Rifle Weight

truck driver

Ammo Smith
Mar 11, 2013
7,346
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There has been a lot of discussion here about rifle weight and how the trend is for synthetic stocks that are lighter weight then wood except laminated wood which we know is heavier than walnut.
Being bored I weighed my M77 338win and it's mounted in a synthetic stock with a 1" 3.5-10X40 Leupold scope, empty gross weight is 9.6lbs. I carried it on my hunting trip in the mountains of Montana last fall and my arms didn't feel as tired as if I had been carrying my 8.5lb Rem M1100 loaded.
Not use to carrying a 15lb pack all day was probably more noticeable then the rifle and that 15lb pack probably kept me from going farther and deeper into the area I was hunting.
I was wearing a blaze orange hunting vest with a game pocket and it had several other pockets I could have carried my possibles in but choose to carry a back pack which I wasn't use to using.
All my rifles weigh over 8lbs and I have never found them too heavy for long range hunting meaning going miles into the mountains as compared to staying close to the access roads.
Most of us seek to lighten our carry load by trying to cut ounces from our rifles when we could cut pounds from our packs or cut the pack all together and carry what we need in our blaze orange hunting vest which is required by law in all states.
I have never been able to shoot a light weight rifle as well as a standard weight or one considered heavy for hunting and I'm not talking about a bull barrel target rifle.
I will say that the pack acted like a back brace and my back didn't get as tired as it has with out wearing one but believe the extra movement taking the pack on and off while resting could have caused me a chance at animals I only got a glimpse of as it was leaving the area.
So I'm asking for thoughts and opinions on the subject so others don't make the mistakes I may have made.
 
I like a rifle that weighs between 7-8 pounds. I’ve had lighter but they where always harder to shoot well. I don’t really like much heavier if I’m going to be hoofing it around.

A pack is a necessary pretty much all the time here as you need access to a lot of gear, game bags, butcher equipment, emergency camping gear. I’m generally quite a ways from any road access, but like to stay within a mile of my wheeler.

We have no orange requirement here in AK.


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The 300wsm I built 3 years ago, and have hunted with since, weighs 10lbs 5oz without a bipod. With the bipod it always wears it is over 11lbs. I just built a carbon barreled 300wm that is 1lb lighter. It shot quite well on the first trip to the range but you call tell the difference shooting it. Most of the time I prefer a heavier rifle because I shoot them better.
 
I like lite rifles and shoot them well, lots of practice. I have humped up and down the mountains for many years and lite is always better than heavy IMO.

" blaze orange hunting vest which is required by law in all states." This is not true but but a good idea.
 
I've gotten to the point I won't have a rifle that weighs over 8lbs scoped.

My .300WSM is the heaviest at somewhere between 7.5 and 8 depending on which scope it's wearing and my 6.5 weighs under 6 pounds with a scope and everything else is in between.

The lightest rifles are harder to shoot well, or at least less forgiving to sloppy technique. I have noticed that in the mountains a lot of my shooting tends to be very deliberate with plenty of time to settle in and make the shot. For a lot of hunts weight doesn't make much difference but a lot of my hunting is on foot, miles back and a lighter, shorter rifle is just handier to tote around for all the hundreds of hours a year I'm not shooting it.
 
I get back in on some of my hunts but rarely am I walking all day. Even so when you get up into the 06 range of cartridge, for me I like some weight.

But I'm looking at the total way I use a gun. Both bench shooting and hunting. As was already mentioned, weight makes guns generally easier to shoot, mostly due to usually stiffer barrels on heavier guns in my opinion, plus weight is one of the easiest ways to slash real recoil that there is. Between 8.5-9.5 lbs makes a good all around gun for me.

Where I'm at I don't spend all day hoofing mountains looking for game. Those that do might look at weight in a gun quite differently than I do.
 
I am blessed that the rifle weight does not bother me that much. We do travel a significant distance on most of our hunts, 5+ miles daily, and we also take frequent breaks and a midday nap, when I can get the other guys to slow down. Both of my primaries wear, rails, bi-pods, slings, and nylon ammo carriers, so there are a fair amount of hardware to carry. Recoil is not an issue.
 
My rifles weigh between 6 and 10 pounds, without scopes and mounts. And depending on the hunt, various rifles get carried that are more appropriate to the hunt (quarry, weather and terrain).

Weight of the rifle is not usually the first consideration, but does come into play at times. My 338-06 weighs. 10 pounds, and is not usually taken when mountain hunting, but if the quarry is sheep or goat, I do not need the larger caliber either. The 280 or 7MM STW will get the nod as the more appropriate caliber first, and because they weigh between 7 and 8 pounds second. The 338-06 will go moose, elk and bear hunting where the caliber is more appropriate, and the terrain is flatter and the hikes shorter.
 
When I was a kid, I would serve as gun bearer for my uncle when he took me out for elk. It was a custom FN Mauser with a #6 contour Douglas barrel that was 26” in 7x61 S&H, as I recall. Looking back on it, I suppose it was pretty darn heavy for knocking around in the mountains, but I sure liked to carry it! After years of carrying my pre-64 standard weight rifle, I guess I’m not that bothered by a rifle in the 9 pound range so long as she can deliver the goods. My children’s rifles weigh about the same, but they sure have pretty wood and that’s gotta count for something, right?
V/R,
Joe
 
The only rifle I have owned that I considered too heavy to lug around was an old war horse.
A Winchester M1 Garand sniper model that I found in a local gun shop. A Army officer who owned it was being stationed over seas and couldn't take it with him. He had the marksmanship unit fit it with a set of Redfield target sights and shot it in CMP matches.
That rifle felt like it weighed a ton when I carried it hunting deer. I carried a M14 for 3 years and it felt like a light weight compared to the old Garand.
 
My rifles are all around that 8.5 to 9.5lbs. and I don't find them to difficult to lug around while Moose or Whitetail hunting.
Moose hunting is never long hikes all at once until you are coming back to camp then is might be 3 or 4 miles. I just use the slow and steady method :wink:.
Now Whitetail is a little different as we normal go for a early morning drive and then around 9:30am we do a long push/walk which is usually 2 miles or so then we have lunch. After lunch we go on another long push/walk and there again it is usually in that 2 mile range then around around 4 we drive until dark.
I have been using the 280AI the last few seasons for deer and it is around 8lbs.

Blessings,
Dan
 
I kinda enjoy a rifle between 7-9lbs. My 338 being 9lbs in the Legend and my Mashburn being about 8.25lbs. So far neither has slowed me down much and they shoot like crazy for me as well.

Now in the 270, 6.5 SE, 6.5 CM I’ll tske a 7-7.5lb rifle for those.
 
I like a light rifle in the mountains. My 300WM weighs right at 8lbs now with scope and sling. Not a featherweight, but not heavy.

For flat land I like a heavier rifle. Both my 264 win mags are heavier, my lighter one is about 10.5lbs with scope and sling and my heavy barreled one with the giant scope is 13.5lbs. I use the light one more if I'll walk and glass, the heavy one for ambush hunting. The giant scope is great in low light and the heavy gun is extremely forgiving and easy to shoot well.

Guess I like both but not anything super light. I think it's recoil more than anything I can shoot some really light 22 rifles well offhand.
 
The new to me M70 300Winny comes in at 10.5Lbs set up in the laminated wood stock with the 3-12X42 Vortex diamond back on it.
Glad it has the sporter weight barrel on it and not the magnum weight likes on the Ruger M77 338Win. I think it would top out at 12lbs with a heavy sporter barrel on it.
 
my ideal weight is 7.5 all in (rifle scope sling and a full magazine). This USUALY requires short action, a 22-24" barrel, fiberglass/carbon fiber stock, ADL type or aluminum bottom metal, and a one poundish scope. My current rig is LA, a heavyish scope in a magnum caliber with 26 in barrel and a well made fiberglass/carbon fiber stock with steel bottom metal. All in it is just short of 9lbs
 
A number of years ago when Remington first came out with the Titanium 700 I picked one up in 7-08. A 2.5X8 Leupold with ultra light mounts went on and I found I was carrying it far more than my traditional Deer rifles because of the extremely light weight. (A little over 6lbs. loaded). I practice with it quite a bit and my shooting ability gets me deer on a yearly basis. For many years I carried a Model 700 with a MacMillan stock, Zeiss scope with Warne Mounts in .338RUM for Elk and I can tell you that it is starting to feel like dragging an anchor through the woods. I pretty much use it as a back up rifle and now pursue Elk with A Kimber .300WSM. My most recent acquisition, a Christensen Arms Carbon in .300WM will see quite a bit of woods time as it is a lightweight and although I haven't weighed it yet it's right in the area of my Kimber Weight wise. As you get older (74 Yrs.) Light weight sounds better and better.
 
diverdown I here yeah and I'm thinking about taking some interior wood out of the butt like a shot gun drilling a 1" hole in it.
 
Don't believe I've ever actually weighed one of my rifles.

For general purpose hunting, I do like a mid-weight rifle an awful lot. My 700 CDL's are just about perfect for me. Enough weight to be steady for 300 yard shots, and light enough to carry all day.

I've got a couple of heavier rifles with varmint weight barrels, but no real lightweights.

Guy
 
I’ve never weighed my rifles, but I tend to gravitate towards “standard” weight rifles. Heavy bench rifles are heavy and hard to lug over distances, and lightweight rifles tend to be harder to shoot accurately in practical field positions.
 
I like lighter 6-6.5 lbs rifles (Kimber 84L for example) that I then pork-up with bipods. I don't own any magnums or anything beyond 30-06, so light and handy wins the day over recoil mitigation.

I can't recall weighing any of my rigs, but I think they end up in the 7.5-8 lbs range. My right leg is about 9mm shorter than my left leg and I walk funny. That funny walk means that anything on my neck / shoulder like bino's and slung rifles wear on me really quickly & 10+lbs rifle rigs really limit my mobility in thick / wet snow. Going out in below zero weather likewise makes me appreciate a lighter weight rig, as I'm carrying what feels like a 10+ pounds in clothes and boots...

Edited to add, I normally have a fanny pack outfitted with flashlight, tissue, knifes, gutting gloves, license, multi-tool, water, granola bars, extra hat and gloves, laser range finder or bino's, etc. on me from September 15th when upland starts through December 31st when late doe season ends. I have not weighed it fully kitted out, but I imagine it weighs in the 4+lbs range. I find the fanny pack doesn't add as much stress, given my funny walk, as having the items higher up on my body. I'll often take off the fanny pack and stretch out on the ground to relieve back / neck / hip pain; it makes a pretty decent pillow or rear shooting bag if I take out some of the hard items.
 
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