Thread: Most comfortable/steady rifle

Morning everyone,

I was having a conversation with another hunter the other day about some of the nicer rifles that we have used over the years. Something interesting that came up, is that there are some rifles that when you hold it up to your shoulder, it just seems to sit steadily and very comfortably, where as other rifles tend to be much harder to keep still. I'm sure many of you have experienced the same thing. An example is recently i was gifted two .22s. They are the exact same make and model and look identical, but the wooden stocks have been made slightly differently to each other, and so the weight distribution is different. One is ok when you pick it up to shoot, but the other just sits in your hand beautifully with hardly any movement.

When shooting off-hand I reckon that the biggest accuracy factor is how comfortable you are with the rifle because it impacts how steady you are when you pull the trigger. Of course you can make any rifle work if you're shooting at close range, but if you have to pull off a quick, tricky shot, then it helps a huge amount to have a stable rifle.

The thing we couldn't figure out though, is what makes a rifle so steady. Lighter, shorter rifles tend to be more steady in my experience but maybe it's more to do with where the weight is balanced. This being said, I have used a friends 7-08 with a 23" barrel, also suppressed, and that was one of the most steady rifles i've picked up.

So, what are the most steady rifles you guys have used, and what makes them that way?