Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting rifle weight and body weight

1-2 lbs less in a rifle will be very noticeable to a person going up a mountain (or even walking flat). It's easy to feel the difference as soon as you pick it up and that difference never goes away.

4-5 lbs less body weight at the same level of fitness will be very hard for a person to notice going up a mountain.....again, at the same level of fitness.

Regardless of how well or poorly conditioned a person is, it's always easier to carry 7 lbs in their hand than it is to carry 9 lbs in their hand.

I'm a believer in being in good condition year round. For me, circuit and interval training for both lifting and cardio is the best fit. I believe it is the most time efficient way to maximize results that apply directly to the way I hunt as well as general fitness for everyday life. Find what works for you and a way you can implement it continually throughout the year doing something you enjoy.

Most of my hunting rifles weigh between 9.25 and 10.5 pounds. I have hunted mountains all my life. I am only 5' 6" tall (short) but solid and quite muscular with very little fat. 187 pounds. But living at near 1 mile high in the valley and then going up from there for almost every hunt I go on for mule deer, elk carrying 10 pound rifles is not anything new. I have been doing it for over 1/2 a century. Most of my mountain hunts are at 7000 to about 8800 feet. Some a bit higher, but once you get much over 9500 there is usually not a lot of game to hunt. Game doesn't live very far from food or water and at 9500+ food and water get scarce.

The other side of the coin is interesting however.

I do own a few rifles that come in between 6 pounds, 14 oz and 8.2 pounds and when I do take them out they are a delight to carry and hunt with. So some feel a "need" for a very light rifle and it's not really a need at all. It's simply a want and there is nothing at all wrong with that.

In the last 15 years or so I have had more fun from hunting with iron sighted rifles then I do with scoped rifles and I have killed almost all my game in the last 15 years over irons. I average around 7 kills each year. Some years more, and a few years I killed as few as 5. But I think 7 per year is probably an accurate average. Over the last 15 years that's around 115 head of game. Of those I think about 20 were killed with scoped rifles. All the rest were killed with rifles and iron sights ----- except for about another 20, which were killed with handguns with issue iron sights.

The reason most of my light guns are light is simply a lack of a scope and mounts. The only rifle I own that I made specifically to be light is my 25-06.

As I have aged I cannot shoot very far with iron sights with total confidence, so I simply don't shoot much past 200 yards as a rule with peeps sights and never past about 125-135 with open sights. Such a "limitation" has not helped the game animals very much however. I just shot my buck antelope with a Savage M99 in 300 2 weeks ago from prone over my pack at about 215 yards. Peep sight.

My lightest 2 scoped rifles are a Mauser in 25-06 and a Mauser scout carbine in 30-06. I have never hunting elk with the 25-06 but with correct bullets I would not refuse to do it. Many of my friend have killed elk with 25-06s and done fine. My Scout carbine is a 30-06 and I have killed elk antelope deer and a huge pile of varmints with that little gun. My 25-06 with scope, loaded and with the sling weighs 7 pounds 2 oz. My Scout weighs 8 pounds even, loaded with it's sling.

My lightest rifle of any center fire I have is my Lee Speed 303 at 6 pounds 14 oz. I have killed antelope and deer with it, but not elk (yet) But I will hopefully kill an elk with it some day. I know I can because the 180 grain bullet is the same speed as a 180 grain 300 Savage, and that I have killed elk with a 300 savage and I have seen it done several other times too.

My Savage M99 weighs 8 pound exactly. I did kill an elk with a 300 Savage, M99, but not this one I have now. In fact, it was the very first elk I ever killed back when I was a kid. The rifle was my dad's, which he got from a gunsmith friend of his in AZ in 1947 just 1-1/2 years after the war. It was the only center-fire rifle in our home from when I was born until I got my first 270 at 12 years old. Back in those days we shot everything that needed to be shot with either the 22 Winchester pump (M62A) or the 300 Savage. So as I grew up I started getting more and more guns, but weight was never even something I thought about.

As advantageous as lightening our body and rifle may be, I think the best approach is seeking better endurance and strength for the hunt demands first. By training more and better, we gain abilities and the body should lean out close to optimal with even a moderately healthy diet. Unlike gear, where we need to compromise function and lightweight, pursuing better fitness gives us the best of both worlds and opens more opportunity to carry superior (heavier) equipment.

Read Brad’s posts and then reread them again. Learn from his experience. Can’t improve on his advice.

What's a bloody vegan doing posting on a MEAT eaters HUNTING forum? Are you a Euell Gibbons wild asparagus hunter?

I am with Brad.

Just like Brad, I’ve found there is a compromise between rifle weight and shootability, and I prefer something in the 6 3/4 lb range with scope and mounts, minus sling, scope cover, and ammo.

I have had rifles that weigh 6 lbs and they were difficult for me to shoot. I have a 30-06 AI that weighs less than 6 1/2 lbs and with a full house 200g Partition load gives nothing up to a 300WM when it comes to recoil.

My 270’s at 6 3/4 lbs are easy shooters for me. I’ve demonstrated to myself that a 243 w/ 100g Partitions is fine elk medicine, and have a 243 SS bbl waiting in the wings for one of my SA M700 actions for when I get older and probably less recoil tolerant.

If you are now a bit overweight, then definitely lose that 5 lbs as it will make a difference. If you can reduce the weight of the .375 by up to half a pound with a lighter stock that will help a bit. Even quarter of a pound is better than nothing. You wouldn't want the .375 to weigh less than 9 lbs at your age.

Some great points made for sure, for me I have found the sweet spot for a scoped rifle to be 7 3/4- 8 Lbs. or so.
All my rifles are model 70's either in good synthetic stocks or factory featherweights. I've had a handful of LWT Kimbers and I just don't shoot them as well, so I quit trying.
I still get up the mountains fine every year but if that slows a bit as I age, I'll know it's me, not my rifle.

I think the point here is simple: no sense carrying extra weight in any way shape or manner.

I dont disagree with SZHN about rifle weight. I can, and have, taken 9 lb rifles up steep/high mountains - but why? I think heavier rifles may be a bit easier to shoot but I shoot my 7-7.5 lb rifles just as accurate from field positions. Same goes with body weight, heavy optics, heavy backpacks, all manner of equipment. It does boil down to personal preference. For me, I'm lighter/faster now than when I was younger. And carry way less cumulative weight on the mountain, gear/body/rifle weight - the whole package. It is easier for me to cumulatively carry less weight up the mountain.

He's hunting brown bear, a lightweight rifle in a small caliber is not appropriate. A .375 is appropriate but not less than 9lb for a 74 year old. The ideal weight for a 7-08 or .270 is less than the ideal weight for a .375. If he were younger he could possibly get away with an 8 1/2 pound .375. Also, if you are lean and fit, losing bodyweight might actually be detrimental as the weight you lose would consist mainly of muscle mass and that will make you weaker. However, if you are carrying a bit of excess weight (fat), losing 5 lbs would be very beneficial. I was carrying medium weight rifles around for decades and it wasn't really an issue (except that they are more awkward) until I started to carry a 7lb rifle. Then all of a sudden, the 8 1/2 pound rifles seemed heavy. What I am saying is that there is benefit in carrying a light weight rifle but also some of the benefit is just in our heads. When I had to carry a 10 1/2 pound rifle around again, it was only "heavy" for the first day, then after that I got used to it and it wasn't such an issue. But climbing up mountains you really notice the added weight. I'd rather carry a 20 lb pack than a 10 lb rifle.

My 375 Improved is an old P64 300 that was rebored/rechambered to 375 Improved. It weighs 9lbs on the nose with a 6x36 on it. Shooting 250's a bit over 2900, even in the Legend stock is brisk. It doesn't hurt a bit but I am not sure how much lighter I would want it.

Yes, with either an improved .375 or if using 350 grain projectiles I agree you wouldn't want less than 9 lbs including scope.

The difference in carrying a 9.5# rifle/scope vs. a 7.5# seems much larger than it should. I won't carry that 9.5 pounder in the mountains ever again.

if your in-shape maybe a heavier rifle is no big deal and your a bigger stronger man ? if your a smaller man maybe you need a smaller rifle ? not everyone is the same ,myself i like a heavier rifle ,heavy rifles shoot better for me but i am 6 ft. 2 inch and 240 lbs., i climbed poles and shoveled dirt for a living for 35 years plus i was a farm kid . none us are the same everyone has a weight they can handle in a rifle ???

So not a mountain backpack hunter then…

I think that's true pete, some of this weight thing is just in our heads, the same with recoil. Not all of it, but some of it.

Until you have a "healthy" BMI, body weight will be a factor. Usually a big one.

For a rifle, my preference is my Savage Lightweight hunter in .308 that comes in just at under 7 pounds with scope, sling, loaded.

Any lighter and my offhand wobble increases a lot.

YMMV.

So not a mountain backpack hunter then…

>>> not anymore but i got smarter and now we kill bigger bulls near alfalfa fields.

Had my wellness check at work yesterday. Total cholesterol 165, Triglycerides 47, Resting heart rate of 48. 6' 218 lbs puts me at a BMI of 30 which is listed as obese.

This morning was 12 rounds:
DE bag 3 min, 2 min elliptical (1 minute forward, 1 minute backwards)
Heavy bag 3 min, 2 min elliptical (1 minute forward, 1 minute backwards)
...then back to the DE bag.

BMI is a crock for men who train.