Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Heavy, medium, light, ultralight?

What’s your favorite weight in a hunting rifle? Heavy being over 9lbs, medium being 8-9lbs, light being 7-8lbs and ultralight being sub seven scoped, where is your weight preference?

All my Hunting rifles are 8lbs or less scoped, with my heaviest right around 8lbs and my lightest under 6.

I have an 8lb 458 Win Whitworth with express sights. It has a metal buttplate. It will let you know that its a light weight when you touch off 500 grain Barnes XBullet loaded hot. I also have a 783 Remington 350 Rem mag that weighs right at 7lbs scoped with a Leupy 1-4. It kicks pretty hard too.

As light as I can build them, but with scope, rings, bases, bipod, sling, cheekrest, ammo pouch, and rear bag, I am lucky when it stays below 10 pounds.

abput 8 pounds all up is where i like them

Depends where I am. Right now all of my hunting in NC is public land so the lighter the better, I usually take my model 7 which with scope, sling and 4 rounds of 308 weighs 7.3-7.4lbs. Though I would like to do some work to it, or buy another rifle, to have a total package under 7lbs. When I’m hunting our 90acres in WV, weight isn’t as much of a concern normally, but I’m usually still-hunting through steep terrain. The rifles I use there are usually in the medium category once you add the scope and other extras, but even there i prefer a light category rifle when I’m huffing and puffing up and down hills all morning.

8 to 9 lbs ain’t bad for walking around.

+/- 8lb is fine, but I stopped worrying about it.

I have some on either side, but my favorite is a slightly forward balancing 6-3/4 t o 7.0 lbs. That's rifle, scope and mounts.

Yep. Sometimes, after reading forum posts, I wonder how I managed to hump a 8.79lbs M16A2 around all those years.

That being said, if I were climbing up and down mountains, I could see the merits of an ultra lightweight.

I usually like the 9# rifle for steady shots but I generally use the rule, the steeper the climb, the lighter the rifle.

This year I carried an 8.5pound rifle for 4 days and either Kimbers or a Nula for the other 8 days. If things are going to happen quick in the thick, then give me a LW every day. Bounce one out of it's bed in the thick, when you have little time to get it done and it becomes like Grouse hunting and an 8 pound shotgun would not be the first line choice.

The fact one can carry an 8pound plus all day, doesn't mean it will always be the best choice.

Addition: Most who are experienced in the backpack hunting game, are not all that enthused about carrying around an extra 3pounds if it isn't necessary. If one doesn't walk far, doesn't climb many big hills, doesn't have to carry their game out on their back, 9pounds is probably just about right.

I have a slightly different take on weights, maybe part of that is from being primarily a backpack/mountain hunter.

Most rifles are carried with a sling and rounds, so I think it's important to include those. It's like trying to calculate your takeoff speed based on an empty aircraft... but you have full fuel and passengers. That will never work out well

So for me:

Ultralight: Sub 6.25lb's, scoped with sling and rounds.
Lightweight: Sub 7.25lbs scoped with sling and rounds.
Midweight: Sub 8.25lbs scoped with sling and rounds.
Heavyweight: You know it when you feel it.

I've packed 9lb rifles in the mountains, and I've pack 6.25 lb rifles in the mountains. For my needs I'll take something around 7.25lbs or less with good barrel weight. I'm over no.1 contour barrels, one reason I bought a Barrett Fieldcraft in 270 this year. Has a nice Douglas-ish no.2 contour. I cut the barrel to 23", and mounted a 3.5-10x40 B&C Leupold in Talley Lwt's. With Uncle Mike's Mtn Sling and 4 rounds it goes 6lbs 13oz's. But it's got "hang" in the barrel that makes it feel different (better, even heavier) than a similar weight Kimber MT 270.

For open country hunting, casual woods wandering, or sitting in a treestand, a midweight is to my liking.

So "it depends."

I like my 7 lb all up Forbes better than my 6 lb all up Montana. I can't really tell much difference carrying them but I shoot the Forbes much better, and yes,the Montana is accurate.just harder to prove it.

I prefer 7-8 all up.

I find the UL rifles do not settle in for the shot. Heavier rifles are great for shooting, but not so much for packing.

Based on the OP's weights, I like my rifles all ultralight. My two go-to rifles are a under or at 6 pounds all up. A 7mm-08 and a 338Fed. I do not shoot long range. If I cannot get the animal within 300 yards, then I sneak closer or they live another day.

I agree with Brad, which isn't too surprising as we do the same kind of hunting in the same kind of mountains. I will add that I divide mountain hunting into two types:

The first is what most people do. You hike (or ride horses) from a central camp or trailhead each day with a daypack that contains some food, water, rain gear, some survival stuff, maybe a spotting scope, and a rifle. When I do that, my pack is usually under 20 pounds, so I don't mind carrying a mid-weight rifle in the 8-8.5 pound range, and I usually do because I can shoot a rifle like that well under field conditions.

The second type of mountain hunting is true wilderness backpack hunting. Here, your pack will have all of the above plus a week of food, a sleeping bag, some kind of small tent, a sleeping pad, extra clothing, etc. My pack easily weighs 50 pounds, so I am looking to reduce weight wherever possible. On those hunts, I like a rifle that finishes up about seven pounds scoped and loaded. I have had several customs over the years that have filled this role, but I recently bought a Barrett FC in 6.5 Creed that I am going to test for a year and see how I like it. It has the heavier barrel contour of the long action cartridges and Cerakote, which is a nice addition for spending a week or two in a drippy tent.

This may not be germane to the question at hand, but one thing I often see among rifle loony's is that they focus on the weight of the rifle, while generally ignoring the rest of their gear. They will think, obsess, conjure, research and scheme ways to buy lighter bottom metal, scope mounts, stocks, perhaps a pencil barrel, (or a complete new rifle) all to shave a pound off their rifle. They may spend $1,500 or $2,000 to save this pound, all the while ignoring the fact that they could buy a pair of Sitka Ascent pants and a Stone Glacier pack for $800 or less, and save four or five pounds, without compromising the 'shootability' of their rifle. But hey, where's the fun in that???

Brad kinda nailed what I prefer. 6.5-7.25 lbs scoped/sling (uncle mike's) with a little weight forward. Heavy enough that I shoot them well offhand (and from a rest) but light enough that I don't mind carrying them in hand. My mountain hunting isn't extremely long hikes, it's simply hiking up very steep, rough, thick mountainsides to stands or still hunting the same mountain sides. On the rare occasions I hunt from a shooting house or have a flat walk I could care less if the rifle weighted 15 lbs....when it's in my hands all of the time I do care.

Several of my rifles have gained a little weight over the past couple of years in optics and mounts. Some of the gain is worth it....but I still don't like gaining anymore there than I have to.

My favorite style of hunting is still hunting. It’s definitly not the most effective method, but I get the most enjoyment out of it and when you connect with a monster buck or bull it’s awesome. When I’m still hunting I have my sling in my pack and my rifle in my hands, most of the time for hours.

One day of still hunting this style with a Weatherby Accumarks in my hand was the day I decided I like em’ light, that’s when it all changed for me. Ever since I’ve been in search of light and accurate, not always an easy combination to find. One thing I noticed helped out with my accuracy using a light rifle was a light trigger. I find a light rifle is affected more from “pulling” the trigger than with a heavy rifle, learning to squeeze the trigger and having it set -3lbs makes a huge difference.

Now all my lightweight rifles are sub MOA, some even sub 1/2moa.

Bin them however you see fit. I've carried an all-up 6lb rifle many seasons of back country hunting, and been very happy with it, while for elk this year I was right around 8lb. I wouldn't want to be heavier than 8, ever, for any reason. For longer shooting off bipods there is perhaps some benefit to the weight. I've never missed a shot with a light rifle, but every shot has been quick off hand shots of <200yds with a tree to lean on in a couple cases. For Mule Deer hunting this year the same rifle was configured at about 7.25lb. That was a nice weight. I'd say anything 6-7.5 is very workable for a back country hunt. My dilemma now is how to get a walnut stocked Fieldcraft to 7lb with a great scope. The great scope part is proving a challenge.

My favorite lightweight scope that is good in the bush and in the open fields is a Swarovski Z3 3-10x42. Light, clear, and enough high and low range magnification to get the job done.