Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What light weight rifle to buy.

Backroads:

I took 4 of them out (2 mine and 2 other's) and I could not break 1.5" 2".


NEVER seen a Tikka NOT shoot. Look on here and see how many had trouble with the Kimbers and how many fixes are recommended.

I own both (Tikkas and Kimbers). The Tikkas shoot, and so do the Kimbers with minor work. When all is said and done, I prefer the Kimbers.

I don't think it's a coincidence that when you get into rifles as light as the MT that larger samplings of them "don't shoot."



Travis

Tikka T3 lite felt pretty good to me when I picked one up at the Sportsmans Warehouse store UNTIL I picked up the Superlite and I bought the Superlite.
Just a little more for it (did some negotiating with cash in hand)
the Superlight is about 6 ounces lighter than the Lite.
Works great for me as it is light but not so light that I have any problem steadying the rifle.
I haven,t done a thing to it except to reduce the trigger pull to 1.5 pounds.
I dont find the recoil bad at all with the stock pad and using the factory rings(factory screws as well) with no problems as of yet. I torqued the ring tops to 20 inch pounds and the bases to 25 inch pounds .
Torqued the front and rear stock screws to 35 inch pounds.
Used a dab of Blue loctite on the stock screws but not the scope rings as aluminum is self binding.
I also Lightly greased the aluminum lug and recess on the bottom of the barrel and the entire bottom of the action to prevent possible Galvanic reaction between the steel and aluminum parts. And also to prevent rust .
So far have only tried Federal Fusion 130 grain ammo in it.
.75 3 shot groups with it. Going to try the Hornady Whitetail Interloks 130 grain and see what it does with them.
So far very pleased with the rifle.

Bought it off gun broker for $1300.

Bingo... (But it's easier on the ego to blame the equipment.)

There you go! A no brainer!

That seems to be about as cheap as I can find them but I have never found one in an actual store.

Thanks.



Travis

NICE rifle no doubt
BUT
6 pounds 12 ounces Bare + at least another 15 ounces for scope and rings + 2 and a half ounces or so for 3 cartridges and we now Have a total of at least 7 pounds 13 ounces.

Not a heavyweight by any means but My Tikka Superlight only goes 6 pounds 13 and a half ounces WITH scope and 3 rounds of ammo.

I doubt that it will shoot any better than A Tikka T3 from my limited experience with mine and other Tikka owners input
and can almost guarantee the trigger is no better.

Kimber Montana is about 5 pounds 2 ounces bare.
Add about 17 ounces for scope rings and ammo for about
6 pounds 3 ounces loaded.

Although the Nosler is indeed a very fine looking rifle and not really that heavy it doesn,t come close to the weight of either the Tikka Superlight or Kimber Montana .

I have T3's too bc. I have no use for super lightweight rifles personally.

jc I do understand that,and personally I wouldn,t want any lighter than the T3 Superlight But A lot of guys want a superlight rifle .

I was mainly addressing the OP who posted he is interested in a Stainless light Rifle.

I agree with the guy from Arkansas but didn't mention it because the OP didn't really define lightweight.

But a Tikka and a Nosler ain't a Kimber Montana. They're not comparable.



Travis

Agree the 84M in 7mm-08 or 308(which is what the OP wants is much lighter than the Tikka Superlight ,by about 10 or 11 ounces.

Tikka Superlight more compares with the Montana 84L(only 2 ounces or so difference )with both being a 270 Winchester.

Lightest possible looks like the Kimber 84M or Adirondack or Ascent.

Whew they are really proud of the Ascent and the Adirondack !

to me going to light in weight would like shooting a magnum.lighter gun the more felt recoil. i prefer the tikka t3 because it a full size gun and lightweight.

A couple of the new Steyr's that were announced last May look like good lightweight options. The trouble is locating one for purchase. The lightweight versions of the "CL II" and "SM12" SX's weigh 6.3 lbs. and have a fluted barrel and aluminum bedding system. The walnut models are 6.4lbs. Could be interesting options if you ever can find one for sale.

Here is the model I'm describing...



ringworm, where did you find yours?

But not stainless AND lightweight Per the OP original Post.
Although the OP didn,t really specify a weight He seemed to like the weights of the Kimber Montana.
I see that they offer a Stainless version but I couldn,t find the weights for it.
The blue is about 6 pounds 5 ounces,adding at least 17 ounces for scope ,rings and 3 rounds of ammo comes up with at least 7 pounds 6 ounces and I bet the stainless adds at least 2 to 3 ounces for a weight of 7 pounds 8 ounces.

Still not as light as even the Tikka Superlight much less the EXTREMELY light Kimber Montana .

Out of the box with no adjustments:



This was the first time out. I used to be a hater, too but it now appears that Kimber has been listening since the first Montana I had.

With load development and skim bedding, the rifle routinely shoots 1/2 moa. Of the 2 Tikkas I own, both shoot as well, one shoots slightly better. However, the Montucky feels better at the end of a 5 mile hike.

They must cater to the giraffe/humanoid/Nazi-sympathizer market.



Clark

My choice a few years ago was the Kimber Montana. It shot as good as I wanted right out of the box…once I learned that you have to hold on to it when you shoot it. It has always shot into an inch, with some a little under and some a little over. Most of that variation is probably my lack of ability and not the rifle.

I changed a few things to make the rifle suit me a little more. I cut the barrel back to 20 in and built up the forearm and grip areas with epoxy putty to give the stock a little more round feeling. The stainless steel would almost glow like a neon light at dusk so the whole rifle got a paint job.

The rifle came out weight wise about where it started out. Ready to go, but not loaded, it weighs 6.25 lbs on the scales I used. They might be a little off, but I like the numbers I get with them and I'm sticking with it.

If I was in the market for a light weight rifle, I'd go with the Kimber Montana all over again and it would end up looking a lot like the one below.

got a Cooper 54 260 several years back and been extremely happy with it: weight, balance, trigger, accuracy. same goes for close friend who also got one in 7mm08