Thread: So when is a rifle too heavy?

In open country or easy bush like pine blocks up to 9.5 pound and bush hunting the lighter the better ( around 7 -7.5 pound) Most of my rifles are around the 8 -8.5 pound which are ok to lug around all day.

My Sako 75 (not finnlight) with 30mm optilocks and a vx6 and 25 inch barrel could never be called a light weight but is still quite acceptable I think.
Any of the custom gun crowd on here who have picked it up have always said "shit thats heavy" or words to that effect but not one of the many people who have shot their first,second,third,and fourth deer with it have complained it is too heavy.

It is my only scoped large game rifle so it has to do it all, I have considered a carbon stock and other weight loss options and all are a significant expense but that is not the only reason it has not lost weight.
178gr @ 2975fps gets the job done at ranges I am capable of shooting and recoil while there is not offensive but it is certainly lively off of a bipod and my rifle is used for new shooters/hunters.....lightening the rifle I think would make it more difficult for both new(possibly off putting recoil)shooters and myself to shoot well necessitating a suppressor or brake putting the weight saved back on with a suppressor or necessitating hearing protection being worn for guide and shooter in a hunting situation where communication is paramount.

I would like a second rifle in 223 or 260 that is a light weight but the reality is I just am not shooting of late so cannot justify another rifle.

I'd consider anything over 8lbs heavy.

Ha ha, good topic.

I've always had traditional weight rifles. From 8.5 to 9.5lbs with scope. Current set-up is closer to 10lbs, bloody accurate but I find it pretty heavy, for bigger trips/tahr hunting.

After a pretty tough trip with a big tramp last year, I'm keen to set up something lighter (and stainless, bloody rust!), as my mates rifles were really nice to carry both at around 7lbs, including a suppressor on one of them. So my intention is to go under 7lbs scoped, no suppressor, which should be really easy to do in this day and age. In fact one could go under 6lbs if one was happy to pay the sort of $$ needed, but that is probably be getting too light.

If we were to take the Winchester SS extreme long action as an example, its weight bare, according to Winchester, is 7.2lbs so would getting on for 8lbs scoped.

And yeah, working on the weight around the middle too....

I got talked into taking my long range rifle on a goat culling trip in steep country 'to clean up the far away ones'. We never saw anything more than about 150 metres while on the hill! On the way out we spotted a couple at around 600 metres and about 45 degrees downhill. Two shots wasted! I was so knackered that I forgot to hold under. 14 lbs is way to much rifle weight when you are 69 and a smidge porky!

Originally Posted by gundoc

I got talked into taking my long range rifle on a goat culling trip in steep country 'to clean up the far away ones'. We never saw anything more than about 150 metres while on the hill! On the way out we spotted a couple at around 600 metres and about 45 degrees downhill. Two shots wasted! I was so knackered that I forgot to hold under. 14 lbs is way to much rifle weight when you are 69 and a smidge porky!

Good exercise though right?

I think if it's carried In hand always, like a bush rifle then the lighter the better. I had a howa that was 4.5kg all up and while that doesn't seem much after 12 hours of carrying it in hand the old arm starts to get pretty tired. My tikka is over a kilo lighter and the arm definitely feels much better after a days hunting.

With the many quality options in the 6-6.5 lb class that will shoot lights out, I don't see why you would want to carry anything heavier.

Originally Posted by 223nut

Good exercise though right?

Yep! I now do a lot more hill walking to keep fit (and am losing a few Kg's in the process).

Originally Posted by gundoc

Yep! I now do a lot more hill walking to keep fit (and am losing a few Kg's in the process).

you will know when you are super fit when you can keep up with your dog !!

Originally Posted by Nick-D

With the many quality options in the 6-6.5 lb class that will shoot lights out, I don't see why you would want to carry anything heavier.

Yes and no... A lot of synthetic stocked rifles can feel quite unbalanced and nose heavy (especially suppressed) because the main weight saving was in the butt. Sometimes the better balance and handling/feel of a wooden stock is enough to justify a bit of extra carry weight.

I have a couple of 22lr rifles, one ~5lb synthetic and one ~7lb laminate thumbhole. The extra weight doesn't worry me for that sort of carry but the heavier one (obviously shape etc plays a part too) is so much steadier for off-hand shooting.

As light as practical. Don't see any point carrying extra weight if it's not making the rifle shoot better myself?

As mentioned already, too light is a prick to shoot off hand and even off a bipod can be a hassle....if the balance is not right. Balance is a very important factor which is often overlooked with too much focus on weight saving additions.

Never worry about the weight, when I'm not carrying something isn't right.

my answer is to avoid the scales...both for rifles and myself..... one will tell me the rifles are all 8-9lb the other will scream " get off me you fat hua" if and when Ive lost 25lb from my waist....then the rifle weight wont matter anyway as will be a lean mean shagging machine.

Never seemed to matter few years back you bought a rifle took it hunting never thought about lbs ,but that was when men were men and sheep were scared