New ultralight rifle

Plebe said:
I like the light rifles, but I've run into balance issues depending on the scope and mount selection.

For example, my first rifle was a Remington Model 7. At 6.5lbs stock, not an ultralight by any means. But, I had Leupold 2 piece bases and a VXii 2-7 scope on it and it was handy enough for Eastern hunting, until I took a spill and lost zero on a hunt in the mountains.

I had a rail mount for 30mm tube so I added a Murphy precision rail and threw on a Minox ZE5i 1-5x which I thought would suit this for a durable yet portable quick shooting package for tracking deer.

It's much more awkward in hand now.

As you get lighter and lighter, I kind of feel like you have to match with proportional components...but most of the higher end scopes and even some mounts have a bit of weight to them.

As for what gun, looks like you're set. I like the NULA and Kimber selections, or build on custom action (like a defiance AnTi or something).
Click to expand...
I agree that you can get some balance issues on some of these lightweight rifles. Especially the ones where they cut the barrel down to shed the weight but kept the fat receiver. My two kimbers have somewhat shrunken receivers compared to most other rifle brands (the diameter of the action is reduced) but full length barrels so I didn't have to go with a small scope. I put vx 5, 2-10 on them and they balance nicely and are still about 6.75 lbs.
 
I have a Browning Titanium with a Leupold VX2 3-9 CDS in 270 WSM that weighs just over 7lbs somewhere in the safe. Great to carry.
 
My elk rifle is an older Savage 99 in .308 with a Vortex 2 - 7X scope. This outfit weighs in at about 8 lbs.

TR
 
Speaking of out of balance, my daughter's boyfriend showed me his Ruger Scout .308 rifle when I was over at Christmas. Talk about a contradiction! First, I have never been a disciple of the whole Jeff Cooper scout concept. Maybe it might have some value for soldiers fighting rag heads house to house in Kandahar, but for hunting game it preaches bad methods. Shooting in a hurry, especially at moving targets, is never advisable for the average hunter (hog hunting might be the exception). I'm also no fan of lightweight rifles because they don't point well. A whippy gun designed for shooting at moving targets doesn't make a lot of sense to me. So, his scout rifle would be be a tough sell before I even had it in my hands. First thing that caught my eye was the laminate stock and super short barrel. What the ...? A stubby barrel to reduce weight + an overly heavy stock that adds excessive weight doesn't make much sense. And it added a LOT of weight. That rifle weighs more than my nine pound Springfield with its 24" barrel. So unbalanced I nearly dropped it when he handed it to me. "This must not be a lot of fun at the range?" Yes, muzzle jump is severe. He plans to take care of that by adding a brake. I gasped audibly! "Better get a diving helmet. You'll need it to protect against the muzzle blast out of that dinky barrel." This gun is the best candidate I've seen for a suppressor but I don't think they're legal up here. The skinny scope mounted ahead of the ejection port was sure not my cup of tea either. Shooting with two eyes might work for targets at very close range but a good quality 3x9x40 variable scope conventionally mounted and turned down to lowest magnification will do the job just fine too. I shot my gemsbuck running full tilt twice at fifteen and twelve yards with a 3x9x40. Both bullets took out its heart. His setup's very narrow field of view left me cold. I know nothing about Ruger Scout model so am not sure if the laminate stock is original or added by a previous owner who got tired of the gun jumping out of his hands wearing plastic. It's undoubtedly the most poorly balanced rifle I've ever held. Carrying it in hand while hunting can't be any fun, especially with a ten-shot magazine hanging down in the way. He asked me what I would suggest to fix this gun. "Trade it in for one that's grown up."
 
Hmmm,
You may or may not like my M1 Carbine then.
Light at around 6lb.
Short, fast with peep sights.
And standard 15 round magazine, 30 round optional.

Friend that has 11 ARs (5 he built) when shooting it exclaimed " i never knew i needed one of these, till just now!".

But that was before the great boating accident of 2020. :oops:
 
OntarioHunter said:
Speaking of out of balance, my daughter's boyfriend showed me his Ruger Scout .308 rifle when I was over at Christmas. Talk about a contradiction! First, I have never been a disciple of the whole Jeff Cooper scout concept. Maybe it might have some value for soldiers fighting rag heads house to house in Kandahar, but for hunting game it preaches bad methods. Shooting in a hurry, especially at moving targets, is never advisable for the average hunter (hog hunting might be the exception). I'm also no fan of lightweight rifles because they don't point well. A whippy gun designed for shooting at moving targets doesn't make a lot of sense to me. So, his scout rifle would be be a tough sell before I even had it in my hands. First thing that caught my eye was the laminate stock and super short barrel. What the ...? A stubby barrel to reduce weight + an overly heavy stock that adds excessive weight doesn't make much sense. And it added a LOT of weight. That rifle weighs more than my nine pound Springfield with its 24" barrel. So unbalanced I nearly dropped it when he handed it to me. "This must not be a lot of fun at the range?" Yes, muzzle jump is severe. He plans to take care of that by adding a brake. I gasped audibly! "Better get a diving helmet. You'll need it to protect against the muzzle blast out of that dinky barrel." This gun is the best candidate I've seen for a suppressor but I don't think they're legal up here. The skinny scope mounted ahead of the ejection port was sure not my cup of tea either. Shooting with two eyes might work for targets at very close range but a good quality 3x9x40 variable scope conventionally mounted and turned down to lowest magnification will do the job just fine too. I shot my gemsbuck running full tilt twice at fifteen and twelve yards with a 3x9x40. Both bullets took out its heart. His setup's very narrow field of view left me cold. I know nothing about Ruger Scout model so am not sure if the laminate stock is original or added by a previous owner who got tired of the gun jumping out of his hands wearing plastic. It's undoubtedly the most poorly balanced rifle I've ever held. Carrying it in hand while hunting can't be any fun, especially with a ten-shot magazine hanging down in the way. He asked me what I would suggest to fix this gun. "Trade it in for one that's grown up."
Click to expand...
Never understood that rifle concept either, just looks and feels stupid ! I agree 100% with your observation of the Cooper scout rifle .
 
OntarioHunter said:
Speaking of out of balance, my daughter's boyfriend showed me his Ruger Scout .308 rifle when I was over at Christmas. Talk about a contradiction! First, I have never been a disciple of the whole Jeff Cooper scout concept. Maybe it might have some value for soldiers fighting rag heads house to house in Kandahar, but for hunting game it preaches bad methods. Shooting in a hurry, especially at moving targets, is never advisable for the average hunter (hog hunting might be the exception). I'm also no fan of lightweight rifles because they don't point well. A whippy gun designed for shooting at moving targets doesn't make a lot of sense to me. So, his scout rifle would be be a tough sell before I even had it in my hands. First thing that caught my eye was the laminate stock and super short barrel. What the ...? A stubby barrel to reduce weight + an overly heavy stock that adds excessive weight doesn't make much sense. And it added a LOT of weight. That rifle weighs more than my nine pound Springfield with its 24" barrel. So unbalanced I nearly dropped it when he handed it to me. "This must not be a lot of fun at the range?" Yes, muzzle jump is severe. He plans to take care of that by adding a brake. I gasped audibly! "Better get a diving helmet. You'll need it to protect against the muzzle blast out of that dinky barrel." This gun is the best candidate I've seen for a suppressor but I don't think they're legal up here. The skinny scope mounted ahead of the ejection port was sure not my cup of tea either. Shooting with two eyes might work for targets at very close range but a good quality 3x9x40 variable scope conventionally mounted and turned down to lowest magnification will do the job just fine too. I shot my gemsbuck running full tilt twice at fifteen and twelve yards with a 3x9x40. Both bullets took out its heart. His setup's very narrow field of view left me cold. I know nothing about Ruger Scout model so am not sure if the laminate stock is original or added by a previous owner who got tired of the gun jumping out of his hands wearing plastic. It's undoubtedly the most poorly balanced rifle I've ever held. Carrying it in hand while hunting can't be any fun, especially with a ten-shot magazine hanging down in the way. He asked me what I would suggest to fix this gun. "Trade it in for one that's grown up."
Click to expand...
Cant speak for the ruger but I picked up a steyr scout a few years back and put a leupold LER 2.5 scout scope on it. Very balanced package that is accurate and fairly lightweight. The LER takes some getting used to but it works well. If I had to take a rifle in an emergency situation this might be the one. Strictly for hunting though I think there are probably better choices.
 
OntarioHunter said:
Speaking of out of balance, my daughter's boyfriend showed me his Ruger Scout .308 rifle when I was over at Christmas. Talk about a contradiction! First, I have never been a disciple of the whole Jeff Cooper scout concept. Maybe it might have some value for soldiers fighting rag heads house to house in Kandahar, but for hunting game it preaches bad methods. Shooting in a hurry, especially at moving targets, is never advisable for the average hunter (hog hunting might be the exception). I'm also no fan of lightweight rifles because they don't point well. A whippy gun designed for shooting at moving targets doesn't make a lot of sense to me. So, his scout rifle would be be a tough sell before I even had it in my hands. First thing that caught my eye was the laminate stock and super short barrel. What the ...? A stubby barrel to reduce weight + an overly heavy stock that adds excessive weight doesn't make much sense. And it added a LOT of weight. That rifle weighs more than my nine pound Springfield with its 24" barrel. So unbalanced I nearly dropped it when he handed it to me. "This must not be a lot of fun at the range?" Yes, muzzle jump is severe. He plans to take care of that by adding a brake. I gasped audibly! "Better get a diving helmet. You'll need it to protect against the muzzle blast out of that dinky barrel." This gun is the best candidate I've seen for a suppressor but I don't think they're legal up here. The skinny scope mounted ahead of the ejection port was sure not my cup of tea either. Shooting with two eyes might work for targets at very close range but a good quality 3x9x40 variable scope conventionally mounted and turned down to lowest magnification will do the job just fine too. I shot my gemsbuck running full tilt twice at fifteen and twelve yards with a 3x9x40. Both bullets took out its heart. His setup's very narrow field of view left me cold. I know nothing about Ruger Scout model so am not sure if the laminate stock is original or added by a previous owner who got tired of the gun jumping out of his hands wearing plastic. It's undoubtedly the most poorly balanced rifle I've ever held. Carrying it in hand while hunting can't be any fun, especially with a ten-shot magazine hanging down in the way. He asked me what I would suggest to fix this gun. "Trade it in for one that's grown up."
Click to expand...
What's a "rag head?"
 
light can be built right,,,,, take a 6.5lb scoped rifle with an 18in barrel and one with a 24in barrel, spend some time at the 300 and 400 yard ranges and see what groups better, i have a custom mauser i built, 28in factory tiny taper barrel in 7x57, 6.5 lbs with a 3x9 leupold, it is the easiest holding on a target gun i have ever used, i let numerous people use it they all say the same thing,, little different carrying in the field,, but the crosshairs hold on a target like no other rifle i have,,,
 
So far so good, it's been super cold so I have only sighted it in to 300 yards right now. Only took 10 rounds without bore sighting
 
elkmagnet said:
Pay attention to twist rates.
I would have bought a tikka t3 superlite if it wasn't for the slow twist in the caliber I wanted. I ended up with a savage ultralight and it shoots great so far.
Hard to beat a tikka right now.
Click to expand...
IF you're talking the 1:11 .30 caliber I've loaded for and killed game with Tikka .308, 30.06 and 300 win mags using 150 to 200 accubonds in the 300 win mag with stellar accuracy, consistent accuracy, and remarkable velocities using TTSX, accubonds, 150 etips and 168 Bergers in the '06 so worrying about that "slow" twist is wasted energy on your part
 
GKimPrice said:
IF you're talking the 1:11 .30 caliber I've loaded for and killed game with Tikka .308, 30.06 and 300 win mags using 150 to 200 accubonds in the 300 win mag with stellar accuracy, consistent accuracy, and remarkable velocities using TTSX, accubonds, 150 etips and 168 Bergers in the '06 so worrying about that "slow" twist is wasted energy on your part
Click to expand...
I was talking about the .30 cal. I'm not sure how you can say it was wasted energy without knowing what bullets I am shooting and what twist rate would optimize them.
You a bragging about shooting a bunch of bullets a 1 in 11 should stabilize? Ok so?

I loaded the 190 burgers in my 1 in 11 300 win mag and got them to stabilize. Although probably with less than optimal b.c.
The 178 absolute hammers wouldn't.
Anyway I wanted my new gun to be 1 in 10 to stabilize the longer bullets I wanted to shoot.
 
All the "numbers" are as good as possible with my Kimber Hunter in 280AI. The price was $760, the weight was 5 3/4 pounds, the safety was 3 position as in a model 70, the action was a trimmed down a CRF model 70, the match grade barrel was 24", the groups with a 150 grain Barnes TTSX were 3/4 inch or less, the velocity was over 3000'/sec, the out of the box trigger was smooth and under 3 pounds. The stock dimensions were ideal. The recoil pad was large and soft, and recoil even off the bench is very acceptable. Finally it is so trim/slim, it fits into my saddle scabbard like it was made for it.

The only problem with it, is you never need to buy any other big game rifle. Since I had it I have sold three that became obsolete, my Belgium FN 35 whelen, a pre-64 Model 70 in 30-06, and Savgae 99 in 308.
 
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