How much does your deer rifle actually weigh?

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marksman13

marksman13

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I got bored tonight and decided to break out the scale and determine how much weight I’ve actually been carrying around in the woods this year. If you had asked me earlier this afternoon I would have told you that my hunting rifles, unloaded, with optics and slings probably average 7 1/2 lbs. I would have told you that my heaviest my Ruger No. 1 with it’s Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14x50 was well out ahead of it’s competitors at around 9 1/2 lbs. I would have also told you that my Kimber 84M in 308 probably tipped the scales at just over 6 lbs with it’s 2-7X Leupold and sling.

Well, after putting them all on the scale the No. 1 came in at a hefty 10.11 lbs and the svelte, little Kimber is pushing 7 at 6.92 lbs. My average among the six rifles that I consider true deer rifles is 8.86 lbs. Nothing ground breaking here as several of those rifles are topped with large, heavy scopes, but I’ll admit to being a little surprised that my average was so close to 9 lbs.

I’ve seen so many writers refer to 7 1/2 lbs as their gold standard in a hunting rifle that I just always figured my cross-section of hunting rifles was bound to come up close to that weight. I was “weigh” off base. Pun intended. So how much does your favorite hunting rifle weigh? If you’ve never put it on a scale, try it and see if the results don’t surprise you a little.
 
My Nosler M48 280 Ackley weighs 9.25 pounds... that is fully ready to hunt.... loaded with 5 rounds, scope, and sling.

The scope is on the heavy side at about 1.5 pounds... but that is the deal for a long range scope with turrets.

The Henry Big Boy steel carbine 41 magnum weighs 8 pounds 2 ounces... same as above.... loaded with 8 rounds, scope, and sling... lightweight scope on that one.
 
9 lbs empty and without the bipod.

If I did long backpacking hunts out west where I needed to shave every bit of unnecessary weight, I might care about the weight of my rifle. However, most of my hunts are on farms less than 1,000 acres. Heck, I walk and stalk more than anyone I know and it's just not that big a deal to carry a 10 lb rifle all morning. Again, if I were in the mountains frequently I'd care. I've hunted in the mountains and it gets to be a grind. Ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain when you're doing legit hikes.

I'd guess that the vast majority of hunters in the country walk less than 500 yards on any given hunt. Almost everyone in the south uses a four wheeler, and I'd have to guess it's that way for most of the country that's east of the Mississippi. My buddies out west hike a lot, but there's just not that many people in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming combined. :D
 
I need a good scale to weigh with. Any recommendation? I have a pretty good digital scale for fishing. If “we” think it will work, I can weigh my rifles and post results.
 
My 1894 SS is 8.1 lbs with Leupold 1-4x20 and fully loaded with 300 gr rounds. No sling helps but I drilled a few 7/8” holes in the stock and reprofiled the forend to cut around 5 oz.
 
11.7lbs. Remington R-25, Meopta Meopro 4-12x50, Beartooth neoprene sling. The ones I use for driven hunts and stalking are quite a bit lighter, all the way down to 7½lbs for scoped Rugers. I don't have anything ultralight at the moment, something like that would be great for carrying extended distances but a real PITA if you have to shoot one offhand.
 
I currently use a Ruger M77 varmint rifle with a bull barrel in .25-06 I bought in 1972. It was so front-end heavy that I couldn't use a sling because the barrel would drop towards the ground and be dragging on brush, etc. I had my neighbor, a gunsmith, flute the barrel which helped a lot. Now with 2-8x variable B&L Balvar and a sling it weighs 9.7 lbs.
It is my most accurate rifle.
 
I had to use my bathroom scale, which is pretty accurate, but won't work with the light weight rifle. So I had to weigh myself 3 times, just to be sure I got the same reading (Not sharing that part...suffice it to say I'm built like Santa Clause). Then I held the rifle and weighed myself, and the difference was...

7.2 lbs. Iron sights though. No optics

LD
 
marksman13 said:
How much does your deer rifle weigh?
Click to expand...

Too much walking up hill, not enough when I'm shaking from being cold and just right when it places the bullet where I wanted it to!

My Ruger needs to go on a diet, its just under 10 lbs. (scope, sling, magazine with 5 rounds, 18" barrel, suppressor)
 
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These are my 3 go-to rifles with the Winchester 308 being my favorite. All weights include a Zeiss Conquest 3-9X40 scope in Talley lightweight mounts.

Winchester 70, 30-06 in McMillan Edge stock, 7 3/4 lbs

008.JPG
Kimber 84M 308 6 1/4 lbs.

011.JPG

Winchester 70 EW, 308. McMillan Edge stock. 7 1/2 lbs

elk3 026.JPG

I spent 40 years chasing light rifles for the terrain I tend to hunt in. The Kimber is the lightest I've ever owned. When I had a Leupold scope on it weight was 6 lbs 15 oz. But I've concluded that somewhere between 7-8 lbs is the best compromise. While the Kimber has the same mechanical accuracy potential, I tend to shoot the 7-8 lb rifles better from field positions. But I don't shoot anything over about 8 lbs any better.
 
I have wondered for a long time so I had to check mine on my Berkley Fish scales. The only rifle that I didn't weigh was my AR that has two uppers and my Ruger 77/50.

300 wsm Savage 10 Sierra with a 2-7 Leupold was 7 lbs. 11 oz.
6.5 CM Bergara B-14 Hunter wearing a 6-18 Vortex crossfire II 8 lbs. 14 oz.
338 Federal Savage 11 has a 3-9 Bushnell Trophy 7 lbs. 11 oz.
243 Rem 700 ADL 4-14.5 Bushnell Legend 8 lbs.

I had a KImber 84 Hunter that weighed 5 lbs 10 oz w/o scope, but it is gone. Couldn't get less than 2" groups out of it.
 
My weatherby mkv ultralight in 25-06.

that's my refrigerant scale, fairly accurate but pricy just to weigh a rifle.
 

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My two savage deer guns are 8lb each ready to hunt but the scopes are heavy 3.5x10-44 conquests with mounts so I guess the guns are about 6 1/2lb. After hunting and walking all day they feel like at least 20lbs. Guns Savage 7mm-08.jpg Guns Savage 7mm-08.jpg
 
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