Need a feather weight rifle. The Savage Light weight hunter is calling me.Any others?

Google Forbes 20B rifle, not as expensive as the NULA's.

The velocity loss between a 22" vs. 16.5" .308 isn't going to be as huge as you think it might be. I'm guessing the actual loss would be less than 150 fps. I have a buddy who shoots a 7-08 Ruger Laminate Compact and he is usually within 100 fps of published data out of that rifle. Unfortunately Ruger's investment cast receivers are the heaviest part of the rifle.

I for one don't like the Accutrigger so that point on the Savage doesn't sell me as I'd probably pull it out anyway. I really hate that trigger safety that Savage uses. Ruger offers a much simpler trigger that can be adjusted and probably won't ever gunk or freeze up. That is why I prefer the M70 Classic trigger over the MOA as well.

I really dislike the Savage LWH for many of the same reasons as FM.
 
The Ruger only has a 16.5" barrel so thats where the weight is being trimmed on the Hawkeye.
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The Hawkeye Compact is 16.5", but the American Compact is 18".
The velocity loss between a 22" vs. 16.5" .308 isn't going to be as huge as you think it might be. I'm guessing the actual loss would be less than 150 fps.
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Yep.
It wouldn't be as bad as most people expect. I've seen many barrel length comparisons over the years, and velocity "loss" is never as significant as expected (until you really chop it to about 14" or less).

I don't have a direct .308 to .308 comparison, but Cornbush (member here) owns both a standard American in .243 Win (22" bbl) and an American Compact in .243 Win (18" bbl).
Last time we went out, he ran the rifles side-by-side through the chronograph with at least 25 different loads. Most of the loads only lost 50-90 fps, and the most extreme velocity difference was something like 158 fps (it was under 160 fps). A couple of the loads lost less than 30 fps between the 22" and 18" barrels.


Ruger, Savage, whatever... losing a few inches of barrel length isn't a big deal, velocity wise; but it does make the rifle exponentially easier to handle in nasty vegetation.
 
I have the Savage Lightweight hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor. I love the rifle after I did some work on it. It shot almost 2 MOA before I bedded it. After bedding and modifying the factory pillars, its 1/2 MOA rifle.
 
Mystro said:
Yeah I thought about that. The Kimber mountain ascent is actually 4lbs 13oz. If I go all in, I will get the Kimber Ascent but that's ALOT of coin for a beater gun. That's what makes the 5.5lbs Savage attractive and it has a awsome adjustable trigger out the box. I'll put a Leupold VXR 3x9 firedot on it and I'm done for around $1000.00
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Have you checked into the Kimber Montana models? They are only a touch heavier than the ascent and much less money. I have two of them , one .243 and one 7-08. I love them, super light and handle very well.
 
steveNChunter said:
Whew, I wouldn't want anything much bigger than a .243 in a rifle that light. I hope they don't chamber that in a large magnum :eek:

Just looked, it says it only comes in .308 and has a muzzle brake. Guess thats not too bad
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They actually chamber it in 280 AI, .270, and 30-06 in the long actions (84L)
 
LWH is an itch I'm about to scratch. I'm leaning toward the lower recoil 243 but considering the 308.

20" barrel on the LWH is a plus over the Ruger. On a cold December morn in PA the inches do matter. Cold temps + short barrel = much less MV than many think. Ounces matter too. Unless you put a Hubble telescope on the LWH it you can stay below 6.5 total, and that is easy to carry hands on all day long.
 
Tom Matiska said:
20" barrel on the LWH is a plus over the Ruger. On a cold December morn in PA the inches do matter. Cold temps + short barrel = much less MV than many think.
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I can tell you one thing, it won't be so slow that .308 bullets bounce off whitetail deer, black bear or anything else you can hunt in PA or the rest of North America or the world for that matter. Your going to loose no more than 100 fps from a 20" barrel going with a 3.5" shorter one regardless of outside temps. What you wrote simply doesn't add up.

I didn't get down to 6.5lbs but I got to 7lbs. I also wound up with a 22" barrel, .30-06, better stock, better trigger, and better extraction. I only went over the budget of the OP by about $300 as well to build my M70 and it will shoot better than MOA with my handloads.

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Well, I made my selection. Given my taste in guns, I went all out for a Kimber Mountain Ascent 308. There isnt a bad review of this gun. My dealer has had a few on order for awhile and the first one in is mine. Between its weight (4#13oz) and build quality, I think it is a very good deal for what you get. If your gonna go fly weigh might as well go all the way in. Thanks for everyone's input. I'll let you know how it shoots when it comes in.
http://www.kimberamerica.com/rifles/model-84m/mountain-ascent

 
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I am currently selling my Kimber Mountain Ascent .308, Weighs just over 4lbs with the scope, 3lbs crisp trigger, its a dream to shoot but ankle injury doesn't get me out hunting all that much anymore.
 
I can tell you one thing, it won't be so slow that .308 bullets bounce off whitetail deer, black bear or anything else you can hunt in PA or the rest of North America or the world for that matter.
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Quite the opposite. Problem with slow movers is they are slower to expand and you risk drilling a less lethal hole in bambi. I've dropped'em dead with my 18", but sometimes recovered unexpanded bullets from the steak section that made a clean pass through the vitals.

Speer manual charts typical MV vs Temp and Hogodon shows 14" 308 data in their silhouette section, so we don't have to guess. The 150-200 lost from the EPA mileage figures shortens effective hunting range, and is worth considering. You get most of that back with the LWH longer barrel, and save weight ... so why not???
 
Don't let the 16.5 inch barrel on the Ruger Compact worry you. I hunted with one in 260 for a few years. Loved the gun. So light and well balanced that I finally parked the old Sako 270. I shot big hogs to 400 yards. It was a fine rifle. I'd still have it if I hadn't had the extreme itch for a Tikka in 260. But, back to the Ruger. I shot 120 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips in it and the MV was probably around 2700 fps. It dropped deer just as well as my 270 with 130 gr Nosler BT's in it that were moving at about 3000 fps. I did wish that the barrel was about 18 inches, but I had no reason to want that other than just wanting it. And I see the Ruger American Compact now has a barrel length of 18 inches. Fancy that...

And if the bullets aren't opening up for somebody, get another bullet.
 
Okay this is way off topic now but since the OP bought his rifle I guess it really doesn't matter.

Tom Matiska said:
Quite the opposite. Problem with slow movers is they are slower to expand and you risk drilling a less lethal hole in bambi. I've dropped'em dead with my 18", but sometimes recovered unexpanded bullets from the steak section that made a clean pass through the vitals.

Speer manual charts typical MV vs Temp and Hogodon shows 14" 308 data in their silhouette section, so we don't have to guess. The 150-200 lost from the EPA mileage figures shortens effective hunting range, and is worth considering. You get most of that back with the LWH longer barrel, and save weight ... so why not???
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There isn't enough info to talk about the bullet not expanding, however if it won't expand out of a 16.5" barrel a 20" isn't going to make any difference. I don't know which Speer Manual you using but the data is probably outdated like the Hogdon data your using. With the powders you can use today that aren't temp sensitive you won't see extreme velocity spreads like you used to.

Hogdon has data with Varget that gets nearly 2700 fps out of a 15" pistol with 150 grain bullets and 2600 fps with bullets up to 168 grains vs. 2900 fps and 2700 fps with the same bullets out of a 24" barrel. So it is roughly 25 fps difference per inch between a 15" vs. 24" barrel, so we're looking at around 87.5 fps difference between two barrels 16.5" vs. 20" regardless of temperature variations.
 
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Different manuals I guess ....My vintage Hodgdon #25 shows hottest short barrel load for 150's at 2504. My point was that short+ cold= much less than people think. It doesn't render the round useless, but there is enough difference to consider. My personal opinion is if I can have the extra barrel and less weight in the same package why not take both??
 
Again what you're posting is outdated, Varget the powder I mentioned is very temperature insensitive powder. On average it only has an 8 fps extreme spread in velocity from 0-125 degrees. Varget is probably one of the most popular powders for the .308 cartridge there is out there today.
 
Update: Well in a turn of events I had a deal on a pre loved Kimber Mountain Ascent so I told my dealer to take my name off of the one I had ordered and got my deposit back. The very next day the pre owned deal was just at the face to face meeting stage and it just fell through and now I lost my place with the new one.......
So, I am reevaluating the competition and also considering a Sako Finnlight in 308. I had a Sako 75 and loved its accuracy except it was a bit heavy. The Finnlight looks like a top shelf gun.
 
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My point was that short+ cold= much less than people think. It doesn't render the round useless, but there is enough difference to consider.
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At 35 degrees F, my preferred .270 Win 140gr Partition handload averages 2,790 fps.
At 92 degrees F, it averages 2,801 fps with the same ES and SD.

I don't think anyone would call that significant, especially for a hunting load.
....and, that's with RL-19 - a powder universally derided by 'precision shooters' as "extremely temperature sensitive". :rolleyes:


The only powders I have ever seen experience significant performance changes, due to temperature, are Ramshot Hunter, IMR3031, and Winchester 748. (And I did not load the ammo with W748, so the change in performance could just as easily have been poor reloading practices.)
 
To me, this is tailor-made for the Kimber Montana. I've never shot one but I've handled a few, and they are available in .243, .257 Roberts, 7mm-08 and .308 Win. So you can basically choose where you want to land on the performance/recoil curve.

I'm a big fan of the M70 CRF action and own a couple of the newer FN-produced versions. But I don't think they make anything that goes quite this light so the Kimber is probably the best option. I'm just a believer in the claw extractor and positive ejection this system offers. So some of the Rugers would work as well, but they tend to be a bit on the heavy side.

SR
 
Mystro said:
Update: Well in a turn of events I had a deal on a pre loved Kimber Mountain Ascent so I told my dealer to take my name off of the one I had ordered and got my deposit back. The very next day the pre owned deal was just at the face to face meeting stage and it just fell through and now I lost my place with the new one.......
So, I am reevaluating the competition and also considering a Sako Finnlight in 308. I had a Sako 75 and loved its accuracy except it was a bit heavy. The Finnlight looks like a top shelf gun.
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If the Ascent is what you wanted then don't settle for something else in order to make the purchase... I've handled the Ascents and would love to have a couple.

At this point the Montana's fit what I need them for, and they really aren't all that much heavier. I really like the Kimbers, everything about them is just "right". CRF, 3 pos safety, sleek lightweight stocks. Now that I own four of them I'd have trouble going back to anything else.
 
Found exactly what I was looking for today. I Purchased a Kimber Montana in 308. A close dealer had one Kimber and it was what I have been looking for. Ridiculously light (5lbs 2 oz) and the action and trigger is silky smooth. For a new gun the trigger breaks at a crisp 3# with no creep or over travel, it needs no adjustment. Now I am just waiting for my 30mm Talley rings for its VX6 3-18 Firedot.

 
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