Help me pick a lightweight rifle

My nod goes to the Savage LWH. I own two. One in 6.5 Creedmoor and one in 223. I have only run a few loads through each one and they are both MOA guns. With the $100 rebate right now, you can get them out of your FFLs door for under $450. I will never own a Kimber. Kimber Roulette is not a term that made itself up. I have also heard too much about poor customer service from Kimber. And they are more expensive. Tikka is a great gun by all accounts. I have never owned one, but have read volumes about them. They get it right. They are a little more expensive than Savage and they are made overseas.

Last year, I was in the market for a lightweight "mountain" rifle and looked at the Savage LWH, the Remington "mountain" rifle, the Kimber 84 and Tikka T3x Lite. At one point I had them all side by side at the Cabelas counter, and could afford any of them. Strangely, the only one named "mountain" rifle was the heaviest of the lot. It was in a very appealing caliber (.280) that I was already loading for, but the sticky action and fat stock and extra weight just put me off. The Savage (and look at my handle - I like Savage rifles a lot) just didn't seem like enough rifle for the $. The plastic stock on the LWH was very poorly fitted and looked sloppy and felt very flimsy.

So I came down to the Kimber 84 and the Tikka T3x Lite. Both the exact same price. I wanted to like the Kimber a lot more than I did, but it just felt "cheap" compared to the Tikka. The Tikka had a much stiffer stock and noticeably heavier barrel even though it weighed only a couple ounces more than the Kimber. The Tikka's action is much smoother, and it has a much better reputation for accuracy. I could find no negative reviews of the Tikka, but I found several on the Kimber. So I made my choice and bought a stainless T3x Lite in 30-06. I have not regretted that decision for one second. Yes, I replaced the recoil pad (puck) with a Limbsaver pad - which helped a ton - and yes it still kicks. But one should expect that from a 7 lb. rifle (scoped) shooting full load 180-grain Accubonds.

For my money, the Tikka is the best value in lightweight rifles. I now own two of them and couldn't be happier with them.

Tikka T3. Why? Buy it and you’ll understand. They really are that good.

It depends on how serious you are about "lightweight". I have a Kimber Hunter that weighs 6 lb, 3 oz with 2-7x Leupold, Talley mounts and a sling. That's the same as a bare Tikka T3 lite. With mounts, scope and sling it'll be over 7 lbs. Don't get me wrong, the Tikka is a fine rifle and it's a bit cheaper than the Kimber, but if you want light it's hard to beat the Hunter at the price.

natman said:

It depends on how serious you are about "lightweight". I have a Kimber Hunter that weighs 6 lb, 3 oz with 2-7x Leupold, Talley mounts and a sling. That's the same as a bare Tikka T3 lite. With mounts, scope and sling it'll be over 7 lbs. Don't get me wrong, the Tikka is a fine rifle and it's a bit cheaper than the Kimber, but if you want light it's hard to beat the Hunter at the price.

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My 30-06 Tikka T3x weighs exactly 7 lbs. with a 3-9x40 Leupold scope and sling. Just for reference.

BTW, one can of textured paint will transform that stock. I paint all my synthetic stocks with the stuff and love them afterward.

Kimber 84M hunter

I,m a remington man thru and thru, but I got a super buy on two tikka,s. a blue and a SS in .223 and boy do they shoot and they have the best trigger and smoothest action out of the box as most high end rifles. I have made my remingtons that way but I worked on them as out of the box they were no where close to the tikka,s. eastbank.

My 30-06 Tikka T3x weighs exactly 7 lbs. with a 3-9x40 Leupold scope and sling. Just for reference.

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Kimber's 84L Hunter in .30-06 Sprg. weighs 5lb 11oz and that's with an empty magazine inserted and no scope, rings, bases or sling. What is the weight of your Tikka in a similar configuration?

Personally I don't care too much about a rifle being light if it has features I like and it shoots well. A rifle/scope/sling/ammo combination that's under 10lb works for me. I hiked over 30 miles (over 4 days) elk hunting from 3,200 ft up to 5,000 ft each day carrying a 9lb Kimber Talkeetna chambered in .375 H&H. The weight of the rifle didn't bother me one bit, but the weight of my pack got a little annoying at times, annoying enough that by the fourth day I was figuring out what I could leave behind. My spotting scope was the first thing I chucked.

I have a Tikka T3 Lite stainless/synthetic in .270Win with a Leupold 3-9 x40. The trigger is perfect and the bolt is like melted butter.

On a Florida hog hunt I got two, both about 120#, the first one went about 30 yards and dropped. Bullet went through both shoulders out the other side. Second one took a bullet in the left shoulder then he turned towards me and took two more, still running. Last shot went into his mouth and out over his rear leg. Range on both was about 60 yards. Follow up shots were fast and on target. That Tikka bolt is slicker than snot on a glass doorknob.

All that being said, I can’t get a decent group at 100 yards but it’s probably me. I’ll say this, at the bench the .270 in that lightweight rifle kicks hard, but shooting the piggies I never noticed recoil at all.

MCMXI said:

Kimber's 84L Hunter in .30-06 Sprg. weighs 5lb 11oz and that's with an empty magazine inserted and no scope, rings, bases or sling. What is the weight of your Tikka in a similar configuration?

Personally I don't care too much about a rifle being light if it has features I like and it shoots well. A rifle/scope/sling/ammo combination that's under 10lb works for me. I hiked over 30 miles (over 4 days) elk hunting from 3,200 ft up to 5,000 ft each day carrying a 9lb Kimber Talkeetna chambered in .375 H&H. The weight of the rifle didn't bother me one bit, but the weight of my pack got a little annoying at times, annoying enough that by the fourth day I was figuring out what I could leave behind. My spotting scope was the first thing I chucked.

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My Tikka T3x Lite (stainless) in '06 was 6 lbs. 3 oz. in that configuration. I'm just not sure I want to go any lighter in that caliber. That was in the back of my mind when I had both the Kimber and the Tikka '06's in my hands. I knew the recoil from the Tikka was already going to be brutal. Dropping another 8 oz. would not have helped.

I also didn't care for how flexible the Kimber stock was compared to the Tikka, or how thin the barrel was compared to the Tikka. IMO Tikka got it right, not compromising on the stiffness of the stock or the meat of the barrel, but still making a very light gun.

When you throw in the "Kimber roulette" reviews... well I was not willing to take the chance.

Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka, Tikka

To me it's all about the ergonomics. If they are not the best fit (for you), they are not the best. We all come in different shapes and sizes. You must feel them, shoulder them, swing them. Then you decide.

When I did this, I leaned heavily toward Tikka. They just fit me better

jmr40 said:

Savage builds a good standard or heavy weight rifle. In fact their standard weight rifles coupled with a decent lightweight stock and lighter optics is one of the lighter options out there. Their Lightweight Hunter however simply strikes out. The weight reduction is in all the wrong places.

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Is it that bad? I see you commenting alot so I respect your opinion. I'm about to pull the trigger on a 308 light weight hunter. I'll admit i'm a sucker for the wood stock and it's the lightest wood stock rifle out there from what i'm seeing. The price is fricken high though, my local shop has standard wood stock model 11's for $400 and the LWH is another $380 ontop of that.

Not interested in a Kimber, too much bad publicity. I handled the tikka and the action does feel great but I didn't like the way the stock felt and really I don't want a "tupperware" stock on my deer hunting rifle.

Looking for sub 7 lbs scoped and loaded, want to keep the price under a grand. What I like about the savage is the overall weight, the fact it has a wood stock and the 20" barrel. I'm hesitant on the durability of the stock as well as the slickness of the machined bolt, I handled a standard model 11 and the bolt on that seemed fine.

dranrab said:

My nod goes to the Savage LWH. I own two. .

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The wood stock versions? Hows the stock holding up? Does it vibrate bad?

glockky said:

I went with a tikka T3X lite in 308. Here was the first 5 shot 100yd group with a load I had worked up for my howa.
View attachment 784030

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You got a scoped overall weight on that by chance?

Offfhand said:

Why was NULA (New Ultra Light Arms) left out of your choices? They wrote the book on combining light weight with accuracy.

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I'm STILL trying to figure THAT out myself!!

Melvin easily has the BEST stock, BEST trigger, as good of bbl. as any of them and is most precision made light weight rifle of ANY mentioned and then some!

DM

glockky said:

I went with a tikka T3X lite in 308. Here was the first 5 shot 100yd group with a load I had worked up for my howa.

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Hard to argue with results like that. What velocity are you getting with that load from the Tikka, and from the Howa? Are you seeing much of a difference?

DM~ said:

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offfhand said:

Why was NULA (New Ultra Light Arms) left out of your choices? They wrote the book on combining light weight with accuracy.

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I'm STILL trying to figure THAT out myself!!

Melvin easily has the BEST stock, BEST trigger, as good of bbl. as any of them and is most precision made light weight rifle of ANY mentioned and then some!

DM

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Really? Isn't it kind of obvious based on the list below that @glockky had a budget that didn't allow for a $3,500 rifle and a two year wait! Heck, you could have a scoped version of each of the OP's suggestions and still be under the cost of one NULA rifle.

Kimber 84M hunter
Savage lightweight hunter
Tikka t3 lite

Find a Remington LSS Mountain rifle made in the 90’s. Laminate stock and stainless barrel and action for all weather. Lightweight at 6.5 pounds and accurate. You should be able to find one for $700 to $1000. Just my $.02.