ready to hunt rifle weight.

My light barrel rifles from 223 to 300 win mag all wear 3-9 scopes to keep weight under control. It's enough scope for a long ways for me. My lightest is a nothing special Browning xbolt stainless stalker 7mmwsm. Talley lightweight rings, and a burris 3-9x40 scope. Weighs 7.36 pounds unloaded. Heavy enough to be easy to shoot well, and handles faster and better than anything else I have thats just a bit heavier. Really gotta pay attention to scope and mount weights for what you want to do.
 
If she has the interest to have her very own rifle and she doesn’t mind the spending, let her choose what she wants, what she thinks is important to her… weight alone isn’t the answer, but proper fit along with weight is!
My wife shoot and hunts with me but she’s happy with what ever I put in her hands…
 
Sako AV 30-06 23 inch barrel laminate stock full mag, 3x9 bushnell elite, 9 pounds 11 ounces
Remington 700 BDL 30-06 22 inch barrel, full mag, 2.5x8 leupold 8 pounds 8 ounces.
Tikka T3 25-06 22 inch barrel, full mag 3x9 leupold VX2 7 pounds 8 ounces.
 
FLHTCUI said:
It would be better to buy/build what She wants.
I can see from the ops post there are but a couple of weight saving options.
Get a different Leupold Scope and ditch the Aluma caps for starters.
But, hey at least he has his S/O out there with him in the woods.
Rob
Click to expand...
this one was a joint effort. tried a few before and sold them.
 
Win 70 Classic Sporter and Classic Stainless with 3-9x40 Accupoint in Weaver 4 hole skeletonized rings are 8.6 lbs to 9 lbs

Tikka T3x Lite with same is about 7.6 lbs.

I find the Tikkas hard to hold steady off hand. Prefer a bit more weight out front even for a rifle of similar weight. And don't much like em in larger calibers. But they carry and point nicely
 
Mine weighs about 8.5 pounds or so and I think that's plenty heavy enough. Around 7.5 to 8 lbs would be the sweet spot depending on caliber and hunting activity (hiking in tough terrain etc). If it's a magnum then a little heavier is probably better. Once you start getting over 9 lbs then it's time to see if you can shed some weight on the rifle (lighter scope, stock etc).
 
just weighed the rifle we took out this morning.... my usual, a walnut stocked ruger m77 mkii 7mm rem mag with a nikon monarch 3, 4-12x42 , 23 5/16" barrel.
empty she weighs 9lbs 3 ounces including the leather ruger sling
my wife had no issues this morning when she filled her mulie tag ;)
 
First question... what type of hunting are you doing? Walk to a blind? Drive, spot and then stalk? Walking the edge of coulies? Sit on the edge of a field?

Generally for my wife... its a lot of driving and then spot and stalk. So the most she's going to carry a gun is 300-500 yards one way kind of thing at most.

If its for me... my lightest is a 325 WSM that weighs 6 lbs 5 ounces then my 30-378 and 300 RUM are the heaviest at around 10.5 lbs. Depending on if i am walking all day or covering a quarter section if bush line... i pick the gun the suits the situation. I am lucky though in that i generally throw 2-3 guns in the truck every time I go out. Depending on the situation... different ones get used.

In it all... pick a gun that suits where/style you guys hunt and set it up for her and youll be fine.
 
I can tell you if you start with any rifle weighing around 6lbs by the time you mount a lightweight 3-9 scope, add a sling and load the mag you'll be looking at an 8 lb package. So without spending big bucks that's pretty well where you end up. That's a decent weight for me, enough weight to keep steady when shooting and not unbearable to carry. Actually it describes my 7-08 pretty well. Once you've carried a gun like that, one that started at 8lbs and went to 10 feels like a lot more.
Listen to her and give her what she wants, IMHO.
 
I love light rifles, have for many years. Bolt action, scoped rifles I use the most are Kimber 84L 30-06 with S&K rings, Leupold FX-II fixed six. Kimber 84M 257 Robert’s, S&K rings with Leupold FX-II fixed six. Kimber 84M .223, S&K rings, Leupold FX-II fixed six all Montana’s. Also my custom pre 64 Winchester .270, McMillan stock, S&K rings, Leupold FX-II fixed six built by Bill Leeper.

All those Kimbers are under 7 pounds if I remember correctly. All scopes have the long range reticle. It’s been a while but I think the Winchester is around 7.2-7.3 pounds.

I have many more rifles but those bolt action hunting rifles get used the most.

While out hunting today my pack was bothering my shoulders a bit due to recent injury and I was reminded why I love light rifles.
 
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