Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting What is the heaviest weight rifle you would want to hunt with?

I’m not planning on climbing Pike’s Peak or Mt Everest so it’s a moot issue!

when you guys talk long range rifle I just built a custom 338 lapua ,brux barrel, weatherby action,put a 8-32x56 niteforce scope picatinny mnts.m and a bi-pod on this rifle its my new elk rifle for the mountains . I am kinda a bigger person 6-2 /250 lbs and I like a heavier rifle anyway, I am in decent shape climb poles as a powerlineman 35 years in all weather conditons. I look at it this way what`s a couple more pounds of butter on my rifle so a 10-12 lb. rifle with a scope is no big deal with my pack anyway,by the end of the day the food and water in my pack is usally a lot less anyway too. don`t sweat the small stuff.good luck,Pete53

"What is the heaviest weight rifle you would want to hunt with?"

7# ready.

I don't really mind carrying a 700 Sendero so probably about 9.5 - 10 pounds scoped. It's a bit heavy but manageable with sufficient mumbling and cussing. I guess I'll leave that as my answer to the question.

I have a Kimber Montana that weighs 6 pounds with Talleys and a Leupold 2.5-8X. It is great to carry but is a real challenge to shoot offhand. I shoot a .204 in a custom 700 which weighs 7 pounds even scoped. It's got better "hang" than the .257 but a little more weight yet might be good. My guess is somewhere around 7.5 to 8 pounds would be ideal.

Sub-8 is better than 10. BTDT. We hike hard here by necessity. Plus a guy gets old fast.

About 11 pounds..

Fit feel and balance for me, never have been able to shoot really lite rifles very well.

15# be ok!

Yup, I routinely pack 11 to 13 pound Sharps rifles, killed 7 deer in two states with em last year, and one buck I rattled in was with that mighty 15 pound 45-110 Sharps Bull Gun I bought off you, all that said, I wouldn't want that bull gun on an elk or sheep mountain.

Almost all the rifles I've carried over the years went 9+, but no more. Last year I carried a CZ 527 that went a bit over 7, and now I've got a Fieldcraft in the pipe that should end up at about 6 1/2 with a pretty big scope. I'm also working on getting some weight out of my pack and off my ass. I don't want what I'm carrying to determine where I go and how long I stay out.

50 wasn't bad; started to really notice it at 60. 70's not far off now, and I want to keep at it as long as I can. Since I hunt public land, that means I have to climb, anywhere from a couple hundred to maybe 1000 feet, and since it's woods, that means a rifle is going to be in my hands a lot of the time. A pound or two carried like that is a big deal now.

This one is the heaviest I've been hunting with lately. With sling and mag it's pushing 9lbs. I don't mind it at all when it's flat, short walk, or it's slung (shoulder or pack)....in thick woods or going up a mountain with it in-hand, it's only about 2.5 lbs more than another but it's a BIG difference. I'm a sissy and like my lw rifles.

Nice rifle!! What setup are you using in the mountains that goes 6 pounds all up?

Thanks! That one is about 9lbs all up and the light one is 6.5lbs, not 6 (sorry).

That's a .223AI 22" Rem sporter contour and it's counterpart .223AI is a 700 lightened bolt/handle, 22" Douglas #1, Edge stock (adl), DNZ mounts, and 6x42 Leupold which is 6.5 lbs all up. They've been my main non-big game rifles for several years now.

Kimber .223 gets used a lot of the farm and I think it's right at 6 lbs but haven't weighted it lately.

LW version:



Kimber .223 is ~1/2 lb less

Very nice!!! I have some lightweight rifles that go anywhere from 4.5 pounds scoped to 7.25 pounds scoped and they all work, but my tank rifles are so much more fun to actually shoot and for everything but true living with whats on my back backpacking hunts for dall sheep, mountain goats, caribou, and bears even then I don't find the extra 5-8 pounds a deal break. Especially on day hunts when all I got is a 20-30 pound day pack to begin with.

Yep, I agree on shooting heavier and they certainly aren't a deal breaker for hunting. Biggest factor for me is will I be carrying it in my hand most of the time or slung/eberlestock'd.

MY limit Is around 9 pounds or so loaded with scope and sling .In Alaska ten of the years I was there I hunted with a weatherby accumark 338-378 weatherby .It was around 9.6 pounds loaded .I had a wide spongy scope on it .I toated it for hundreds of miles .

How much do I like My hunting rifle to weigh?....I like a bare bolt action hunting rifle to weigh about 6.5lbs (.300 Win) 6.0lbs (non-magnum) give or take a few oz's......Hb