Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats At what point is a rifle too light?

From recent experience, I have a new 6lb rifle, including scope, that I have shot poorly with factory ammo from the bench. Before I waste a bunch of time and money working up loads, is it possible that super light rifles are just real hard to get to shoot well? I am sure that much of the problem is my skill level and teqnique. Felt recoil is not my problem but recoil might be influencing my shot. My concern is that poor bench performance might be magnified off sticks or a pack. Perhaps 1.5-2 MOA is reasonable accuracy for a carry rifle and less than 200y shots. If this is true, I probably do not need a custom rifle for such an application. Trying to decide whether or not to sell this rifle or if I should work up loads for it. Rifle is a NULA in 260. I guess would compare in weight to a kimber Montana.

NULA shouldn't be fussy. I'd check assembly and scope/mounts first. I shoot NULA's and Montana's with a bag under the front action screw. Maybe there's something about your technique off the bags??

Did you try several different bullets/weights??

My experience with a original Ti is that you can't just lay it over bags and shoot good groups. I found that its better holding on to the forearm.

In the end I learned to shoot decent groups with it, but I never could shoot it well offhand so its lived in my safe for years now.

I find that a rifle that's maybe 7 lbs all up is better choice for me. Light enough It doesn't feel like a pig when carrying it, but I can shoot well from field positions with out having to think about it.

First of all, as to needed accuracy, you might be surprised. Jeff Cooper once said that 2 MOA or even 2.5 MOA is accurate enough for a hunting rifle. Think of it this way. Your shot will only be off about 1/4 of the group size. With 2.5 MOA, you are good to over 300 yds.
Second, something is wrong here. That rifle should shoot alot better than that. What I've found is that even the best made light rifles, with ammo they don't like, can easily shoot 3 MOA or more. With ammo they like, they shoot well under MOA.
But, to answer your question, when is a rifle too light ? For me, it's when I can't keep my shots, at least five, in a 10 inch pie plate at 300 yds. from a sitting position. E

Shoot it as you would hunting.

A gun that weighs a little more, is actually easier to hold steady, and thus shoot more accurately off of sticks. My rifle that I shoot coyotes, and pretty much everything else with weighs just shy of 10lbs all loaded up. 80% of the critters I shoot are off my sticks. Throw a back rest off of a tree or a post in there and it becomes really solid.

I see no reason to go under 7#. 7.5-8# is about right, for me. If I am even hunting and having issues with my load-out, it wont be because of the rifle, but because I didn't prepare for the hunt...

Too light is a foreign concept to me. I spent lots of money getting my 6.5SLR under 7 pounds including the 5-25X scope. The idea of keeping all my shots inside of 10" at 300 yards from a sitting position rules me out with a heavy rifle. I need prone or a tree for help.

For me, a "light" riflle is 6-7lbs all-up weight (scoped, w/ sling and rounds).

A "midweight" is 7-8lbs all-up weight.

"Too light" is when you can't consistently hit at the ranges you want to shoot at.

Light rifles are specialized tools for Mountain/Highcountry hunting... they are not generalists tools.

Happy I have horses as the water we have to carry for a day's hunt weighs a lot more than my Model 70 300 H&H Bull Gun.

Most people I see fixated on 5 pound rifles could easily stand to lose 10 or more pound and get in better shape.

8-9 pounds is about right.

This is where I am netting out. My Rem KS .270 is 7lbs, 3oz. Working on another .270 with an 8 twist barrel. Goal is to be just under 8lbs all up.

Im a 7.5lbs ready to rock kinda guy but I have been thinking REAL hard about picking up a Kimber Montana 7mm-08

bonefish,

Good question...

How low can we go in weight and still maintain acceptable accuracy?



Here's something I recently observed...




My 7-08 Montana with 3-9x SWFA is noticeably "easier" to shoot than when it had a 6x42 FX-3. Per manufacturers' specs, the SWFA is 5 ounces heavier. The rifle used to "jump" off its rest with the FX-3. Didn't matter what I was shooting off.

Now with the heavier scope, the hop is much less... and it seems to recoil straight back more. Makes sense with the extra weight on top? I also switched from Talleys to Warne steel bases and Warne steel rings.

The Kimber is now shooting as "easily" and accurately as any of the other hunting rifles I've owned (at least 15+ and most much heavier). People that handle this rifle still say, "Holy-cow this thing is light!" And nobody has complained that its top heavy... but it is slightly compared to the lighter scope.

I think Brad or someone else once mentioned that they wished the Kimber had just a touch heavier barrel. That might help settle the rifle in its rest, stiffen the barrel... but also help the whole-body recoil characteristics of the rifle which is what I think we fight against with light rifles. The light rifles move back and up in ways that are harder to repeat consistently. Just my wild ass guess though...

Jason

I have several light weight rifle and have found that form and hold a very important to doing load work up. As said previously a firm hold works best for my rifles.

This is an interesting observation. Would you say a rifle weighing 7 1/2 pounds, ready to roll, is too light because it is light or because the barrel can't be accurate?

So perhaps a guy can figure out how to tame an ultralight gun at the bench. A hunter typically does bench sessions to properly sight in a rifle and to find loads that shoot well out of the rifle. Melvin sells a rear rest called a "bench tamer". I have one but have not tried it. Others have suggested different teqniques for grouping an ultralight at the bench.Is it not likely that all of these accommodations to tame an ultralight at the bench will be unavailable in the field and the rifle will revert to being effectively less accurate than a heavier rifle?

I have had three or four 6.5 pound 270's. They were well put together. With good ammo they shot as well as 7-8 pound rifles. Light rifles must have very good triggers. At the bench, the front contact point must be kept consistent. I hunt with my rifle in my hands and after awhile it really helps to have the 6.5 pound outfit.

Correct that you won't have all those aids in the field to tame the light weight rifle.But once you have a good shooting load, "you" become the biggest factor.It won't be the rifle that reverts to being less accurate....it's the shooter.

Finding a good grouping load is just the beginning of the process.

A hunter needs to get off the sandbags, stop worrying about groups, and focus on cold barrel "hits" from field positions.

There isn't any trick to shooting light weight rifles,if they are built correctly. Like someone else said above, shoot the rifle as if you are hunting with it....it ain't all about groups.

For a light rifle, my trigger needs to be light too, about 2 1/2 lbs and crisp. There is no way I could shoot decent groups with a light rifle and an unadjusted 5 lb trigger.

When the rifle is light everything has a big effect. I no longer have access to a postage scale to know the exact weights, but I have a Tikka T3 lite and a short action Rem M700 SPS that are similar in weight and they are about as light as I can shoot well. During a wind storm (about 50 to 60 mph) I took a whitetail with the Tikka and the wind was blowing me and the rifle around so much I could barely keep fur in the crosshairs at about 100 yards. That was one time I would have liked more weight. Balance is also important and is why I like the contour of the Remington barrels. They save weight from the shank end,not the muzzle.