Advantages of a Heavier (weight) Rifle

E

EdInk

New member
Alot of people are hung up on having a superlight rifle. I fully u derstand the reasoning too. You can carry more ammo for same weight, get less fatigued lugging it around and so on...

However, there are some forgotten ADVANTAGES to carrying a heavier rifle.

The biggest is recoil management. Heavier guns soak up the recoil because they weigh more. Pretty simple. A larger caliber is more comfortable to shoot from a heavier rifle.

Control of muzzle climb. This not a big concern when slowly shooting at paper targets from a bench. It is different during rapid, burst or full auto without a bench.

Those are the two main advantages that come to mind for me. What about you guys?
 
Definitely recoil management like your said. I also find a heavier rifle more stable for shooting from off hand and sitting. This may just be me, but the extra weight seems to stabilize the rifle better. I have a DCM bushmaster with the extra lead weights in the stock and handguard. It weighs 13 pounds but really settles in when shooting from these positions.
 
1) Makes you feel more "manly"
2) Better anaerobic workout if you've been skipping the gym lately
3) It's the only gun you own to hunt with
4) You don't have a gun and it's your friend's gun...what a good friend
5) You bought the gun when you were 20 years old and in shape, now you're 40 and out of shape but think that you're still 20 and fit
6) Trying to justify buying a newer/lighter gun for next year
 
A wise rifleman once told me;

He would rather carry a light rifle, but he would rather shoot a heavier one!

So...What's more important to carry the rifle or shoot it?
 
One of the ways manufacturers pare weight (and cost- here you thought they were just making the gun easier to carry! If you have to ask why, the answer is money.) is to shorten the barrel. Measure any of these bargain bolties at Wally World? Ever try getting published velocities out of a 22" barrel on a .270 WIN or .30-06? A 24" 7mm Mag? Large cases need long barrels to achieve full velocity potential, generally.
 
I do like a heavy rifle when target shooting but it is nice to have a light rifle when hunting on the move. A lot of the advantages of heavy rifles seem to take place when shooting repetitively. When hunting, you usually only need one shot, possibly two if you pulled the first one. Me personally, I can handle the increased recoil of light hunting rifle for one or two shots, but that is not the rifle I will be bringing to a day at the range. There are many styles, sizes, weights, and other variations to firearms and it all comes down to what is needed for a particular application.
 
5) You bought the gun when you were 20 years old and in shape, now you're 40 and out of shape but think that you're still 20 and fit
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Guilty. Except add 14 to each. I bought my most recent hunting rifle in my mid 30s and now 20 years later it has gained weight.

My solution to the problem was to find a place to set up that was very close to my vehicle, :D
 
I like a lighter weight rifle. Always have, even when I was in my 20's and tougher than I am 30+ years later. But you can go too far. In a hunting rifle I like em between 7lbs-8 lbs all up with scope and mounts. I have sub 6 lb rifles all up, but don't shoot them quite as well as I do rifles weighing closer to 7. I have rifles that weigh over 8 lbs. but don't shoot them any better than the 7 lb rifles.

I carry my rifles close to 100 miles for each shot I take. 5-15 miles per day on a hunt. The increased recoil only lasts a fraction of a second. A fair trade off in my book.
 
I don't like extremely light weight rifles, but am 6'1" and weigh 220 lbs. I usually like a rifle for deer hunting that weighs between 8 lbs and 8 1/2 lbs with scope, sling, and ammo. That said, my favorite rifle weighs closer to 9 lbs, but it still feels pretty good when taking long shots at deer.

Conversely, I hefted a Tikka T-3 Light without a scope and think it's way too light for me.
 
jimbob86
Senior Member


Join Date: October 4, 2007
Location: All the way to NEBRASKA
Posts: 1,594 One of the ways manufacturers pare weight (and cost- here you thought they were just making the gun easier to carry! If you have to ask why, the answer is money.) is to shorten the barrel. Measure any of these bargain bolties at Wally World? Ever try getting published velocities out of a 22" barrel on a .270 WIN or .30-06? A 24" 7mm Mag? Large cases need long barrels to achieve full velocity potential, generally.
__________________TheGolden Rule of Tool Use: "If you don't know what you are doing, DON'T."

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Wrong on all counts.

It does not cost any more to make a 26" barrel than a 16" brarrel. If anything it costs more to make shorter barrels because they are cut from longer barrels.

The barrels on Walmart guns are exactly the same length as guns sold elsewhere.

My 22" barreled guns are within 20-30 fps of published velocities for my 30-06 and 308 rifles. My 7mm mag with a 24" barrel is right on the money for published velocities.

My handloads in the 22" 30-06's are up to 200 fps faster than published factroy loads. Heck, my 20" 30-06 is faster with my handloads than a 24" barreled rifle is with factory loads.
 
Heavy:Soaks heat better for sustained firing,potentially a more accurate barrel,other previously mentioned,recoil,etc.
Its about application.
With scope,my .257 weighs 7 lbs.I can shoot it just fine.
My .375 is only about 8 lbs with scope.I just roll with it.It shoots good.
My AR has a DMR pattern bbl on it,a fluted Hbar.It is not a light rifle.For what I do with it,its fine.If I had to carry it all the time,I'd build a 18 in free float lightweight
Its like golf clubs.Everything is a tradeoff
 
Recoil Management

As for recoil management, I've never felt the recoil when shooting at game in the field. Last year I shot a M70 in .300WSM that had the factory tupperware stock on it (it was light) at an elk and never noticed the recoil or the report of the rifle. I was concentrating on my target so hard I just didn't hear or fell anything. I did notice the muzzle jump when the gun went off because I lost sight of my target momentarily but that's going to happen with any elk gun at any weight. I'm more concerned with the gun shooting accurately and having a stock that feels comfortable to me. If I have these two things along with some confidence in my weapon I usually place a good shot. So I guess my point is to shoot what's comfortable to you and you'll do better.
 
I own very few rifles other than .22 that weigh less than 8lbs most exceed 12.5 lbs to about 16 with HB's and cans mounted. BUT I can shoot them all day if I could afford it....
 
I Know my Howas.. are the heaviest rifles that I have had...Thats why I have three of them..in .270, .30-06, and 300 weatherby mag:cool:
 
For me it depends on what I'm doing. My hwinunting rifles are Wincherster Featherweights, 257 Roberts for deer and antilope, 270 Win. for elk. I don't need a barrel for keeping down heat, I don't shoot that much when hunting.

For target shooting I like a heavier rifle. My AR WOA Service Rifle weights 13 lbs. My Super Match M1A is a bit more. My 1000 yard bolt gun, Mod 70 Win in 300 WM, weighs in about 16 lbs. Heavier rifles dampen movement and recoil. Its harder for the trigger finger to wiggle them off target.

Then again, my Colt SP1 is left stock (light) for run-dodge-jump shooting such as Mulit or Three gun.

So really it depends on what your are doing, and your likes and dislikes.
 
2) Better anaerobic workout if you've been skipping the gym lately
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Anaerobic is where you go past aerobic and instead of burning fats, your body burns muscle for use as energy.



My Match rifle is 13 pounds and can be held quite steadily, just not too long.
 
I am by no means a tactical shooter no do I pretend to be. With that said, just for kicks the other day I tried double tapping with my 16" POF .308 and it was a pussycat!! Between the added rifle weight, muzzle brake, & Eotech my double taps on a gallon milk jug @ 30 yards were super fast and I had that jug dancing up and down the backstop! It was actually enjoyable to shoot compared to my old FAL carbine. BTW I was using Malaysian & SA surplus ball ammo.
 
I draw the line between hand carry vs shoulder carry.

My intro to hunting was close range, heavy woods, quick shots. The two rifles that shaped my opinion were a naked 6.5 lb Win 94 that was a dream to carry, and a Win 88 with a steel Weaver that had all the charm of carrying a 9 3/4 lb boat oar around the woods.

The 88 was more accurate in the morning, less so as the day wore on, and always seemed to be on the shoulder at just the wrong time by the afternoon.

For "brush hunting" as I define it, a rifle must be comfortable in the hands all day long. If your style of hunting gives you the luxury of shoulder carry then I would agree the benefits of a heavier outfit are worth the extra few pounds.

Gun #3 was a Rem 788 with a fixed 4X that split the weight difference, and had a better ratio of warm wood to cold steel in the grip area. It was my compromise brush rifle on those cold rainy December days when the extra pound was secondary to cold numb fingers.
 
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