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

All true, unless you are a pansy like me, then I still want the lightest rifle I can get, since I can't shoot worth crap with a heavy or light rifle, might as well take it easy on my out of shape legs and hope I hit what I'm shooting at.

Truth is I can't feel the difference between 100-102 pounds either so I could get by with a 2 pound heavier rifle, and then I could get by with a 2 pound heavier sleeping bag, tent, 1 pound heavier sleeping pad, 2 pound heavier spotting scope, 2 pound heavier backpack, and before you know it you are 10+ pounds heavier than I started I can I feel a difference between a 90-100 pound pack and for sure prefer starting a week long trip with a 40 pound pack over a 50 pound pack. I'm of the mind if I can cut weight and still get it done just fine in all facets of the gear I put on my back I'll certainly take the weight savings regardless of the item put in my pack, rifle included.

I can't tell the difference between a 100 and 102 lb pack either. However, I can tell a noticable difference when carring an 8.5 vs 6.5 lb rifle in my hand all day.

HAHA, yeah that too. There is a reason I own 3 rifles all 6 pounds all up or less for 90% of my big game hunting.

Balance is important and I'm not a fan of all-up rifle weights under 6.5 lbs.

For me, 6.5 - 7lbs all-up is about ideal. Again, provided balance is right and in a "reasonable" chambering (308/30-06 based stuff).

But I find an extra 1lb sure makes stuff settle down better when it's crunch time. I prefer packing a 6.5lb rifle, I prefer shooting a 7.5lb rifle. I notice the difference.

Light can be taken too far and I found the lightest weight I'm comfortable with through trial and error... everyone will likely draw their own line differently.

Would add, I spent quite a few pleasant hours in Dave Gentry's shop before he passed... bear in mind he was one of the pioneers of lightweight. He told me he took one of his lightweights on a sheep hunt in AK and found it was too light to settle down for him when he took his shot. He changed his mind and began packing a 7.75lb all-up rig after that first hunt. That was his line and it makes a heap of sense to me.

I wonder if we're under the need a new light rifle syndrone?
Gun writers praise'em and firearm manufactures love to sell'em and we listen.

My simple analogy:
I've watched my wife carry-around a 10 Lb sack of potatoes in the grocery store for over an hour w/o any though of THAT HEAVY WEIGHT! Offered to carry it for her and she said its OK its not that heavy.

While we're convinced that a similar weight (MINUS a potatoe or 2) just "kills us" on a similar hike!

Simple, your wife is tougher than me, I'd have gotten a cart.

There is a point to be said about balance also. All my bolt guns currently go 6lb-9oz to 7lb-4oz overall in weight. But will say the 280 and 338-06 balance better("feeling" lighter) then the shorter 7mm-08 and 308 though they are on the light side of the weight range. I feel a large part of that is that the 280 and 338-06 barrels are longer.

With that said, I will stick with the light weights as I do believe they help my hunting and keeps the gun in my hands all day.

JCMCUBIC, that is a great point and agree. 2 lbs on the back is much different then 2 lbs in the hands.

I think the industry went the lightweight route as another avenue to catch the consumer. Better machine techniques and new stock material all lent itself well to making rifles 2+ pounds lighter.
I remember a writer, I think Ron Spomer, wrote a Mt. goat article in one of the NRA magazines at least 7-8 years ago.
He had a little "wand" with half a kevlar stock and a bunch of holes drilled in the magazine box, bolt, etc.. I don't think it went 5 pounds all up. I know I saved the article.
Like all things, too much of something is not optimal. I believe a lot of grousing about the Kimber 84M's was due to people not familiar with such a lightweight and how to hold it, etc..
The pendulum always swings back to the middle, be it weight or cartridge.

LOL - Well we were not suspose to be there that long and no she's not that tough!. But she wanted some food from the deli and they offered to cook up some more so she waited. Then she decided to get them to slice some cheese and we waited for this, too.

Tell me about your rifle Ed. B&C stock? I tried cyber-stalking you, but I didn't see any other mentions of this particular gun recently. It does have me interested.

I've never carried a rifle in my hand all day, but that's just me. It rides nicely slung on my back.

And that's the reality I've found. Really thin barrels can be really tough to get to shoot accurately off a pack, unless some special "hold" is done, and a lot of pack adjustment is done... A bit of a heavier barreled rifle settles down "just right" when shooting off a pack, and you aren't left squirming around trying to get that rifle adjusted perfect for a shot.

Just my experience.

I've come full circle. I went from very LWT, in the form of custom Rem Ti's etc, to now desiring a bit more weight up front. Screw balance, I shoot off a pack. Just my experience from hunting the mountains a bunch of days a year with a pocket full of tags here in SE AK.

What barrel contour do you like these days Calvin?

My 1949 Brno mod 21 weighs 7 lbs 10 1/4 oz with Alaska Arms mounts and Leupold 1.5-5.
It works for me, and besides...it is easier to carry than that bloody SLR a previous employer insisted I carry in my hot little hands when I was in my late teens.

I like the weight that you get with a Kimber WSM or an Edge stocked M7 Saum. Roughly about 7.5lbs. It's only 1lb heavier than a LA Edge Stocked Ti w/same scope.

I still have some really nice Edge stocked Ti's with MR barrels in the safe and I doubt they are going anywhere any time soon though.

The only lightweight rifle in my safe is my iron-sighted Browning B92 in .44 Mag which comes in under 6 pounds. Great rifle for some things and lots of fun, but generally not what I want for hunting elk or deer when the ranges can get long.

This year's cow elk was taken at 399 yards with a Ruger "boat paddle" .300WM, a shot I would have had to pass on with any of my traditional lever guns and anything with iron sights. Not sure what the total weight is but it's lighter than if it had a walnut or laminate stock. I like that rifle so much I bought a stainless .30-06 with the same stock and built a stainless .338WM with one as well. One of the advantages of synthetic stocks is I don't care if they get banged up on the rocks or drenched in the rain.

Hauling extra weight up and down the mountains isn't on my list of things I want to do. As others have stated, I don't notice a couple extra pounds in my pack nearly as much as I do extra weight on my rifle. The older I get the more I appreciate lighter rifles. Best deal I've found yet is the "zero pound rifle", which is realized by going hunting with young nephews who borrow my rifles for the hunt, then temporarily "borrowing" one back when it is time to take my shot. Unfortunately, that has been a one-time thing so far.

2010, "boat paddle"/stainless Ruger in .30-06, 22" barrel (came with a laminate stock):


2011, semi-custom "boat paddle"/stainless/fluted Ruger in .338WM, 22" barrel:


2012, "boat paddle" Ruger in .300WM, 24" barrel:


Tell me again why I need a heavier rifle?

Did you ever run an edge-stocked KS to compare with those rigs?

Maybe 'tougher' ?

Uhhh 'smarter'?

That's why they have carts!

I agree that a couple of pounds doesn't make a lot of difference but as JCMCUBIC pointed out the rifle is carried in your hand and not close to the body most of the time. Back in my 20's carying an extra 75-80 lbs in my ruck along with my weapon didn't bother me nearly as much as it does today. I was light infantry then and I did a lot more hiking the woods back then.

I'm not a fan of super light weight rifles, but for an all up righ a sub 6.5 lbs walking varmint, 6.5-7.5 lbs standard cartriges, and 7.5-8 lbs for magnums sure is a lot nicer than some of those 9+ lbs rifles that I've carried through the years. I'm not knocking Cowboy Tim for his opinion but he just doesn't get that he hunts a totally different style than people who want a light rifle.

Next years hunting rifle is a M70 FWT in an Hunters Edge ADL style stock with Leupold 2.5-8X36 in Talley LWT mounts. I don't know exactly what it weighs but it points nice and the balance is slightly muzzle forward so it settles real nice. I just got to get the scope mounted up and take it to the range to see how she shoots.