I agree that a couple of pounds doesn't make a lot of difference but as JCMCUBIC pointed out the rifle is carried in your hand and not close to the body most of the time. Back in my 20's carying an extra 75-80 lbs in my ruck along with my weapon didn't bother me nearly as much as it does today. I was light infantry then and I did a lot more hiking the woods back then.
I'm not a fan of super light weight rifles, but for an all up righ a sub 6.5 lbs walking varmint, 6.5-7.5 lbs standard cartriges, and 7.5-8 lbs for magnums sure is a lot nicer than some of those 9+ lbs rifles that I've carried through the years. I'm not knocking Cowboy Tim for his opinion but he just doesn't get that he hunts a totally different style than people who want a light rifle.
Next years hunting rifle is a M70 FWT in an Hunters Edge ADL style stock with Leupold 2.5-8X36 in Talley LWT mounts. I don't know exactly what it weighs but it points nice and the balance is slightly muzzle forward so it settles real nice. I just got to get the scope mounted up and take it to the range to see how she shoots.
