600 to 900. So, if your first draw is 300, you shoot 5 there, then go to 400, then 500, then down to 200.
Same with 600 to 900

Scores out of 50 ( 5 shots) with the first going on our steel at the appropriate distance as a gimme . before you go onto the shotmarker you must hit the steel.
That will help with keeping our shotmarkers in one peace!
Cat

Once you go over 10 lb max rifle weight and under 2 lb minimum trigger pull weight, you basically have a varmint/sniper rifle competition. You're free to set up your competition however you want, but you may have some people surprised and disappointed when they register for a "hunting rifle match" and show up to see a bunch of sniper/varmint rigs, regardless of whether people hunt big game with those rigs.

You might want to have a separate category for rifles under, say, 9 or 9.25 lb and trigger pull weight over 2 lb.

That's my thinking as well. Really need two classes, as the true lightweight, handy hunting rifles aren't going to be able to compete with 12 lb chassis rigs.

We used the animal targets available from Midway USA, but they are limited on types. I'm sure your friend could come up with some good ones. Silver Mountain now has animal targets that can be downloaded onto their system, but I don't know if Shotmarker does.

I'll email you some of the courses of fire I cane up with when I was match director.

Mine is 9 pounds 1 or 2 ounces, scoped, fully loaded, and slung!

When shooting, I could tolerate mine a couple of pounds heavier……when carrying it, a couple of pounds lighter! 😉

If it weighed 11 pounds, recoil would be a fraction over 48 ft/lbs…..about 10 ft/lbs more than my wife’s 9.0 pound .338 WM! memtb

9 is about maximum that I currently have. 7.5 minimum for what I have. That's a Kimber MT 6.5 with a Trijicon. I might go a bit heavier on a few rigs as only a handful of my hunts require light. The rifle could be 15lbs and not affect the outcome of the hunt. Once I started sticking heavier scopes on rifles I stopped worrying about ounces.

The heaviest I have at the moment when loaded is my M1A. with a Leupold MK4 scope and no sling or mags it weighs 1o lbs. It is around 12 pounds st to go without a bipod.

The heaviest rifle I have empty is a M98 in 7x61 S&H Super. It has a 26 in barrel. With a 6-18x40 Redfield, a sling and a butt cuff it weighs 10 lbs and 7 ounces. Also without a bipod.

The vast majority of the guys who shoot in our matches up here are familiar with each other and know what to expect.
Most of their guns are running around ten pounds anyway except for a couple of dedicated ELR guys, but they have hunting rigs as well.
Cat

my model 70 s.s. Winchester 30-06 ,sling , boot with 6-shells , 5.5 -22 x56 Nightforce ,bi-pod 10 1/2 lbs. i will take to Africa

my Ruger #1 257 Weatherby mag. ,sling ,boot with 6 shells , barrel is a heavy contour #4 - 27 inch , Nightforce 4. 5-14 x56 , weighs 11 lbs. it is my deer stand rifle mostly but have walk many miles out west with this rifle mule deer hunting with a bi -pod then it weighs more.

i prefer a heavier rifle i shoot better with it .

Cat.... If you want to make it about shooting skill rather than the owner's (hunting?) rifle, do a round-robin type thing, where the shooters have to use everyone else's rifles ( or a number of them anyway), as well as their own. Cum. score wins.

Just make sure someone doesn't do the Cosby type thing, with the "sweet spot" taped 4 inches off, up on the backboard.

Cat; my 6.5 PRC Win M70, Macmillan stock, 24 inch #3 profile barrel, nightforce 2-10x42 NXS on NF rail and rings, sling and 5 rounds is 9.75 pounds. It’s a walking around rifle.

I love the idea of the event you are trying to create. Please let us know how it turns out. I think it has potential to be a GREAT event.

Pretty much all my rifles are model 70's of some sort, either pre 64 featherweights in their factory wood stocks or customized in good synthetic stocks, wearing average weight scopes they are all between 7 1/2 and 8 1/4 lbs. unloaded.

My, what I consider my LR rifle, is my Customized Weatherby .300 Win Mag. My goal was to get a rifle that I could shoot LR and to get it under 10lbs.

Topped with my Huskemaw 5-20x50, it weights 9 lbs.6 oz. My coal was to get it under 10 lbs, which I accomplished, barely.

I have hunted with friends who's LR rifles weighed over 13 lbs. Not for me.

Hunting with a tank sucks.

My heaviest is a Ruger M77 MarkII VT in 25-06AI. That target style laminate stock and the 26 inch bull barrel add up to a lot of weight. Unloaded with a Conquest 4.5-14x50 up top, it weights 11lbs 10ozs. It gets used from my shoot house and I drive my SxS to get there.

My “go to” hunting rifle is a Merkel K3 in 30-06. Weighs in at a tad over 6 lbs with scope. Kicks like a mule using 180gr Accubonds!

Mackey

6.4 lbs with scope Rem 700 Mountain

.338-06 is 7.25lbs - Rifle, mnts, scope
7mm-08 is 6.0lbs - Rifle, mnts, scope

The heaviest I've hunted with was around 10.5 pounds, a Ruger 77 Mk II VT model in .25-'06 with a Leupold 4.5-14X. Not far behind were a couple of Remington 700 Senderos. Those are all gone, years gone.

Currently my heaviest is a scoped lever action .45-70 at about 8.5 pounds. My main hunting rifle is 5 lb 10 ounces including scope and mounts but not sling or optics.

Tom

Weatherby Vanguard 300 Wby in HS Preceision stock, VX-3 3.5-10 is a portly 10lbs.
Winchester M70 push feed, Mcmillian stock MK4 3.5-10 with a 23" Bartlein #2b is 9lb 6oz.

Probably my Ruger M77 Hawkeye that wears a Shilen premium 35 Whelen spout at 23”. Haven’t weighed it in a minute but think it’s just un 9lbs. I don’t really sweat the weight too much. I’m either tracking deer or chasing bear hounds so a few ounces doesn’t mean a whole lot. I’m not carrying much on me when I head out, I try to travel light with just the basics. If I ever drew a sheep tag I’d buy a superlite rifle for the occasion.

A ten pound 300 Weatherby isn’t a bad thing.

No doubt

Having shot a “bare bones” ( no scope, no sling) Win. Model 70 XTR in 300 Weatherby weighing under 9 pounds…..recoil wasn’t bad at all. A little math with an 8.75 pound rifle (no scope, no sling), pushing 180’s to 3150 mv, using 78.0 grains of powder……shows recoil to be less than 34 ft/lbs. Which is 5 pounds less my wife’s rifle produces! Obviously, felt recoil is subjective and heavily dependent upon stock fit and recoil pad.

If it’s a rifle to be “hunter carried” all day for multiple days in rather serious terrain …..I much prefer mine @ 9 pounds or under, all up and ready to hunt. Unless the recoil is substantially greater than that of the 300 Weatherby…….9 pounds shouldn’t be an issue memtb

Disclaimer: this is not a rifle/load to be used for an all day Prairie Dog shoot!

BDL in 7mm Rem Mag 8 1/2 lbs incl scope and rings
XCRII in 375 Weatherby 7 1/2 lbs incl scope and rings
CZ550 in 500 Jeffery 12 lbs incl scope and rings

No > 8.5 pounds ready to hunt.

Tikka .338 winchester mag 7.75 lbs with scope and loaded

Above quote…..XCRII in 375 Weatherby 7 1/2 lbs incl scope and rings

Now that one should “jump” a little when fired from the bench! 😉 I have much respect for you if you can sit behind that for 20 rounds from the bench….assuming that no brake is used or a lead sled! 👏 memtb

That should be a pleasure to hunt with……maybe not so much when shot from the bench! 🤔 memtb

So far my Mark V ULWT 338/06 and Leupold 2.5x8 = 6.3/4# empty. My Win. Mod 70FWT 25" Shilen 7x57 and Leupold 3.5x10 = 8#

Very true. I run a rather stout load in my 300 win mag that pushes a 200 grain Terminal Ascent at a hair under 3K fps. I have a Nosler M21 and it’s the best behaved 300 mag I ever shot. I don’t know the weight off the top of my head but it’s not heavy and the relatively light recoil I contribute it to the stock design. I believe the early Weatherby rifles didn’t have the best stock geometry and although beautiful those old wood stock Weatherbys beat the hell out of people.

I believe with the ammo, scope, and sling my Kimber 280 AI will weigh in at about 6+ lbs.

I believe with the ammo, scope, and sling my Kimber 280 AI will weigh in at about 6+ lbs.

My 300Wby is 9 lbs unloaded, 7mm Mashburn is 7 lbs unloaded. As I get older I really like the lighter weight for a mountain hunt. If the country is flatter I’ll still pack the Wby.

Your club might have some other folks who typically don't shoot in your matches but who would be interested in a match with other like-minded folks who hunt with more traditional hunting rifles (e.g., those in the 7 to 9 lb weight range). I think that is a major draw of hunting rifle matches at many clubs.

My Mark V .300 Weatherby Fibermark comes in at 9.25 lb unloaded without sling, so pushing 9.5+ hunting mode. My Mark V lightweight .30-06 (6lug) is just under 7 lbs. felt recoil is rather fierce at the bench with that one with 175 or 180 gr loads. All my other rifles come in between 8 and 8.5 lbs.

I've been shooting a very light Rem Model 7 HS in .243 this season and am having trouble shooting such a light rifle. I'll work with it during the off season, but may decide to go back to a heavier rifle.

My hunting rifles range from 8lbs up to 14. But I can tell you I don't do very much walking with the 14 pounder haha

Win m70 super grade, 270 win, something over 9 lbs with scope (3-9x40) leupold and sling. Carried it elk hunting in NM in 2023. I couldn’t tell the difference between it and the ruger mkll in 30-06 I carried for over 20 years.

Sounds like fun. Wherever you set the weight limit people will complain their regular hunting rifle is just over. You could always do weight classes under 7.5 lbs, 7.5 to 10 & over 10 lbs. it would be interesting to see the difference in performance.

Mine would fall in the middle class - very lightweight rifles don’t feel right to me so far & over 10 would be very heavy in the mountains.

I've never weighed a rifle.....like women some just feel better than others.

My heaviest is a 416 Rem M70 in a McM magnum fill stock, steel Scherz bases and Talley QD rings, Burris 1.75-5X Signature Safari scope, Wisner rear (Pre-64 SG copy) and banded front sight, fluted factory barrel with four rounds and no sling (I don't use one on this rifle). It weighs 9 1/2# all in.

Now that should be a nice carry weight hunt’n rifle……while being very shootable! memtb

Montana 1999, 300 RUM 9 pounds 7 oz, about the heaviest I'd walk around with for long distances
Ruger 6mm Varmint, 10 pounds and change, yes I do hunt on foot with it, no it's not fun
Smith and Wesson Husqvarna 30-06 8 pounds 4 oz, my go to hiking rifle
Pre 64 model 70 in 330 Dakota, 7 pounds 10 oz, next year's go to

Generally speaking, I like 9-10 pounds for shorter hikes and longer shots
Under 8 pounds for longer walks.

Think many of you need a real scale. I just chopped a Tikka T3X in 300 WSM to 19". Stuck it in a Stocky's Carbon VG2. Sportsmatch rings and a Bushy 3-12 was 7.54 lbs. Think it takes a fair bit of effort to get a legtimate "All Up" rifle sub 7lbs

Exactly, never worried about weight, sit in a stand now that I’m old.

My hunting rig weighs just shy of 5000 #

I would say my Weatherby Accumark in 270 wby mag is my heaviest. Approx 9.5 lbs scoped up.
About 8-8.5 is my average rifle weight. I hunt out of climbing stand mostly so weight not that critical.

A Japanese import! 😂 memtb

Ford says 4764 lbs so i made a good guess🤭

Yes you did! 👍 memtb

I try to keep my pack under 60 pounds on the way in these days...

8-13 lbs depending on what I grab.

My 28 Nosler is just about 10 pounds all up. However, that is with a 26" barrel, McMillian EDGE stock, Zeiss HD5 scope, as well as a Harris swivel Bipod.