HOW LIGHT IS TOO LIGHT?

bearhunter said:
It's high for a reason, and it's not taste. When you're working as hard on a pack in hunt, or even just a week long hike, your body uses a lot of salt, along with other electrolytes, and it needs to be replaced asap, or your mind starts doing funny things without weed.
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I’d rather dump those electrolytes into me then that amount of salt. The amount of water you’d need to washout that amount of salt would be dear. Given that water can be scarce up top, that wouldn’t be high on my list of packables when I would need to spend extra effort/energy searching for water due salt thirst.
Bustercluck said:
I think I lose more calories from the sh its I get after eating mountain house.
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Well that be one way to prep for a colonoscopy… 😁
 
I run a weatherby backcountry ti in 338rpm
She is light and handy
The thing a lot of non mountain hunters don’t realize is you typically have more time to set up for a shot in the mountains than you do hunting whitetail
You can get a great rest on your backpack or I swap out my spotting scope on my tripod for a hog saddle and you are dead steady.
You carry your rifle a heck of a lot more than you shoot it and you want to be as light as possible while carrying it.
Less than 7lbs all in is ideal for me.
 
Bustercluck said:
I remember my first goat hunt back in about 1996… aluminum pack frame, no goretex, steel toed work boots and cans of stew with some bags of nuts. We were tougher back then.
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In the late 70s I had the same plus, a 10lb canvas sleeping bag, canned food, 12" cast-iron fry pan that had vice grips for a handle. By the time we cleared the tree line I was ready to lay down and die. "But" a couple of O-Henry bars and a pop I good to go.
 
Just weighed all the parts for one of my newer lightweight rifles. Minus scope and rings the rifle weighs 6.006 Lbs or 6lbs. (The action will have some work done to lighten it up so under lbs.

This rifle is chambered in 6.5X55 Swede and currently has no muzzle brake. This may change but I doubt it. Based on measurements and separate weight calculations it should balance really well so the hope is it wont jump around. I have a few rifles to assemble and scope before this one but looking forward to getting it out. Between the action work losing some weight and the scope/rings (maybe a rail) adding weight I hope its right around 7lbs when complete. Not super light by any means but at this point in my back injury/permanent disability stage lighter is helpful.
 
As others have pointed out, it depends on calibre and what you're willing to trade-off. For years i've packed a near 10 pound .375 H&H through the hills, you feel it, but it's not so bad, and you also feel the confidence such a rifle imparts in areas where big tough beasts might kill you, the steadiness in offhand shooting, the dampening of the recoil. I was offered a very nice rifle in the same calibre once, slim and beautiful and maybe 8 pounds. All i could think of holding the thing was the pounding the shooter must take.
 
I enjoy shooting my hot loaded 45/70 , I’ve shot warm 9.3x62mm and I’ve shot 460 Mbogo . My floating .22/12g with 3” loads are unbelievably obnoxious. Too little weight is a factor.
 
My sheep rifles are a 6.2lb kimber in 6.5creed and a K.S ultralight at 6.6lb in 284. Both are great to carry and not bad to shoot though the K.S with a break is nicer than the kimber without. For many years I carried a 9.5lb Steyr, it shot great but didn’t carry as nicely as the lighter rifles.

As for pack weight me and my partner’s packs were 45-50lb’s this year for 7 days. Not starving and not uncomfortable, I had my helinox chair, he had a stool. 1 spotter and tripod, durston tent @2.5lb, lightweight down sleeping bags and insulated inflatable pads.

When we started sheep hunting we were carrying 60+lb packs but had 9+lb rifles, heavier sleeping bags, tent and took more clothes.
 
I have been playing the ultra light game for years. It is an addiction and after you get used to it, every "normal" rifle feels like a heavy sack of bricks.......
For all the comments saying just diet and lose a few pounds, I will say that for those of us that carry the rifle in our hands all day, losing a few pounds of body weight means nothing. When hiking the alpine it is okay to have the rifle in the eberlestock gunrunner, but anywhere else I like to be at the ready.
I have also come to the conclusion that extremely light rifles are just too light.
Kimber adirondack 308 with talley lightweights and vx3 1.5-5x20 was 5 pounds 9 ounces. Carried it for years and it was accurate, but too light.
Kimber mountain ascent 308 with talley lightweights and swarovski 3-9x36, was around 6 pounds. same.
For myself, I always found the Kimber Hunters were more accurate. They weren't of course, but I could shoot them more accurately because they weighed more. With talley lightweights, and vx3 2.5-8x36, (6.5 creedmoor or 308), 6 pounds 6 ounces.
Tikka t3x, 22 inch barrel, talley lightweights, vx3 2.5-8x36, non magnum cartridge, 7 pounds 4 ounces. Easy to shoot well.
Same rifle with 30 mm talleys and nightforce 2.5-10x32 weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces. Easy to shoot well.
Savage ultralight 6.5 prc, (24 inch carbon wrapped barrel), Talley lightweights, nightforce 2.5-10x42 weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces.......

As I get older, the ultralight thing is not what I want any more, and I have sold them off.

7 pounds 14 ounces seems super heavy to me. I am glad to hear that the majority of you experienced hunters that hike a long ways feel that 7.5 to 8 pounds is about perfect. I need to change my way of thinking.
 
There is plenty of people that are still after the lightest of the lightest, they won’t go in the mountains with rifles over 5.5lbs.
My lightest rifle I think is at 6.5lbs a 30-06 with a 3.5-10x42 leupold, nice wood no plastic not stainless… I can shoot it around .8-1.2”@100m with 165gn hotcor or 168gn ABLR and both shoot to the same point of impact. The rifle is a Merkel K5.
 
For most of my years I only had one rifle that I used for everything, including Sheep. Since I used it for everything over the years, I got used to shooting a sub 6lb rifle exclusively and got real good with that weight of rifle and making shots count from hunting shooting positions. it wasn't until I started shooting heavier rifles that I realized how much more enjoyable shooting could be.

After filling ram and ewe tags I finally started shooting heavier guns for bush and prairie hunting. I wouldn't hesitate to go back to that light weight rifle though if a hunt had mountains on menu, as it was an easy carry and I could carry other supplies for the weight allocation. I'd rather carry supplies that can keep me out in sheep country longer than gun weight. More time spent out there increases the odds.

The rifle was a custom job I bought used, made by Rod Henrickson this was late 90's early 2k so no rem titaniums etc. Was a 30.06, SS rem700 skeletonized and fluted bolt, 20" pencil tapered SS barrel, had a great lightweight composite stock I cant remember the brand, Burris lightweight mounts and a Leup vxII Ultralight 3-9x33, all in just under 6lbs. Yeah it wasn't a fun time recoil wise, but for me it was the right tool for the job.
 
It’s pretty easy to get down to the 6.5-7.5 LW range these days without spending a stink ton on a boutique rifle/build.

A used factory R700, M77(tang safety) or T3/X in a Wildcat will get you there easily enough inside of $2K. Less if you’re a careful shopper and/or are in the right place, right time.

Don’t get me wrong, I like light higher end rifles and have come close to owning one. Just can’t justify the cost of a Kimber/Christiansen/Fierce/Antler etc let alone thinking of second mortgaging for a Gunwerks when the above mentioned options do the same job at a fraction of the cost. That $3-$10K is not gonna make what your chasing any more dead then spending $2k will.
 
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