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Joined: May 2005
Posts: 9,611
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 9,611 |
All of my rifles (6) are between 7.5 and 8.5lbs. Didn't start out with a target weight in mind... that's just how they turned out. powdr
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 11,048 Likes: 6
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 11,048 Likes: 6 |
I’d prefer 6 pounds when I’m carrying, and 10 + pounds when shooting it. I guess that means, I got a comprise.....9.0 pounds, scoped, loaded, and slung! memtb
You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." -Bob Hagel
“I’d like to be a good rifleman…..but, I prefer to be a good hunter”! memtb 2024
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,229 Likes: 9
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 37,229 Likes: 9 |
A 20" sporter contour barrelled 700 in an edge is right on for me. 23" Rem sporter contour Bobby Hart built 7-08 in Hunter's Edge. This one in the upper 7's, all up, balances great with some forward heft, is IMO about ideal for the kinda hunting I do. Packs easy, holds steady and is accurate. 3-9x40 Conquest with elevation turret in Talley LW's. Timney 510 trigger. DF
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 9,472
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 9,472 |
For all around big game hunting use its hard to beat 7.5-8.5 lb all up. Packing a light rifle up the mountain is pointless when you cant shoot the thing worth a darn when you get there.
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 28,512 Likes: 9
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 28,512 Likes: 9 |
A browning bar is heavy but the damn thing is balanced.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 4,933 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 4,933 Likes: 1 |
I think it depends on where you hunt. It is a totally different thing to carry a rifle 1/2 a mile to a stand and then sit there all day as opposed to hunting say the mountains of Colorado. I've done both and now prefer a lighter (much) rifle. Maybe being 58 has something to do with it too!! Either way anything less than 8# is a plus for me. I hunt on a steep, rocky island where the brush is thick. It's at sea level, but I'm on my hind legs still-hunting with a rifle in my hands all day long. I'd rather not have a rifle over 8#, but balance is way more important. Gotta have it a little muzzle heavy. I also find that working out in the gym does a lot to reduce the burning in my back and arms at the end of the day. Okie John
If Montana had a standing army, a 270 Win with Federal Blue Box 130's would be the standard issue.
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Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 2,180
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 2,180 |
Absolutely, a m70 extreme weather in 30-06 scoped up is 8lb 1oz and I absolutely love it, accurate, not too heavy, not to light.
But...
I also like my 5lb 12oz mountain rifle for those hunts that are days on end in steep country.
Both have their place.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,207 Likes: 5
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,207 Likes: 5 |
7 1/2, scoped, slinged, mag loaded, 5 on the stock. And that's a M98. Stupid brother pawned it after stupid me loaned it... Current '98 pushes 10 lbs with heavy barrel and stock - but shoots 1" groups at 300.... I can live with it, I just ain't gonna pack it far!
Last edited by las; 06/21/18.
The only true cost of having a dog is its death.
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Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 11
New Member
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New Member
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 11 |
I'd say that's pretty good ... 7.5-8#. Truth is the best place to trim weight is around our own midsections and off our own backsides; makes climbing hills a whole heck of a lot easier no matter how heavy your rifle is.
Held Fast John 10:27-29
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 17,884 Likes: 4
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 17,884 Likes: 4 |
I've never owned a synthetic stocked rifle and never will, sighted in a customer's synthetic stocked Remington 700 .270 and did not care for it at all. All of my rifles are wood stocked pre'64 M/70's which suit me fine for the kind of hunting that I do.
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,082 Likes: 2
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 1,082 Likes: 2 |
Time was I didn't mind a heavy rifle and, really still prefer some weight between my hands. Good grief, for close to a couple decades I packed a 10 1/2 lb. Shiloh Sharps all over the mountains of western Wyoming. Took a lot of game with it too but, I loved that rifle, still do. HOWEVER....I used to be 40!!!!
I doubt I'll ever pound the Rockies again in pursuit of elk, deer or moose. These days all my hunting is in the hills of the Ozarks and whether I'm sitting in a stand or slipping through the woods the weight of the rifle is not a consideration. I might be packing a svelte, 1903 or 1908 Mannlicher/Schoneauer or a 9 lb. Jost & Diehl combination gun or the aforementioned Sharps....(or any of a dozen or more others).
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I do enjoy carrying either my Jeffrey Rook rifle, (not quite 5 lbs.) or Bartles stalking rifle, (just over 6 lbs.) when chasing bushy tails!!!
Based on the above I'd say I never have worried about or concerned myself with the weight of a rifle. AH!!! One exception. My Ballard 1 1/2 Hunter. It weighs the same as my Sharps but has to be the worst balanced rifle I've ever owned. Barrel is entirely too short and heavy. It's in 45-2.6 and for years I've threatened to have the doggone thing re-barreled to 38-55 with a lighter barrel.
NRA Benefactor 2008
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." John 14-6
There is no right way to do a wrong thing
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,554
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,554 |
Where you hunt and how old you are factors into this. Back in 1991, the last time I hunted Colorado, I brought two heavy rifles - a Weatherby Mark V in 300 Weatherby Magnum caliber and a Mauser in 358 Norma caliber. Each rifle was around 10 lbs. I didn't mind the weight. Now, at 72, after a couple of heart attacks and bypass surgery, I will bring a lighter (and lighter recoiling) firearm this fall.
NRA Endowment Life Member, G.O.A supporter
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 20,815
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 20,815 |
For all around big game hunting use its hard to beat 7.5-8.5 lb all up. Packing a light rifle up the mountain is pointless when you cant shoot the thing worth a darn when you get there. But not for those who can. 6.5 to 7 is a nice compromise. For Big Game you are shooting at a basketball sized target and for the range most of us shoot off-hand a LW rifle shouldn't be a problem. Fellow at a local club, shooting off hand will abuse a 10in plate at 300 with a .338Fed Montana. Then he will pick-up a heavier rifle and do it again. As in most things, some are good at the game and do things others can't. Or are willing to put in the time to enable them to do so.
Last edited by battue; 06/21/18.
laissez les bons temps rouler
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 8,238 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 8,238 Likes: 1 |
6 1/2 pound is about groovy with a little weight out front. Weight, for weight's sake is a waste. Balance, a good trigger and practice trumps all. +1 6 1/2 to 7 with slight weight forward balance is best for me.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 30,303 Likes: 4
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 30,303 Likes: 4 |
I find a weight forward rifle at 7.25-7.75 lbs all-up a just right compromise.
I'd just rather pack a 6.5lb all-up rifle in the mountains...
“Perfection is Achieved Not When There Is Nothing More to Add, But When There Is Nothing Left to Take Away” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,065
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,065 |
For me, with a little bit of weight forward on the muzzle, I shoot a light one as well as a heavy one when hunting. No issues at all.
I don't like hauling extra weight anymore than I like being kicked into next week.
Balance in all things, I guess...
Defend the Constitution
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Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 96,121 Likes: 1
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 96,121 Likes: 1 |
My rifle is always in my hands. I think I have a sling on one rifle, I never use them. So I also think it matter much in how one carries a rifle.
"Dear Lord, save me from Your followers"
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 44,908 Likes: 13
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 44,908 Likes: 13 |
I'm not a packing gear into the mountains style hunter, so balance matters more to me than weight as long as the weight is within reason. I really like the way my Rem 700 Classics handle.
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,065
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,065 |
Good point. Full disclosure...:)
No routine sling use either, though I have them in case of circumstances. If having to use hands for hanging on to stuff to get somewhere, which is not preferred, I'd rather strap it on the pack.
Defend the Constitution
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 20,815
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 20,815 |
There are some good mountain/backpack hunters that frequent here, and only one that I can think of carries around a heavy rifle. They consistently kill game with LW rifles with seemingly little problem. I suspect they get it done from all the field positions along with various levels of exertion at the moment. There are more than a couple obvious reasons why.
laissez les bons temps rouler
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