Rifle weight. Is it worth it?

[madcalfe]

Thin barrels and small scopes definitely appear to be the way to save weight. Pretty tough to put a light weight rifle together that you can take to the range and shoot without melting the barrel.

It’s doable

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

I would echo most folks here, I have a, 10.5lb 7mag, can I carry it all day and hunt with it from the valley floor to 11kft, Yes, is it more comfortable to carry a 7.5-8lb rifle absolutely. For me personally a 7.5-8.5lb rifle is where its at, moderate recoil, shootable, easier to carry, etc.

This is a great opportunity for you to build a short action cartridge and get a lightweight scope, NXS 2.5-10x then you have your long range heavy hitter and a shorter range lightweight mountain rifle.

 

[mtwarden]

my barrel hasn't melted down at the range yet, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for it!

 

[duckcarver]

At 5 lbs, 7 ozs., this rifle would be a pleasure to carry - not sure how well I would shoot it. (I have no affiliation with the gun or listing).

WTS - Kimber Adirondack 7mm-08 MPI Microlite

This is one I’ll look back on and regret selling. So if I don’t get my asking price, I’ll happily keep it. What I have is a Kimber Adirondack 7mm-08 with an 18” barrel. Round count is under 200 rounds. It is bedded in an MPI Microlite Mountain stock. The stock was primed and I painted it myself...

rokslide.com

 

[tuffcity]

weight between a crazy light rifle and heavy is usually just a couple days of food.

For my buddy that guides for sheep the difference is usually whether he ends up carrying the clients rifle or not! lol

 

[cbeard64]

I have never fallen under the spell of the Siren’s song that is long range shooting. IMO for most hunters it creates more problems than it solves. The guides I have had over the past 20 years are certainly of that opinion. I haven’t met a ram yet I couldn’t get within 400 yards of. Maybe I’ve been lucky.

This simplifies things. I don’t spend a lot of time at the range, I don’t need a honking big scope, and I don’t need a heavy rifle. I do prefer enough weight to be able to steady the gun under field conditions. For me that’s a compact rifle that’s easy to carry and weighs about 7.5 lbs.

My Leupolds have never let me down, but I have been thinking about getting that NXS 2.5-10x because of its durability. It seems like the perfect mountain rifle optic to me.

 

[maxwellh86]

Thin barrels and small scopes definitely appear to be the way to save weight. Pretty tough to put a light weight rifle together that you can take to the range and shoot without melting the barrel.

I didn’t put anything together… bought it from Weatherby and with that six lbs rifle/scope I can put three in a row in a 6” target at 600 yards from a cold barrel. That’s two more bullets than I usually need to kill an animal.