Light weight plains games rifles

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

You guys told me, a light .308 Winchester is enough for plainsgame....

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HWL

@HWL
If'n I could afford one of those sweet little rifles I would have one in a heartbeat in 35 Whelen and my 25/303 Epps Newton improved.
Bob

 

[Pheroze]

I'd go with the browning over the tikka. The Xbolt magazine is really really good and feels/looks better than tikka

I have owned a Tikka and I current own an Browning ABolt II. I prefer the Browning. I have heard very good things about the x-bolt and would not hesitate to get one had I not just built a rifle.

 

[BeeMaa]

Barret Fieldcraft is available in calibers up to 30-06.
Only weighs in at 5 lb 1 oz (2.3 Kg) bare rifle.
Scope, rings, ammo and sling should get you up to 6.5-7#.
That would be one hell of a lightweight PG rifle.

 

[Lee M]

Barret Fieldcraft is available in calibers up to 30-06.
Only weighs in at 5 lb 1 oz (2.3 Kg) bare rifle.
Scope, rings, ammo and sling should get you up to 6.5-7#.
That would be one hell of a lightweight PG rifle.

Weight is spot on and even lighter for short action. Unfortunately Barrett stopped making the fieldcraft in 2019. I just bought one online that was not shot and paid the premium for this. [emoji3]. It’s a .308 and weighs 5 lbs even bare on my home food scale. My Leupold 3i 2.5x8x36 arrived today and on same scale is 11 1/4 oz. Just weighed 5x 147 gr cartridges at 4 3/8 oz and Talley low scope rings and 4 screws at an even 2 oz. And i have a redi-mag gun sling on order that i think weighs around 3oz. So all in 5 lb 13 1/4 oz gun, scope and rings and with a full 5 rounds in gun and sling it’s 6 lbs 4 5/8 oz. Let’s call it 6 lbs 5 Oz. Truly remarkable for such a great balanced gun and stock with a nice cheek piece that fits great and a 21” barrel. Will shoot it once scope is mounted and the snow melts in PA to use the range. Looking to buy .308 brass and 165-168 grain and TTSX or Accubond bullets if anyone has a surplus. Thx

 

[BeeMaa]

Weight is spot on and even lighter for short action. Unfortunately Barrett stopped making the fieldcraft in 2019. I just bought one online that was not shot and paid the premium for this. [emoji3]. It’s a .308 and weighs 5 lbs even bare on my home food scale. My Leupold 3i 2.5x8x36 arrived today and on same scale is 11 1/4 oz. Just weighed 5x 147 gr cartridges at 4 3/8 oz and Talley low scope rings and 4 screws at an even 2 oz. And i have a redi-mag gun sling on order that i think weighs around 3oz. So all in 5 lb 13 1/4 oz gun, scope and rings and with a full 5 rounds in gun and sling it’s 6 lbs 4 5/8 oz. Let’s call it 6 lbs 5 Oz. Truly remarkable for such a great balanced gun and stock with a nice cheek piece that fits great and a 21” barrel. Will shoot it once scope is mounted and the snow melts in PA to use the range. Looking to buy .308 brass and 165-168 grain and TTSX or Accubond bullets if anyone has a surplus. Thx

I didn't realize they stopped making them.
Like to see a picture of your rig when you get it all together.
Sounds like a good mountain sheep rifle as well as PG.

 

[Dr Ray]

The 7mm will give you a fair amount of recoil in such light rifles. In my opinion I suggest a normal weight rifle if using the 7mm.
The difference carrying will be minimal and recoil will be much easier to handle.

 

[Smitty]

My vote is for the Tikka. I took a Tikka T3x in 7 mag to Africa. I shot 8 animal, including Kudu. Wildebeest, Oryx and Zebra. I used 160 grain Barnes bullets. It performed flawlessly, and I never notice recoil when shooting at game. I did put an aftermarket stock on it just because I like them. The Bell and Carlson is a good one.

 

[BeeMaa]

The 7mm will give you a fair amount of recoil in such light rifles. In my opinion I suggest a normal weight rifle if using the 7mm.
The difference carrying will be minimal and recoil will be much easier to handle.

Yeah, but isn't that the whole argument?
Trying to make a rifle as light as possible.
After all, it's carried more than it's shot.
At least that's the argument I hear most of the time.

For me (and I believe for most hunters) it's a balance between the two.
What are you able to tolerate without a flinch or inflicting pain?
How much weight do you really want to carry?
Rifle weight vs recoil energy (or caliber).
It's an individual decision, not one size fits all.
And choices abound with debates to follow.

I've always leaned toward a heavier rifle for a given caliber.
But my views are slowly beginning to shift the other way.

 

[Professor Mawla]

Good evening @The_red_Boe
For a light rifle , might I suggest a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in the .300 Winchester Magnum ? Excellent American made rifles , which are built like tanks . Extremely robust and rather affordable , too .

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

You guys told me, a light .308 Winchester is enough for plainsgame....

View attachment 390794


HWL

@HWL
If'n I could afford one of those sweet little rifles I would have one in a heartbeat in 35 Whelen and my 25/303 Epps Newton improved.
Bob

My vote is for the Tikka. I took a Tikka T3x in 7 mag to Africa. I shot 8 animal, including Kudu. Wildebeest, Oryx and Zebra. I used 160 grain Barnes bullets. It performed flawlessly, and I never notice recoil when shooting at game. I did put an aftermarket stock on it just because I like them. The Bell and Carlson is a good one.

View attachment 390958

@Smitty
Very nice rifle, is it a Boyds stock.
Lovely blue wildebeest as well.
Bob

 

[Lee M]

Good evening @The_red_Boe
For a light rifle , might I suggest a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in the .300 Winchester Magnum ? Excellent American made rifles , which are built like tanks . Extremely robust and rather affordable , too .

Yes very nice and well built guns. Around 6 3/4 lbs bare which with scope, mounts and ammo would be a little over 8 lbs. A good weight for the 300 win mag you mention. I have one in 7mm-08 and it is nice, but the weight is the nearly the same which makes the featherweight name a little misleading for a short action mild recoil round.

 

[Sika98k]

My vote is for the Tikka. I took a Tikka T3x in 7 mag to Africa. I shot 8 animal, including Kudu. Wildebeest, Oryx and Zebra. I used 160 grain Barnes bullets. It performed flawlessly, and I never notice recoil when shooting at game. I did put an aftermarket stock on it just because I like them. The Bell and Carlson is a good one.

View attachment 390958

Nice to see the bolt on the correct side

 

[Sika98k]

If anyone shooting a Tikka T3 wants to shave a few ounces off a PSE carbon stock is a simple answer. The hunter stock weighs 700 grams.
I fitted mine last week. On zeroing it was a bit high and right. A few clicks down and left got me on the “Shoot ‘n C. First shot is covered with a patch. Another correction for wind age and elevation and I sent 2 rounds. A ragged hole ! 1 click up for a 200 yds zero. It’s earned its keep since then.
Www.pse-composites.com

 

[The_red_Boe]

so after going around and around, I went with a sauer and son's 100 xt in 7mm rm. Talley rings, a steiner in 12x56. It's light enough that walking with a sling isn't miserable, and very accurate. So far it seems to be spot on with 150 gr ammo. In a weekend or two I plan to take it out and try some lighter and heavier rounds to see what I do to push it.

 

[Vinootz]

Kimber makes good lightweight rifles. Not sure how light some Brownings are, but I have a Mountain Titanium ABll that is extremely lightweight like the Kimber 8400 (or 84)SuperAmerica model. Cooper definitely very lightweight. NULA also lightweight. Naturally there will be more recoil in lighter rifles.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

The T3 Superlite 7mmRM is a great choice. May not be flashy or romantic but it works and works well.
Mine has hunted mountain species in RSA, New Zealand, and all over Australia. I'm not particularly attached to it but it's a highly effective tool.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Get a traditional 7x57mm Mauser in a nice, light rifle like the Voere 2165. You won’t feel undergunned… especially with good hand loads. Or Sellier & Bellot’s 175Gr Nosler Partition load.