Thread: Light weight carry rifle options

Originally Posted by Tentman

Currently I have a Kimber 84M Hunter in 308 as my lightweight goto carry/truck - the latest in a very long line and a keeper, its an fantastic shooter, the stock is "just right" and all stainless . . . But getting hard to get. Prior to that I had a Howa Superlight but with a walnut stock. Both excellent rifles but the Kimber is a bit more refined, it's trigger is excellent, a step up on the Tikka which is no slouch. Some people get on OK with the Howa two stage trigger but I'm not one of them, they are fine for target work but I could never get them (two Howa mini's and the superlite) to break how I like for off-hand shooting out on the hill.

With the Kimber you'll probably have to get it shortened (they are usually sold in 22") but when you do you can run a 14x1 thread, bigger at the muzzle is always better. The Howa people are good at honouring their guarantee but they have had to be, a gunsmith I know has bought several superlite "duds" off the wholesalers for future projects.

Opinions . . . .

Perfect sum up.
I have a kimber Montana cut at 17”, 14x1 thread. Magnum Dpt sup. Shoots the fiocchi 168 gr SMk into 1/2” easily. Does not like the hornady 150sst somehow. Better safety than what’s on the market other than a blaser. I find the trigger a bit over curved but that is me.
And broke in half vertically the talley low 1” that was on it. ( scope is a leupold vx3i 3.5-10-40). Replaced by the more elegant leupold standard steel base . That rifle never missed a beat.

Regarding the Howa ultra light, the carbon stock feels a bit flimsy, the inletting is not great and requires a good bedding to solve the problem of the tensions in the receiver when tightening the screws in the original inlet.
If one is getting the barrel shortened, jump to a 14x1 thread if possible instead of the original 1/2-28 ,specially in 308.
Only available in blued steel, so taking good care of it is important if hunting in the rain.
Overall they are not bad rifles but just be prepared to spend a little bit more than the $2,2k ish they cost to have them set up and shooting well.

They are still lighter and cheaper than a sako carbon light.

Originally Posted by Tentman

Currently I have a Kimber 84M Hunter in 308 as my lightweight goto carry/truck - the latest in a very long line and a keeper, its an fantastic shooter, the stock is "just right" and all stainless . . . But getting hard to get. Prior to that I had a Howa Superlight but with a walnut stock. Both excellent rifles but the Kimber is a bit more refined, it's trigger is excellent, a step up on the Tikka which is no slouch. Some people get on OK with the Howa two stage trigger but I'm not one of them, they are fine for target work but I could never get them (two Howa mini's and the superlite) to break how I like for off-hand shooting out on the hill.

With the Kimber you'll probably have to get it shortened (they are usually sold in 22") but when you do you can run a 14x1 thread, bigger at the muzzle is always better. The Howa people are good at honouring their guarantee but they have had to be, a gunsmith I know has bought several superlite "duds" off the wholesalers for future projects.

Opinions . . . .

That same Gunsmith (if it's who I'm thinking of, there's not many down that way...) also seems to have a few "as new" kimber actions haha

There was a kimber 708 for sale here at a good price. Get Murphy Precision to coat the stock. That would be my pick.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Have you bedded your Hunter? I think I need to get mine done to make it consistent. Whats your approach to shooting it (being a light skinny rifle) off a bench?

The stocks are pretty good for what they are. Shouldn't need bedding.
Nice big forward bag is best of the bench, and a forend hold as well. mines a 6.5 creed so not as stroppy but shoots very well. 1 moa out to 300y, which is about as far as I can see with the little 5 power loopy.

Originally Posted by Chkm8

Could you elaborate? Just so I know what to keep an eye out for if I do go down the brand new route.


If I went Kimber and took it down to 16” do you think the weight would be comparable to the Howa?

Mine is 2.7kg with 16 inch barrel, little vx3 & dpt with steel baffle

Mate has a 16" 308 Howa ultralight. Shoots very well - easily under MOA with factory ammo. No additional bedding etc required.
Only thing that needed addressing was the short length of the stock. He's 6'3, and found it way too small to be comfortable. A lightweight spacer, and he's not had a complaint since. In fact he's relegated his 6.5 swede Tikka T3 to be a safe queen, and only takes the Howa out now.
It's been bashed around the bush a fair bit, and doesn't seem to be fragile.
I went a slightly different direction, and went with a 12' Howa Mini in 6.5 Grendel. Light and shoots well, but I'm still in the process of working up a load, so haven't had it out on a hunt yet.

Originally Posted by quentin

Mate has a 16" 308 Howa ultralight. Shoots very well - easily under MOA with factory ammo. No additional bedding etc required.
Only thing that needed addressing was the short length of the stock. He's 6'3, and found it way too small to be comfortable. A lightweight spacer, and he's not had a complaint since. In fact he's relegated his 6.5 swede Tikka T3 to be a safe queen, and only takes the Howa out now.
It's been bashed around the bush a fair bit, and doesn't seem to be fragile.
I went a slightly different direction, and went with a 12' Howa Mini in 6.5 Grendel. Light and shoots well, but I'm still in the process of working up a load, so haven't had it out on a hunt yet.

That’s good news, I’m only 5’8 with a reasonably standard wingspan so length of pull didn’t feel too weird for me, a 1” spacer is easy enough if it becomes a problem but good to hear they are reasonably hardy. Comments of people getting dud ones out of the factory are concerning but maybe something Howa has fixed?

As mentioner by others Kimber do a light rifle. Mines a Kimber Adirondack in 300blk, vx5 1-5 × 24 and DPT non magnum. Other calibers in same configureation were avalible. Worth looking around for

Originally Posted by Bushwalker

As mentioner by others Kimber do a light rifle. Mines a Kimber Adirondack in 300blk, vx5 1-5 × 24 and DPT non magnum. Other calibers in same configureation were avalible. Worth looking around for

I’m warming up to the idea of a Kimber, sub 3kgs with scope bipod and dpt seems reasonably achievable.

Sometimes its better to just fork out the extra cash and buy once!

Years ago I wanted a .223 and bought a Tikka T3 over a Kimber, I later changed the stock to a carbon fibre one but when looking back it would have just been easier to have bought the Kimber and achieved everything I wanted with a lightweight .223

Kimber .223's are now scarce to come across!

I do have a Kimber Montana which is a nice gun to carry all day, great shooter but for off hand shooting you wouldn't want to go too light as a bit of weight does help.

Kimber's have pencil thin barrels so don't expect to shoot large volley's as the barrel heats up quickly and starts throwing rounds, even the lightweight Forbes rifles will have the same problem and I'm surprised no ones mentioned a Forbes rifle yet as that might be another option to consider.

Here's an option, very sharp price as most Montana's I've seen go for around the $1800 mark

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....m-08-a-113794/

Put on some lightweight talley rings if you don't like those rings, strip the stock and get it hydro dipped as there's a guy in Hamilton that hydro dips stocks

Originally Posted by Seventenths

Here's an option, very sharp price as most Montana's I've seen go for around the $1800 mark

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....m-08-a-113794/

Put on some lightweight talley rings if you don't like those rings, strip the stock and get it hydro dipped as there's a guy in Hamilton that hydro dips stocks

Cheers for that mate all very good points, I’m staying away from tikka, beautiful guns and shoot very well but without spending mega bucks they are still reasonably cumbersome and heavy from what I gather.

I did see that Kimber you linked, my two points of contention are it’s aesthetically rough, is that a sign of a hard life? I’d be taking the sellers word for it.
My other issue is at 2.7kgs no can or scope, howa Superlite are between 2.0-2.1kgs in the same format, I do want to buy once and cry once…(to a point, not made of money haha) I just wonder if I’ll be happy with it for 6 months then be doing this dance all over again..

Mate, if you think a T3 is heavy and cumbersome you sound like you haven’t held one? In which case go into h&f and handle a few and others too. 70% of hunters in ANZ are using them. Their could be a reason? Not saying you have to buy one but a good benchmark.

Kimber haven’t produced rifles for 4? Years, focused on pistols. They are scarce and dear. If cheap there is a reason.

Feedback on the howas vary, average stocks impacting shoot ability for some. Others pretty happy.


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Originally Posted by Dicko

Mate, if you think a T3 is heavy and cumbersome you sound like you haven’t held one? In which case go into h&f and handle a few and others too. 70% of hunters in ANZ are using them. Their could be a reason? Not saying you have to buy one but a good benchmark.

Kimber haven’t produced rifles for 4? Years, focused on pistols. They are scarce and dear. If cheap there is a reason.

Feedback on the howas vary, average stocks impacting shoot ability for some. Others pretty happy.


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I currently own a superlite, my main criticisms are
* bolt is pretty sloppy compared to a Tikka/Sako (not terrible)
* very short L.O.P (easily fixed with a spacer or thicker recoil pad)
* comb is quite low (again easily fixed with a stock pack or comb pad)
* bottom plastic is way to weak (hg precision make a fantastic ally upgraded bottom metal)
None of these things are deal breakers, for me the biggest issue was the weak bottom plastic and I replaced that immediately.
These rifles are built for a purpose, and they fit very well for that purpose.

Originally Posted by Chkm8

I did see that Kimber you linked, my two points of contention are it’s aesthetically rough, is that a sign of a hard life? I’d be taking the sellers word for it.
My other issue is at 2.7kgs no can or scope, howa Superlite are between 2.0-2.1kgs in the same format, I do want to buy once and cry once…(to a point, not made of money haha) I just wonder if I’ll be happy with it for 6 months then be doing this dance all over again..

It is rough and certainly shows that it's been used and carried, Kimber's have a rubber like coating which wears off so it's far from durable, my one also has coating in areas worn off. I'm not sure what the Howa superlite stocks are like, hopefully they don't suffer from the same fault.

If I bought that kimber, I would strip the stock, fill in the hole with some filler, hydro dip the stock, potentially also get the barrel bead blasted, again that's all extra cost on top of the initial purchase to be factored in but if that was all done then it sure would look purdy.

I can understand your stance of wanting to buy once but as many will attest on the forum, you can't just own one rifle