Thread: So when is a rifle too heavy?

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 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.

Originally Posted by GravelBen

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.

Yeah absolutely, but it comes down to specificity, ie a 22 not typically carried anywhere near as far, and shot often, and frequently off hand at small targets. Hence a bit of weight added for increased shootability makes sense, whereas a bush rifle is carried all day and might only get shot once. All that said I don't feel like my tikka is off balance or difficult to shoot offhand.

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 gonetropo

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

A hyper-active heading dog? Yeah, right!