Rifle System: What is "too light"

[Taudisio]

That’s a fair bit of lop for someone who struggles to carry 5 lbs

Carrying that rifle is an absolute dream. Picture carrying a Glock in the woods with 300 yard killing capabilities.

Meeting the op’s requirements, I think a 6 pound, loaded, suppressed, scoped rifle in 6 creed (maybe 6arc) would be a do all rifle. My little 6x45 is a struggle past 350 yards.

 

[passinggas33]

Like many others have mentioned, for me, the weight to make it enjoyable to shoot is cartridge specific. For me the bigger the cartridge, the more it needs to weigh for it to be enjoyable. This is one of my favorite lightweight guns. 6 pound 2 ounce fully loaded 6ARC. Pleasure to carry, pleasure to shoot, and crazy accurate. But a 300WM in this same weight class would be miserable to shoot, especially repeatedly.

 

[TheHammer]

I like them between 7.5-8.5lbs for deer hunting. Even though I opted for a near 12lbr this year. I’m more accurate at 500-600yds in that 11-12lb range. Just depends on the day and which hunt I’m doing.

 

[MuleyFever]

It's a good point, but I wanted to leave it open to each person's choice.

Isn't a poll pretty useless if everyone is using their own criteria for voting?

I had a Kimber in 280ai and it was definitely harder to shoot accurately than my heavier rifles.

 

[handwerk]

Every BG rifle I own is between 7.25 and 8.25 lbs. which is for me the sweet spot.
Some of which are customized Kimber 84M's that I've rebarreled with heavier barrels cause the factory ones are too light for me.

 

[Thegman]

Personally, I think I've found light enough, but not sure about "too light", -for what I do-.

My Kimber 308 is sub-6lbs with scope and mounts, and I've never found it lacking for my use, so sub-6 is definitely not too light, for me.

That said, sub-4lbs rifles have been getting the nod the last couple of years and haven't yet shown to be too light either, but probably getting close...(?).

 

[Oregonmuley]

I'm pretty happy right about here - 7MM-08 x 2

 

[Trackselk]

Had my Kimber 308 under 6 lbs scoped=several deer and elk out to 400 yards.
Then Kimber 22creed under 5lbs scoped=deer and elk. I could shoot it 100 yards offhand after some practice and a 1.5-2 lb trigger.
Now 233 scoped at 4lbs=1 deer and elk so far (soon to be 223ai)

Under 6 pounds they do get progressively more difficult to shoot offhand. Not sure if practice is going to get me beyond 50 yards offhand with the 4 pounder, but I'm optimistic that I'll get it out to 100+ offhand (I haven't put in the time yet). 500 yards max with an excellent rest is not a problem (for me).

*I think light triggers make all the difference with the really light rifles.

 

[Trackselk]

Personally, I think I've found light enough, but not sure about "too light", -for what I do-.

My Kimber 308 is sub-6lbs with scope and mounts, and I've never found it lacking for my use, so sub-6 is definitely not too light, for me.

That said, sub-4lbs rifles have been getting the nod the last couple of years and haven't yet shown to be too light either, but probably getting close...(?).

View attachment 1001780

Yeah, the only thing holding me back from going lower than my 4 pounder is recoil and how it affects accuracy. Oh, and I'm at the point of $100 an ounce to drop the last 5-6ish ounces that I'd want to drop.

You haven't lived until you have carried a 4lb rifle through rough country with a 1oz sling. Dropping 7+ ounces of sling weight just makes sense to me, but even my 5 pound rifle was miserable with the ultralight homemade sling. The 4 lb (scoped and suppressed) rifle fixed that!

*I do think the average hunter probably shouldn't go under 7 pounds or so until they have built the marksmanship to be lethal at lighter weights...

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Had my Kimber 308 under 6 lbs scoped=several deer and elk out to 400 yards.
Then Kimber 22creed under 5lbs scoped=deer and elk. I could shoot it 100 yards offhand after some practice and a 1.5-2 lb trigger.
Now 233 scoped at 4lbs=1 deer and elk so far (soon to be 223ai)

Under 6 pounds they do get progressively more difficult to shoot offhand. Not sure if practice is going to get me beyond 50 yards offhand with the 4 pounder, but I'm optimistic that I'll get it out to 100+ offhand (I haven't put in the time yet). 500 yards max with an excellent rest is not a problem (for me).

*I think light triggers make all the difference with the really light rifles.

I’ve shot quite a few animals with my kimbers that were a bit under 6lbs, they were all within 300yds though. For those ranges it didn’t seem like a handicap. Probably not great target shooting guns for long range though.

It’s been a couple of seasons since I hunted with the kimbers but they sure are nice for carrying around and taking shots at 300yd and under.

My tikkas are a bit over 8lbs and that weight really is t that bad to carry around. Especially when you have a super reliable shooter.

I’m not obsessed with ultra light rifles like it used to be, now it’s more important that they do what they need but I’ll still use my kimbers if I’m climbing mountains.

 

[UnckleBob]

You people including @Formidilosus have convinced me to go to smaller caliber cartridges which has allowed me to lighten up some of my rifles. Where we hunt a 300 yard shot is unlikely to happen, I think they will be about perfect to hunt with.

The following picture is my brand new 243 Tikka Lite. Next hunting season (whitetails), I will carry it while hunting with my 12 y/o son.

He will carry my really light Howa 6 ARC. He is on the small side so I don't want him having to manhandle a heavy gun. Both guns will have suppressors in the 10-16oz weight range.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

What’s a rifle “system”??? Like a gun with a scope on it???