New rifle! - 04/14/23
I have been on the hunt for a light rifle, since I shattered my right leg and resulting in a fused ankle. I notice weight a lot more whe hunting, so I've been trying to cut weight both from myself and my gear.
So I went to town the other day to search for a light rifle, the CA Mesa FFT and Howa Superlite were the two I was most interested in. I couldn't find the Mesa but got to handle the Ridgeline as well as the Howa. It ultimately boiled down to budget and convenience as I took a 300 mile round trip to find these rifles, so the Howa in .308 Win came home with me for $920 out the door.
The rifle is touted to weigh 4 lbs 7 oz and thats a bit of false advertising my rifle, as my rifle weighed 4 lbs 10.6 oz.
The next issue was the bolt cutting into the scope base.
I got the base back last night, my GS milled off the base and recoated it for $25. I mounted up my 4-20X50 Helos BTR Gen 2 on it and that made the rifle weigh 6 lbs 9 oz. I then configured my suppressor as light as I could get it and threw it on the scale and the rifle weighed 7 lbs 7.1 oz.
I don't know what scope for sure is going to end up on this rifle, as I bought the one I mounted for my 6 Creedmoor. I was going to use my NF 3-10X42 SHV which would shave a couple of ounces off. Or I might look for something different that gets me under 20 oz.
So I went to town the other day to search for a light rifle, the CA Mesa FFT and Howa Superlite were the two I was most interested in. I couldn't find the Mesa but got to handle the Ridgeline as well as the Howa. It ultimately boiled down to budget and convenience as I took a 300 mile round trip to find these rifles, so the Howa in .308 Win came home with me for $920 out the door.
The rifle is touted to weigh 4 lbs 7 oz and thats a bit of false advertising my rifle, as my rifle weighed 4 lbs 10.6 oz.
The next issue was the bolt cutting into the scope base.
I got the base back last night, my GS milled off the base and recoated it for $25. I mounted up my 4-20X50 Helos BTR Gen 2 on it and that made the rifle weigh 6 lbs 9 oz. I then configured my suppressor as light as I could get it and threw it on the scale and the rifle weighed 7 lbs 7.1 oz.
I don't know what scope for sure is going to end up on this rifle, as I bought the one I mounted for my 6 Creedmoor. I was going to use my NF 3-10X42 SHV which would shave a couple of ounces off. Or I might look for something different that gets me under 20 oz.