Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting How much rifle weight?

As the title says fellas, how much rifle weight including optics, stock packs, bipod are your willing to carry in the field?

I mean carry in a pack on your persons, not via truck/ATV/horse/mule from location to location.

Wondering what everyones threshold is like.

Thx!

I am willing to carry a 7lb 14oz rifle because that is the six lug Mark V weighs with the Bushnell 6500 4 1/2-30X50 on it. But since my 6lb 14 oz 6.5SLR with a 27" barrel is back the .270 is in the case and in the safe until I rebarrel the 6.5 again. It has a Bushnell 4200 4-16X40 now. When the new 6500 4 1/2-30X50 gets here it will gain four ounces and weigh 7lb 2oz.

Depends on the terrain. For a day of deer hunting in rolling hills with mixed vegetation, within a couple of miles of the truck, I'll carry a 15 lbs rifle. When sheep or elk hunting in mountainous terrain, my preference is 7lbs or less all up (6 lbs doesn't hurt!). Those would be the two extremes, I've carried rifles anywhere in between those weights, depending on application and terrain, and am happy to continue to do so.

I'm like Jordan in the mountains, but much lower on the top end in gentle terrain.

More like 9 lbs., maybe 9 and a half.

The older I get the more I like light weight in every application. The only reason I would want anything heavier would be for extreme long range and I just don't need that where I hunt. My favorite right now is just over 7 lbs all up. It is easier to shoot than my 6 lb rifle and not enough weight to matter unless climbing a mountain.

Somewhere between 7-8 lbs on an all around rifle and closer to 7.5 seems just about perfect. I don't shoot anything over 8 lbs any better and even 8 lbs isn't too bad to carry in even the toughest terrain. I'd probably prefer a bit more weight on a heavy recoiling rifle and I have a Kimber that is still under 6 lbs scoped. But I tend to reach for the ones in my safe that are 7-7.5 lbs most often.

Heavy enough to do the job....

What's the job?

I've come to the conclusion that I need a rifle in the 8-9# range in order to shoot well. I packed my Tikka all over this spring and was fine packing its weight 7#with scope. Spent a week in the back county doing 3-14 miles a day. But then I missed two bears with it. 460 & 350 yards. I spent all winter and spring shooting this thing out to 550. For the last trip, once we got home I used my 9# 7mag to get my bear. I figure I'll put up with the weight in order to hit what I'm shooting at. I'm now in the market for a 7# + scope .270.

Regardless of terrain, I stay at or under 8lbs, however the lighter the better if I'm not shooting a magnum.

9-10 for stand guns no more

7lbs all up for a mountain rifle .

8.5lbs for big game....regardless of where.

My coyote rifle weighs 15lbs and is carried in an Eberlestock X1 pack. I've carried that rifle hundreds and hundreds of miles in the past couple years...

You're young, aren't you.

I'll be 60 this fall....

Whippersnapper....

Laffin'....It's only a number, right?

I guess I'm young enough to still go, but old enough to know what works....for me anyway.

How did I learn all this schit without the internet?

I give up. TV shows?

I was like that until about age sixty-five. I used an eleven pound Klienguenther K14 a lot. Things sure deteriorated after that. I have to work out regularly just to keep entropy from advancing further. The reverse in my driver is broken.

My rifles weigh anywhere from about 7.5 lbs to almost 10 lbs., scoped, slung, and loaded (often with 4 or five extra rounds on the stock). I'll pack any of them
anywhere . I'll admit to liking lighter for mountain hunting. Mostly. But if you ain't man enough...

I'll be 69 in late August. For ATV/snowmachine hunting I'll go with the heavy barreled Mauser '06 - inch groups at 300 yards, tho I have also used the below- off the machines . Rem 725 260 and RU 77 "Stub" '06. But I am planning on carrying the 98 on my next non- NW Arctic back-pack caribou hunt - probably 2018, ( the 7.5 lb .260 MOA, would likely do as well. Or the slightly heavier "Stub" RU 77 '06 with 17 inch barrel, 1.25 MOA. to 500 yards - my limit. I just LIKE that Mauser). Not much upper or downer- mostly ridge topping at above timberline elevation- tho it might be 10 miles back in...

The near 10 lb RU77 in 338WM (1.25 MOA) aint' half bad either, and I toted that over a lot of Idaho mountain country for elk. Finally killed one in Colorado. wWth the .260...

It was a pretty steep mountain, kill at 10,500 feet... several thousand feet below the ridge top with it's horseback hunter camps. I had a map from a friend, marked "elk-here"... . they were. That lighter rifle was not a mistake!

Edit - I would suggest that if one is shooting beyond 500 yards, one not overly consider the weight of the rifle- generally, to my thinking, one would want a heavier rifle for that. My Mauser is good to 1,000 probably - but i'm not.

My current favorite is a .280AI that'll weight 8lbs.4ozs. and for me that's the Goldilocks realm. Much lighter it kicks too much, heavier and it's a burden.

Nothing less than 12-14# is about right!!

I am primarily a hunter of big game. I live in the middle of really great rockchuck country but I prefer shooting jackrabbits. I have used rifles, scope included but no shells or sling, from 6# to 10#. Obviously the lighter rifles are better for packing.

I am very picky which ends up meaning I spend a lot of money per rifle. Being frugal, I find myself wanting fewer rifles so I expect my primary hunting rifle to be versatile and do lots of things very well. I want a rifle appropriate for taking on a super expensive Asian sheep hunt that can make a "money shot".

For me, around 7-4 all up, is just right. This mean around 6-14 w/o shells and sling.
A 22" barreled 280 AI fits the bill if ammo is not a concern, or if worldwide ammo availability is a concern then get a 270 and a good supply of R26.

Rick,

BS--though not on your opinion about rifle weight. Obviously you know what works for you.

I'm calling BS on: "Being frugal, I find myself wanting fewer rifles so I expect my primary hunting rifle to be versatile and do lots of things very well."

You're a rifle loony in need of a 12-step program. Since I've known you, you've gone from swearing off spending thousands on nifty custom big game rifles to reducing your "collection" to one or two. And then you've swung back the other way. You're like a yo-yo dieter, because like any real rifle loony you keep wondering about The Rifle That Will Change Your Life--and then go after it, again and again and again...

It takes one to know one.

MD, agreed we are ALL loonies here!

There isnt enough lifetime to send everything I want downrange but it sure is fun trying !

My "heavy" all around rifle is almost exactly 8lbs. For mountain hunting or backpacking, I have a 6lb kimber.

John, my friend. Laughing loudly. Of course you are correct.

About 15-20 years ago I went thru my safe and found that I had actions, barrels, and stock blanks for 20+ projects. Each of those sticks would but one or two factory rifles. All were to be built on very nice Mausers and p64-M70's. The money to complete them would buy a 2500 sf house. Around that time I bought the very first M700 Ti rifle I saw and it was so good that I never used anything else for BG hunting. Well I had a big sale. Of course that Ti went thru three different barrels and three different stocks. The Ti was sort of grabby and caused a problem on a second shot at a big eland so it went down the road. Then came three 270's built on actions I got from Melvin back when such was possible. Then another Ti clone on an x-treme action which was also grabby and went away. Now I have the parts for yet another Ti actioned 270. Went thru 5 Kreiger 1-9 and 2 Bartlien 1-9.25 .277 barrels. TOTAL MADNESS.

Now, I have four slots for hunting rifles. The rifles in those slots still come and go pretty frequently. One slot has had three Kimber Montana's since last November. I keep trying to improve on the last version of perfect. Fortunately I stick to my "275" cartridge choice (270+280/2=275).

Well, admitting you have a problem is the FIRST step. But based on personal experience, I doubt it will help!

Back in the day when Jarrett started building the in-famous "beanfield" rifles, I had quite a few on M700.

Then came his TriLock action, so I added a couple more.

My tastes changed and those moved on, went to M70 style actions, a slew of Dakotas then over to Nesikas.

Now back around to a smaller safe and a few reliably predictable rifles and such.

However, glass is a whole other thread!