toying with a new rifle idea...

ez8

ez8

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
18   0   0
so ive been toying with the idea of a new bolt action and turning my current (rem 700 aac-sd 308) into a target only rifle.
its never seen the field, but i bought it for that. im coming to realize that its heavy...

what im looking for:
light - im looking for simethig the weight of the tikka t3 light or less...
synthetic stock
bolt action or semi auto
deer sized caliber (223 is legal but too small... i liked the 243...thoughts?)

im planing on putting a Leupold 2-7x vx2 or vx3 on it or maybe saving a couple bucks and going wit redfield.


i would love a lightweight rem 700 with a 20" barrel... but i think the rifle just weighs in too much overall.
 
Last edited:
if your intent is to have it for a deer rifle i would go a little bigger then .243win. i have found that hiking with my rifle has helped with the weight alot. you just get use to it. lighter then a tikka lite. thats really lite. i like the kimber montana
 
I keep wishing that I had bought one of those trim little 308 Ti jobs from Prairie Gunworks back when they still made sporters. All the power you need and all the benefits of ultra-lightweight in the same package. Not sure if there is anything else comparable out there.
 
I bought my wife a model 7 Remington in 7mm08 this one was a youth model with a black synthetic stock, but I bought a walnut stock for it, mounted a 2-7 Leupold, very nice light rifle and I think a good deer calibre, this one has a 18 1/2" barrel but 20" is available I think, next deer season the rifle may come with me on some of the days that my Wife stays home.
 
ez8 said:
synthetic stock
bolt action or semi auto
deer sized caliber (223 is legal but too small... i liked the 243...thoughts?)
Click to expand...

BAR ShortTrac Stalker comes in both 243, and 7mm-08
tssewo25.jpg
 
There is a plethora of small carbine sized rifles chambered for the .243, any one of them would make a good combination deer/walking varmint rifle. If you like Remingtons, a M-7 is a good rifle, although its just one of many small light .243s that are available. My .243 is a semi-custom M-7 with a fluted Lilja medium weight fluted varmint barrel finished at 22" bedded in an early B&C stock. If you like full length wood, a CZ 550 FS is hard not to like, or if your budget allows, a custom rifle might be preferable.
 
I'm not fixed on any caliber yet.
When I go deer hunting I'm basically walking for 7 days and want something as light as possible, also I have injuries that make light weight gear even more important. Smart thing would be to ride a quad...but that's a diferent story.
I may start to consider youth models, I like shorter length of pull.
I plan to carry it with a 1 point sling while walking.
 
If its just a matter of weight you could rebarrel with a lighter weight take off or go whole hog with a lightweight custom barrel and Wildcat stock. If you want a new rifle then a Rem Mod 7 or Tikka would scratch that itch nicely.
 
Why wouldn't you just get a t3 lite? It meets all of your criteria. Only thing to watch out for Is because they are so light you know what's going to happen once you get into more power. That being said, there's no reason you can't kill any deer with a well placed shot and an appropriate .243 round.
 
Since you've already mentioned the T3 Lite, what about one in 7/08? My daughter used hers for 2 seasons now on deer, and I pop the odd coyote because the dad/guide has to have fun too. She should be around 5 or 6 deer with it.

It feels like it doesn't weigh anything, decent trigger, has little recoil and with light bullets dips into .243 country. With the heavier slugs a moose wouldn't get off scot-free.
 
I had a similar delema last year, I finally decided to have the guys at Alberta Tactical Rifle to use my 700 action they built me my dream rifle. It shoots better than I will ever, ya it cost 2000.00 but a sako fin lite is almost 2000.00 an ATRS garenties 1 inch, sako does not. The rifle fits me better as well. I got to pick the colour, stock, barrel length, twist and conture. To me this rifle was worth every penny. I would do it all again, ATRS is a great place to deal with. The rifle shoots accuratly with a wide range of loads, just cant say enough good things about the rifle.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom