Ultralight Boomsticks

kc34 said:
Very true. You can certainly pay a price with increased recoil when you get really light rigs. Not sure it is really worth it myself but to each their own.
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I find lighter rifles don’t recoil as much as you think, IF they are well balanced. Butt heavy, skinny / short barrelled rifles can be snappy.

Another factor when considering this is how much a rifle will be carried for each time it is shot. My 7 1/2 pound 9.3X62 which gets carried a lot in thicker grizzly country is an example. Especially with 286 grain bullets, it is a handful. But the previous rifle I had for that purpose, a 358 Norma that was a pound heavier, was slung too much when it should have been in hand.
 
I would take a hard look at a Barret Fieldcraft, it’s basically the original in this category taking over from NULA made by Melvin Forbes. My 20B 7mm-08 scoped with a Leupold 3x9x40 and 3 rounds in the mag weighs 6 lbs on the nose. It really points well and the stock design seems to redirect the recoil away from your face so it’s pleasant to shoot. No experience with larger calibers in this platform though.
 
Grizzly Adams said:
Some people just don't mind having the #### kicked out of them, I guess. :)

Grizz
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Fit matters a lot more on rifles than people give it credit for. My Vanguard Backcountry (300 Wby Mag, 6-3/4 lbs) is a lot more comfortable to shoot than my Savage 10TR (.308, 8 lbs) ever was.
 
My take is: weight vs capability. An ultralight tactical rifle with adjustable cheek raiser, spacer system, thick barrel and ten shot mag, mil spec scope will weigh more than a hunting rifle with pencil barrel, simple scope and simple stock. I have built myself both types of rifles in ultra light. Even if ultra-light the rifle must survive the hunt or years of hunting, our terrain is very rough and very wet with plenty tumbles.
We all want a capable rifle at least capable of the task ahead. One never really knows what we will meet when hunting meaning in our terrain which has open country as well as wet boggy woodlands the rifle should be able to do all, also low light situations. Shots out to over 500m as well as off-hand shots at 20yds, precision shots threading a bullet through twigs or past grass when only a head or ear is visible.
For this season I built two rifles, one 243 remmy stainless sporter in a 24oz carbon stock and 3-9x50 Leupold on top no suppressor. Very light but not very capable, on the only day out that I used it I dropped a doe at first light but later in the day I could not get close enough to take a doe & calf in open terrain for the scope cartridge combination I had. I have not used that rifle since.

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The other rifle is based on a remmy 700 action, 6.5CM, 20" Hardy carbon barrel with 24mm muzzle diameter, experimental carbon fibre E-Tac4 RSA tactical stock weighing 800 grams. Spuhr pica rail, Spuhr lightweight hunting one piece 34mm mounts. 3-20x50 PM2 Ultra Short Schmidt & Bender. Rifle on it's own weighs 6.7lbs or 3040grams. Including scope 4.15kg. This is by far the most useful and universal rifle I have had so far. Early days to comment on the cartridge but the rifle concept is fantastic. I had 5 close range off-hand deer taken with her so far since September and round ten longer range deer.

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Pic below, three weeks ago took four Sika deer in around ten minutes. Doe and calf at both 480m another doe at 390m and a stag with broken skull (sideway horn) at 350m.

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edi
 
This is my main rifle (other than moose, I have a 9.3 for those...)

Mitch Kendall build: Rem 7 284 Win SS, Apex 22" brl, receiver flats done, bolt fluted + handle skeletonized, Atlas Worx bottom metal, Wildcat stock, Trigger Tech trigger, Talleys and a Leupold V2 3x9x40 LR recticle - changed out at Korth, 5.7lbs with the scope, of course its a quarter moa shooter - currently 140gr TTSX, just under 3000fps with a max H4350 load and R17. Its my favourite rifle, easy on the shoulders to carry and a laser .... (purchased from a kewl CGN member but not advertised)

The attraction: fits me perfect, light carrying, light recoil, SS for weather, accurate and pretty flat shooting.
 
9.3 Hunter said:
This is my main rifle (other than moose, I have a 9.3 for those...)

Mitch Kendall build: Rem 7 284 Win SS, Apex 22" brl, receiver flats done, bolt fluted + handle skeletonized, Atlas Worx bottom metal, Wildcat stock, Trigger Tech trigger, Talleys and a Leupold V2 3x9x40 LR recticle - changed out at Korth, 5.7lbs with the scope, of course its a quarter moa shooter - currently 140gr TTSX, just under 3000fps with a max H4350 load and R17. Its my favourite rifle, easy on the shoulders to carry and a laser .... (purchased from a kewl CGN member but not advertised)

The attraction: fits me perfect, light carrying, light recoil, SS for weather, accurate and pretty flat shooting.
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I like that an awful lot! Well thought out rifle... great cartridge choice. You can use that rifle in 98% of the hunting scenarios we might find ourselves in, without much compromise. Well done.
 
My lightweight rifle is a Tikka T3 Lite in 338WM. Just under 7 lbs with a vx-2 on it. Easy to carry and lays a wallop on critters. I swapped out the stock recoil pad for a limbsaver and it is very nice to shoot.
 
Yup I ended up with a t3 superlite in 300 mag. Accurate and lite, had a custom I used for years, this works just as well, and it was cheaper.
 
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