Lightweight hunting rifles

[TN Outlaw]

Well, I've never weighed any of my rifles, though now I kinda want to, I do have and like several light and handy rifles for various hunting. I'll list a few.

CZ 527 carbine in 7.62x39

Ruger American Ranch 5.56

Winchester M70 Featherweight 22-250

Browning Micro Medallion 243win

Rossi 92 357mag

 

[Iroquois]

Boattale,

Not sure what the Ruger weighs either. If it’s light enough for you then your good to go.

 

[Iroquois]

TN Outlaw,

Some mighty fine rifles there. I’d be curious what they weight, especially the Winchester .270 Featherweight and the Browning Micro Medallion .243?

 

[Casefull]

Rem 700 custom shop mountain rifle in 375 h&h. 7lbs. Hardest recoiling rifle I have but will shoot 1/2 moa if you don't flinch.

Mountain ascent in 308. 5.5 lbs with scope. It is my elk and deer rifle.

 

[troy fairweather]

my dad had a custom shop remington seven TI that little bugger hurt.

 

[Iroquois]

Casefull, Troy F,

Glad it was you on the end of those and not me!

 

[sage5907]

Not to spoil the party but I consider an 8 pound rifle, scope and sling combination to be a light hunting rifle. A 6 ft man should be able to carry an eight pound rifle in the mountains without undue effort. Not that everyone is 6 foot tall, but you understand the point. Rifles are supposed to be fun to shoot and easy to hold steady for long range shots.

 

[1948CJ2A]

Winchester Model 70 Featherweight Compact chambered in 308 with a 20" barrel.

Browning A-Bolt chambered in 308 with a 22" barrel.

 

[Casefull]

Not to spoil the party but I consider an 8 pound rifle, scope and sling combination to be a light hunting rifle. A 6 ft man should be able to carry an eight pound rifle in the mountains without undue effort. Not that everyone is 6 foot tall, but you understand the point. Rifles are supposed to be fun to shoot and easy to hold steady for long range shots.

I think everyone likes a heavier rifle for shooting. When I was younger I could care less how much a rifle weighed. It's also true that I have never felt the recoil when shooting at wild game in my life. So why not light weight for me?
I am 67 now and a lightweight rifle makes a huge difference to me after hours and hours of wandering the mountains. The actual shooting is a small part of my hunting. Finding that nice elk or deer is the challenge for me.

 

[Gtscotty]

Not to spoil the party but I consider an 8 pound rifle, scope and sling combination to be a light hunting rifle. A 6 ft man should be able to carry an eight pound rifle in the mountains without undue effort.

Well by that measure, my other main hunting rifle is also a lightweight... barely.



It doesn't qualify when actually set up how it hunts though.



I toted that rifle a little over 20 miles the weekend I got this year's cow. It didn't break me down, but I'm not going to pretend my Kimber isn't more fun to carry. There's definitely a place for light rifles, even if you're a manly man, as long as you put in the trigger time to learn to shoot them well.

 

[RedlegRick]

I humped more than enough 9 and 10 pound rifles in the Uintahs back when I was a lot younger and healthier than I am now, so this thread interests me.

At a gun show in Salt Lake early 90s, I saw a gent with a couple unique creations just for extreme back country hunting. They were little more than barreled actions with a little 'sleeve' on the barrel and what looked like a STEN Mk II stock attached to a handmade dust cover hiding the trigger action. One a single shot, two more with blind mags.

He said the single was 4 lbs with scope, the repeaters four and a half. Only reason I didn't bite was the odd calibers and unsure about the handguard.

Anyone else here see something like that before? With scopes too, by the way, but looked a bit painful to shoot to me, but way up there on the cool factor.

 

[Newtosavage]

My two favorite hunting rifles - a Tikka T3 stainless 7mm-08, and a Howa Mini in 6.5 Grendel - are both under 7 lbs. scoped. Both are topped with 3-9x40 Leupold scopes which are IMO the lightest scopes with better than average optics, at the best possible price.

Here's what the two rifles did at 200 yards this past week. My son shot the group on the left with 162 ELD-X in the Tikka. I shot the group on the right with 120 ELD-M's from my Howa mini.

 

[Iroquois]

Not to spoil the party but I consider an 8 pound rifle, scope and sling combination to be a light hunting rifle. A 6 ft man should be able to carry an eight pound rifle in the mountains without undue effort. Not that everyone is 6 foot tall, but you understand the point. Rifles are supposed to be fun to shoot and easy to hold steady for long range shots.

Not to spoil the party but I

Not spoiling my party at all. If you enjoy toting an 8lb rifle for more shooting comfort I get it. I just enjoy something lighter for the terrain I hunt.

 

[Iroquois]

I think everyone likes a heavier rifle for shooting. When I was younger I could care less how much a rifle weighed. It's also true that I have never felt the recoil when shooting at wild game in my life. So why not light weight for me?
I am 67 now and a lightweight rifle makes a huge difference to me after hours and hours of wandering the mountains. The actual shooting is a small part of my hunting. Finding that nice elk or deer is the challenge for me.

I couldn’t agree more! Getting old sucks.

 

[Iroquois]

Well by that measure, my other main hunting rifle is also a lightweight... barely.

View attachment 818276

It doesn't qualify when actually set up how it hunts though.

View attachment 818277

I toted that rifle a little over 20 miles the weekend I got this year's cow. It didn't break me down, but I'm not going to pretend my Kimber isn't more fun to carry. There's definitely a place for light rifles, even if you're a manly man, as long as you put in the trigger time to learn to shoot them well.

Well, since you toted it +20, we’ll let in the lightweight division!

My two favorite hunting rifles - a Tikka T3 stainless 7mm-08, and a Howa Mini in 6.5 Grendel - are both under 7 lbs. scoped. Both are topped with 3-9x40 Leupold scopes which are IMO the lightest scopes with better than average optics, at the best possible price.

Here's what the two rifles did at 200 yards this past week. My son shot the group on the left with 162 ELD-X in the Tikka. I shot the group on the right with 120 ELD-M's from my Howa mini.

View attachment 818296

A great pair of rifles with some nice groups. Thanks for posting!

 

[Iroquois]

I humped more than enough 9 and 10 pound rifles in the Uintahs back when I was a lot younger and healthier than I am now, so this thread interests me.

At a gun show in Salt Lake early 90s, I saw a gent with a couple unique creations just for extreme back country hunting. They were little more than barreled actions with a little 'sleeve' on the barrel and what looked like a STEN Mk II stock attached to a handmade dust cover hiding the trigger action. One a single shot, two more with blind mags.

He said the single was 4 lbs with scope, the repeaters four and a half. Only reason I didn't bite was the odd calibers and unsure about the handguard.

Anyone else here see something like that before? With scopes too, by the way, but looked a bit painful to shoot to me, but way up there on the cool factor.

I can’t recall seeing what you are decscribing. However, I do remember a ultralight stock made by Kirafu ( if memory serves me correctly) that was a very interesting design. I’m not sure if they’re still around?

 

[sage5907]

Not spoiling my party at all. If you enjoy toting an 8lb rifle for more shooting comfort I get it. I just enjoy something lighter for the terrain I hunt.

Hunting in heavily wooded areas where shots are close is completely different from the hunting I have experienced. Most of my shots are beyond 200 yards, in cold weather and wind, and a super light rifle would be a handicap. If a hunter points a rifle at an animal at 300 yards and knows he can't make the shot the next trip he will take a heavier rifle.

 

[Newtosavage]

Hunting in heavily wooded areas where shots are close is completely different from the hunting I have experienced. Most of my shots are beyond 200 yards, in cold weather and wind, and a super light rifle would be a handicap. If a hunter points a rifle at an animal at 300 yards and knows he can't make the shot the next trip he will take a heavier rifle.

If he's a real hunter, next time he will get closer.

 

[sage5907]

If he's a real hunter, next time he will get closer.

In the real world next times never happen!

 

[Newtosavage]

In the real world next times never happen!

If that were the case, I'd never kill a thing with my bow. LOL

 

[Iroquois]

Hunting in heavily wooded areas where shots are close is completely different from the hunting I have experienced. Most of my shots are beyond 200 yards, in cold weather and wind, and a super light rifle would be a handicap. If a hunter points a rifle at an animal at 300 yards and knows he can't make the shot the next trip he will take a heavier rifle.

I understand your point and it is valid for where you hunt and what you feel is the best way for you to accomplish that in an ethical manner. My point is solely related to lightweight rifles and why we choose them. All hunters choose what we think is best for the terrain we hunt, and we should, as long as it is ethical and reasonable. However, I have made a a couple of shots between 200 and 250 (ridge to ridge) very successfully. Would I take that shot everyday? No, only if the conditions are right and the game is in the right position to do so. Do I need a heavier rifle to do so? So far I haven’t. In my humble opinion lightweight doesn’t mean inaccurate. I will concur that 90% of my shots are 75 yards or less.

 

[Newtosavage]

Lightweight rifle definitely does not mean inaccurate. My sub-7 lb. Tikka shot a 1/2 MOA cold bore group at 400 yards recently, resting only on my pack. Heavy rifles are an advantage for offhand shooting. If I have to take an offhand shot beyond 75 yards, then my hunting skills have already failed.

 

[Chuck R.]

Here's a trio of light and semi-light rifles I've hunted with from time to time: At 6.5 pounds the rifle at bottom is lighter than it looks, due to the small ring Mauser action, alloy bottom metal and stock made of very lightweight yama wood. At center is a NULA (New Ultra Light Arms) hits the scale at 6 lbs even despite a relatively heavy scope. The Remington Custom Shop M-7, at top, a .260 Rem, at 6.5 lbs, is only semi-light due to the dense laminated stock. View attachment 817643

Man, light or not I love the look of the REM Custom Shop Mannlicher M7s.........Mine's a .350REM I bought as a timber Elk rifle:



IF it was a .260 it would probably be my only deer rifle.

 

[crestoncowboy]

My first rifle was a 257 Robert's, Remington 700 mountain rifle with a banner 50mm scope, big leather sling, and heavy Harris bipods. I bought it that way from a co- worker at an after school job. I used it for years, good gun and plenty accurate for deer. No target rifle though. I never weighed either gun, but I think my synthetic patriot in 300 mag with a small vortex actually weighs less. It too won't win any accuracy awards but plenty for deer. I killed one this morning, actually

 

[Iroquois]

Man, light or not I love the look of the REM Custom Shop Mannlicher M7s.........Mine's a .350REM I bought as a timber Elk rifle:

View attachment 818422

IF it was a .260 it would probably be my only deer rifle.

That’s a great looking Remington. I’ve always liked the Manlicher stocks! I had a Ruger #1 full Manlicher but couldn’t make it shoot for beans, so it had to go.