and decide it's too light ?
I have a Rem. Model Seven 308wn., 18 1/2'' barrel, light stock, 2x8-36 nikon monarch scope. From field positions I don't shoot it very well compared to Rem. 700 sporter 25-06.
Just wonder how many folks feel that lightweight rifles aren't for them.
?

No.

Funny question/OP. What's too light??? I've seen a lot of guys not be able to shoot a lightweight rifle well. Because of this, they may decide to turn in their man card and accept defeat.. Probably not though.

Yes, sold it. .375 H&H 700 KS mountain rifle. 6# without scope. Good riddance.

I shoot my light rifles as well as my heavier guns. Light guns get carried and shot a lot more though, and the largest chambering is .30-06.
If you can, by the same rifle in a light recoiling caliber and practice with it. I have same scope/mounts on 3 montanas and the .223 gets the most range time by a large margin.

If your Model Seven has a walnut stock, I’m your huckleberry. I have a heavy barrel 700 in 308 I’d trade you for it.

I shot a 350 Remington magnum 600 since the 60’s, well sort of. I stopped shooting it along the way. I think I could shoot it ok. But it wasn’t much fun as old age kicked in. It probably never was much fun.

Mrs Blacktailer's Kimber Super America in 308 was pretty light. The barrel was not good and when I rebarreled to 6.5 Manbun I went with a slightly heavier contour and 24 inches. It only added about 6oz but it points and settles much better since all the added weight is at the muzzle.

I got a model 7 308 16.5 barrel

That is sorta what I did. Still haven't found the 223 Montana yet.

IMHO, heavier rifles are easier to shoot well, but I like my lightweights for hunting.

It's all about task and purpose.

I have 2 M7s with Manners EH8 stocks, one in 350RM and the other in .260Rem. Both are just at 7lbs "all up", very hunting capable and are sub MOA with handloads, but it takes a little more effort to get there. Neither is what I pick for long shooting session, although the .260 is my favorite for all around hunting practice.

I consider both to be more mid-range guns and that's how they're set up, with 2.5-8x36 scopes (the .350Rm also has a 1.25-4X). IF I know I have a chance to shoot longer I go with my heavier 24" barreled rifles with higher magnification scopes that are easier to shoot more accurately.

Last year I put together what I consider to be a "cross-over" or midweight rifle for longer distances based on a Rem 700 in 300WM. Wanted to stay right at 7lbs for the rifle so around 8.5lbs total weight with a Bartlein 2B barrel and a Manners EH3 stock, I came close:



It's very shootable, and not overly heavy for carrying.

I built up a 1912 Steyr Mauser with an 18" soda straw barrel chambered to .308 Win. Stock is a Lawson thumbhole type made from some type of lightweight wood that looks a bit like maple but not sure what it is. I've never weighed it and various friends have estimated it to be somewhere 5.5 to maybe 6.5 pounds with scope, sling and a full magazine. It's more than accurate enough but the barrel does heat up rapidly and takes a while to cool down. I tried it out on a couple of deer hunts but never took a shot at a deer. I just could not hold it steady enough to feel good about taking the shot. Kind of a fun gun anyway but useful only at the range IMHO.
PJ

After practicing with short lightweight rifles compared to more of a middle-weight- for me there's a considerable difference.
I passed on a 300ish yard shot on a deer last fall- with the M7 308. I was walking on the side of a hill- used a daypack for a rest- the reticle was moving around too much.
A short barrel definitely doesn't help but it's nice in the thick stuff and from a treestand.

I bought a Ruger #3 that was rebarreled with a fly-weight .270 barrel. All-in with scope it weighed about 6.5 lbs. Handiest deer rifle ever - short & quick handling. The tiny butt gave you a sharp wallop though when you pulled the trigger. Also you had to be careful how you rested the forend when shooting. The recoil caused a change in POI in the direction opposite where forend rested on a hard surface. Very accurate otherwise. I eventually rebarreled it with a med heavy barrel & installed Ruger #1 wood.

Yeah I shoot accurately off of a shooting bench- I can get the same hold every shot and stay inside of an inch.
When I've practiced prone bipod, prone elbows, sitting w/shooting sticks, sitting- elbows, standing hand against a post. Softball size groups.
I mean that I shoot one shot in each of these positions. ^

I had a Tikka 300 win mag ,with scope and ready to hunt was 6Lb 10oz. It was a perfect fit and carried well. If it was even a 7 mag, I would have kept it. but in 300 it was a bit much . It had a limbsaver which helped , than I put a Brake on it. It went from abusive to annoying. recoil was greatly improved but the noise was at unexceptable levels. Some one offered enough to take it away.......

i have a Rem m7 with a 18.5" barrel in 7-08 and it don't bother me. i have a Husqvarna m46 in a 24" barrel in 9.3x57 and it i guesstimate 6.5 - 7.5 lbs and i luv it. the Husky is a birchwood stock and the barrel is thin. my gunsmith D&T for a scope mount and i put on a 2-7x Leopold. i use 275gr WFN GC and IMR4895 that goes 1800-1900fps. recoil started to bother me at 2100-2200fps.

i had a Rem m700 Mountain Rifle in '06 and that rifle was cursed. 1 3/4 - 2 1/2" at 100 yards with 180gr Rem RN (5 shots/bench). i tried to handload for it (150-220gr Hornady, Speer, Sierra...IMR/H powders) but it was worse. i had for for 3 - 4 years when i gave up on it and sold it.

most of my rifles are standard to mid weight rifles (7.5 - 9lbs). i've gotten away from light weight rifles, because you can fry an egg with only 3 shots. light weight rifles are harder to hold on target than standard rifles. lightweight rifles may cause recoil that becomes unbearable. standard to mid weight rifles are my choice when it comes to shooting.

Yes, two of ‘em. 6-6 1/4 lbs with scope is too light for me to shoot accurately.

My light mtn rifles all weigh between 6lbs 9 ozs to 6lbs 13ozs. That’s what works best for me.

The whole reason I have light rifles is because I hunt the Rockies at 7k to 12k altitude. If all I was going to do was carry my rifle from the truck to the whitetail stand I can’t think of any reason to own a lightweight rifle.

But carrying a 8-9lb rifle all day while still hunting the spruce-fir elk jungles, or humping up a 50-60 degree slope from 8k to 9k altitude, or doing a 600 yd crawl-stalk with the rifle slung under me putting the sneak on a pronghorn….well, the thought of doing that with a heavy azz rifle gives me the heebie-jeebies…..

The lightest rifle I own is a Rem 700 Ti in 7-08.
With scope & mounts, it's 6 lb even & it's a legitimate 5 shot 1/2 MOA rifle.

I wish every hunting rifle that I have was that light.

But an even 7 lb scoped, is still OK, just not quite what I prefer.

MM

Had the same rifle in left handed. Recoil and muzzle rise was brutal. Managed to use it for 3 years or so before selling it. Also had a similar rifle built by Brown Precision in 450 Ackley. Didn’t own that one long enough to hunt with it.

Shot my new to me 308 Adirondack on Saturday. Less than 6lbs. Is a delight to shoot and accurate as well.

I have heavier rifles than my Kimbers. Is usually 375 and up.

^^^^^ This

I have Kimber Montanas in 6.5 Creed, 308, 338 Fed, 7 RM (Ascent). Guess which one gets shot the most <G> In fact I just resized and processed 100 6.5 cases over the weekend, and bought 500 more Hornady 140 SP. That 140 load lopes along at a massive 2500 ft/sec. Recoil is very light. I shoot that rifle 20-30 times every session, all from field positions. Shooting prone with that rifle feels like cheating.

I do think shooting unsupported is harder with a light rifle. I filled my doe tag last year shooting from kinda/mostly kneeling using a thumb size stick as support. She was only about 80 paces but planted the 165 AB tight to the shoulder from a bit of a weird position. With practice light rifles can be shot accurately.

^^^ this as well. I bought a Kimber Ascent 7 RM recently. It weighs a shade over 8 lbs. We'll see how I like that at 10000 feet after a 2-3 mile hike in. I suspect I won't notice it much strapped to my pack but in my hands all day may get old. We'll see. The Kimber Montana 308 will be along in case I feel geezery.

My Tikka Compact in 308 (https://choose.tikka.fi/global/code/TF1T2927A130063) is lighter than advertised. The website says 6 pounds 3 ounces, but mine is 5 pounds 9 ounces. For reference, a Kimber Montana in 308 weighs 5 pounds, 2 ounces. Based on recoil, this is as light as I want to go in a 308 that will use full-power ammo. Lots of practice in prone is a fact of life if you need to make long shots and that's just no fun with a rifle this light.

Accuracy and trigger are typical for a Tikka, but it’s harder to shoot well than a heavier rifle. Weight is 7 pounds, 6 ounces with a Nightforce 3-10x42 SHV. Sub-MOA groups from the bench are common enough with this scope and inexpensive factory loads, but it feels top heavy and awkward in fast offhand shooting and the eye relief is too short for prone.

With a 4x Leupold, it weighs 6 pounds, 13.75 ounces. It’s fast in offhand but it’s harder to make good groups from the bench. Recoil is also sharp, partly due to the hard factory recoil pad. Eye relief is better with the Leupold but still awkward in prone.

Not sure where I’ll end up on the optic, probably a conventional 3-9x42 with the largest eye box I can find.

Nice rifle overall, but harder to shoot well than something heavier.


Okie John

Had a model 700 TI in 30-06 that was pretty snorty with 180’s. It was sure nice to carry, and shot well.

Same approach I take.

I have a .223 in a Rem M7 set up like my hunting rifles and another 700 in .223 set yup like my precision rifles.

When working on position shooting 8 times out of 10 I'm either using a .223 or a .22LR. I also find both calibers more challenging when it comes to reading wind.

the lack of recoil and cost is definitely a benefit.

Mine weighs 9lb 6oz all together which is light enough to carry and pleasant enough to shoot.

My 358 win 700 is 6-10 ready to hunt. I basically had to learn to shoot again but it may be my favorite rifle now. Its pretty sporty recoil-wise. My M7 7-08 is 6-8 rth but nothing approaching the recoil of the other.

A Kimber Hunter in 6.5CM was the lightest big game rifle I ever owned. It was a bear to keep under 1 1/2". Spent more time waiting for it to cool off than shooting it so I sent it down the road. Have since had a medium weight (~8#) Bergara and most recently a Tikka T3X Lite. Both were much better rifles than the Kimber with the Tikka being the best of the bunch.

The majority of my rifles are lightweight, from Weatherby Backcountry Ti at 4.9 pounds bare, to 3 Rifles, Inc. Stratas with similar weights, a ULA in .17 Rem. and a .223 Montana. I guess I'm used to them and have no problem hitting out to 400 yds. if necessary.

My Brother had a Model7 308. Walnut short thin barrel. He always had me shoot to check zero because I shoot better than him. That was the most miserable gun I have ever shot. Painful.