Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Light weight bolt action rifles...

I didn't care until I reached 60. Now, at 68, there is one light weight rifle in my collection and it is the one that gets used the most. Its 7# scoped and loaded.

There's been a lot of good REASONS we like LIGHT!

Have you ever HUNTED a light rifle?

My FAVORITE HUNTING rifle is a Tikka T3 Lite SS 270 W. Gun, 4-12X40 AO scope, loaded + sling = 7 1/4 lbs.

I'm NOT talking a few ozs here & there; but 1 1/2 - 3 POUNDS lighter.

Don't go light IF you like heavy!

Tikka t3 rifles are REALLY tough to beat on so many fronts. Just a hair over 7# with scope....super accurate, short throw super smooth bolts, crisp triggers. A virtual semi custom rifle for $600!

I thought the same thing until I bought my 700Ti, it's hard to get anything else out of the safe and my hunting terrain is mild compared to a lot of the people on here.

Since the Remington Mountain Rifles appeared in the mid 80's, I haven't looked back. The first and most used is the 7-08. Have spares in 270, 280, and a 7x57 that is still nestled in it's box. The 700 KS in 280 and 30-06 is 7 lb scoped and the 700 Ti in an Edge Compact is super light but I keep reaching for the old 700 Mtn Rifle in 7-08.

Nice photos EdM. Thanks for taking the time to post those.

Light done right - my version. ULA 7RM w/ Z5 3.5-18 (scope is 15.9 oz)

Yep, I hunted with a Ruger M77 Mark II 338 WM for years until I started hitting the mountains more seriously. On my first goat hunt I hauled that 8.5 pound rifle up the hill with its 26" barrel (if you count the brake on it) and it was a royal PITA in the alders and heavy as sin on the mountain.

Realizing I am a pansy, I opted to now have a rifle that is a full 3 pounds lighter than that (5.5 with scope and rings) and only a 20" barrel. Much more enjoyable to carry and still kill stuff with it just fine. To each their own.

This thread has inspired me and helped me decide which rifles to keep and which ones to sell. I have been needing to thin the herd for a while now since me and the little wifey are talking about simplifying our lives as we transition into the twilight of our years together. I can keep all of my Mod 84s (.30-06, 7mm-08, and .260) and my light weight Ruger 77 (.257 Roberts).

My iron sighted lever actions weigh more than most of my bolt guns do with optics.

A typical Marlin 30-30 will vary between 7-7 1/2 lbs depending on the stock. For less money there are several bolt guns that will weigh just over 6 lbs and can be kept under 7 lbs with carefully chosen scopes and mounts.

You don't have to spend a fortune for a lightweight rifle, but my Kimber sure is easy to carry.

An 8.5 lb rifle.



A 6 lb rifle with a brick taped to the barrel would weigh less. Would you carry around a rifle with a brick taped to the barrel?

............I`m sure you are not the only one who favors what you do where the bolt action rifles are concerned.

However!......What happens if one wants to hunt with a light weight/all day carrying bolt rifle for use in wide open flatter and hilly country where shots can easily be @ 300 yards?,,,@ 400 yards?,,,maybe @ 500 yards?

Are you then going to grab your light weight "lever gun with irons" (no scope) under those particular circumstances? Imo, if someone prefers a lever for longer ranged open country, then I hope that they would be at very least use a scoped Marlin 308 Express.

Depending on the lever barrel length, some very light weight bolt action rifles along with using light weight scopes and rings, might actually weigh the same and maybe a little less than do the levers with iron sites only.

As for me personally, a light weight bolt action rifle will cover all the basis, whereas an un-scoped lever will not.

I prefer a bolt rifle even for those days when I want a close-range iron-sighted rifle. Not a fan of levers much.

Yes, you're the only one.

DMc

My Marlin 336Y with 16.25" barrel and synthetic youth stock, and no scope, I would like to think its one of the lighter lever guns with irons:


A lightweight bolt action with a scope:



Yep I'll take one of those lightweight irons if I wanted something lightweight.

Hunted with heavy's all my life with zero problems. And now I still run a 11# slug gun. Now if you want my 7# 300 WSM or my 6# 243. Good luck. I still carry my heavy Rem 760 but now days it only wears a peep.

I carried a Sako 75 in 300 RUM topped with optilocks and a Leupold 4.5x14x40 for ten years. The rifle and scope weigh 9lbs 9ozs. I packed from 11k feet in Wyoming to here in Missouri. The rifle weight never really bothered me but what I did notice was I rarely missed with that rifle. I shot everything with it from prairie dogs to running antelope to deer to varmints. I have made almost all my "bragging" shots with that rifle.

Then I began reading about light rifles so I bought some finnlights. All up they weigh between 7 and 7.5 pounds. On paper they are every bit as accurate as my heavier Sako's. They are great to carry but I don't shoot them as well on game. I can't say I have ever let anything get away but some shots did not turn out as they think they would have with a heavier rifle.

My opinion only but I think a lot of guys own light rifles they don't shoot as well as a standard weight rifle. The question is how much does matter on big game?

Dink

Probably doesn't matter much on those haystack forkys you like to shoot.

Matters about as much as the whitetails you shoot out of the truck window with your Ar.

You forget some of us are allowed to own multiple rifles at that same time and get to compare them side by side. Hard to do that when you have to sell one to buy one.

Dink

Ouch.

I hunt moose on the Kenai Penisula (my permanent home)5 miles hike-in back in with a .338 RU 77- total tricked out weight about 10 lbs - average range of kills for 20 bulls (off hand, usually) about 70 yards.

Just killed two caribou off the ATV a couple weeks ago here on the Baldwin Penisula (in the Arctic where I am currently living)somewhat in excess of 300 yards with a Rem 725 SA, rebarreled to .260 with a 700TI (featherweight) barrel.

Needs a good solid rest - and good rangeing...see my post on the Alaska forum.

But then there are those big hairy buggers down there on the Kenai - and much smaller chances of encounters here of same on the Baldwin- at least this time of year. Not that I haven't carried it for moose on the Kenai (unsuccesfully). Killed a Colorado elk with it a few years back..

BUT, the lighter the rifle, the better your rest better be....

Both .338 and .260 shoot around MOA with the right loads. Guess which one would go on a sheep hunt? As for hunting off an ATV, snowmachine, or a couple miles back in to base camp- it just doesn't make a difference - I just now want to kill a bunch of stuff more with the .260..... I could easily be doing the same job with the .338, or one of my 7-8.5 lb '06s.