Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Ultra light Rifles

What do you guys scope your big game ultralight rifles with?

What about your light weight walking varminters, say a tikka ultralight T3 in 223?

Just trying to get some ideas.

Thanks in advance.

I have an early Forbes that I mounted a Swaro Z5 3.5-18 on. It has served me well so far. I'm more of a light touch than a hard charger though.

Ultralight contender carbine wears a 4x Leupold. Carbon mini in 6.5 grendel wears a 6x42 Leupold and the 6ARC will wear a Trijicon Credo 3-9x40 if the rings ever show up. The 6x42 leupold might get swapped for another Trijicon if I can find a used one I can afford.

I usually scope by caliber capability but on my 2 light rifles, a Barrett Fieldcraft in 6.5x55 and Kimber in .257 Roberts, I have a Tract Toric 3-15x42 and a Leupold 2.5-8x36 respectively.

I have a 6x Milquad on my Montana. Works amazing - tho I wish it was lighter but the advantage is - scope and rifle weigh the same as most bare rifles and I get a SUPER robust and reliable scope at the same weight.

One reason to start with a light rifle is so a proper scope for your application can be mounted and still keep it manageable. My FC is used for Eastern whitetails and the odd varmint. The Accupoint 3-9 is great for both, and is very light to boot. My 6.5 Grendel Mini has a somewhat heavier Credo HX 1-6, but may be getting another 3-9 Accupoint soon in an optics shuffle. My other Mini is a Carbon .223, and the 20oz Tract 3-15 is better for its purpose, but the combo still has a nice combined weight. All three come in at under 6.5, all up.

My Accupoint 3-9 has held zero so far on some hard kickers but eye relief is shorter than I like. No issues on a 7-08 but it touched my eyebrow a lot on a 35 Whelen. I'll occasionally use 1" Leupolds on light guns that don't get taken far from the truck, but just sent yet another back for bad erectors. Mostly my light rifles get heavier scopes with durable erectors.

2.5-10x32/42 NXS or 3-10 SHV. Adding 6-8oz over the Leupold's I used to use, basically in the middle of the rifle, I don't really notice the extra.

My Weatherby Mark V six lug ultralight carries a Bushnell 4 1/2-30X50 (22 oz). The Pierce titanium with a carbon barrel and carbon stock carries a March 2 1/2-25X52 (24 oz). My idea is you buy a scope you want and make a rifle light enough that it can be carried in my hands rather than on my shoulder with a sling. Both are about seven pounds.

Leupold 2.5 X 8 on my 308 Montana, just about perfect.
Never cared for the Hubble look on any rifle.

Leupold 2.5x8 on my Rifles, Inc. Strata. Scope is 11 oz. if I recall correctly.

That's been the go-to for my Montana's, though I do have a 3.5x10 on the .223.

Leupold M8-4x33mm on my Ruger M77RL Ultralight in .257 Roberts. A Leupold M8-6x33mm Compact on my Dale Goens G33-40 mountain rifle in 7x57 Mauser.

A varmint rifle needs a 14x scope imo. Less is a handicap.

My Tikka T3X Compact 308 with a Leupold M8-4x33mm in Weaver rings on a Mountain Tactical base comes in at 6 pounds 11 ounces.

Wouldn't want it any lighter.


Okie John

V3i flavor on my .308 Montana.
Trijicon 3-9 on my ULA '06.

If the varmint in question is prairie dogs, gophers, and other burrow-dwellers, I can agree with that, though then I'm not using an ultralight rifle either. Fox, coyotes, raccoons, badgers, skunks, etc, 10X is a great plenty for me.

My 20" T3 .308 with edge stock has a 2.5-10x24 NF on it. It is as light as I want to go. Mechanically it is well below a .75 MOA rifle, and while shooting over the bags under ideal conditions, when I have been practicing a good bit (unlike lately) it has proven to be extremely consistent with the main load I shoot through it which is a 155 Scenar pushed by Varget.

That said, that is the "mechanical" accuracy. With me behind the gun and in very cold temps I usually hunt in, with the typical heavy clothes, and in the typical terrain I hunt, the little rifle is very hard to shoot tiny groups with. I am realistic about my ability under these conditions and try to build the most stable position I can if I have time before I take a shot. The addition of a bipod aid substantially, and I try to use my pack, or big mittens as rear support.




Most my shots tend to be in the mid to high 4s. Not by choice, it is just where I end up seeing animals and being in a position to shoot. Much of this is due to when and where I hunt though.

I will say that I have been messing with a T3 in 6.5 Manbun with a 24" barrel over the last few years. It is a regular T3x Lite version, but I stuck it in an older T3 varmint stock. This gave me a wide flat fore-end and a good cheekpiece. It is topped with an older 5.5-22 NF that I took off of one of my other rifles that I was not shooting much. The scope-rifle combo makes for a rig that is super easy to shoot well and is not overly heavy. Definitely heavier than my little 20" T3 .308, but there is little comparison when shooting the two side by side in field conditions.



If I was going to build a lightweight hunting rifle today, and was looking for an optic, I would choose a fixed 10X SWFA. Nope, it is not the lightest. That is OK though. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned making the rifle light, so you can put a proper optic on it, and I agree. In my experience, rifles that are too light are very difficult to shoot well at longer distances. This is keeping in context that I hunt terrain where I expect shots to be past 350 yards and out to 600 or so. A fixed 10X is great in that application and I use on one my .300wm.

Quoted for truth.

My Tikka Compact is fun to shoot offhand and that's 99% of what I'll do with it. But it demands flawless technique once you get beyond typical offhand ranges. Even at 200 yards, even the tiniest mistake gets me a big ol' flyer.


Okie John

Thank you fellas. Appreciate it.