New Deer Rifle
- Thread starter bgky
- Start date
fisherman66
New member
I like the 7-08. Give the Ruger lightweight a fair shake. NULA if you have the coin.
truly maybe 5lbs, or less
shootniron
New member
The Kimber is great, but for the money...Savage.
torquewrench
New member
I bought a Gunsite Ruger Scout last week and shot it for the first time today. 7 lbs. 16.5 inch barrel. M77 Bolt action. .308 .. Nice recoil pad for the shoulder. Adjustable length of pull. 10 round box clip.. I really like it. Shot some nice groups at 50 and 100 yards today. Just mentioning it.. The other rifles mentioned in the thread are hunting specific design and really nice rifles. I like short brush rifles. Worth checking out...
My Kimber 84M in 308 weighs 5 lbs 2oz. With a Leupold 2.5-8X scope in Talley Lightweights it weighs 5 lbs 15 oz. Shoots most 3 shot groups under 1". Most lightweights take the weight from the barrel by making it thinner,(Weatherby and Remington Mt rifle), or shorter, (Remington 7). The Weatherby action is the heaviest of all actions and they use a fairly heavy stock. Remington's actions are pretty light, especially the Ti actions, but they too use a heavy stock.
The Kimber uses a trimmer action designed to be as light weight as possible and a lightweight 18 oz stock. They keep some weight and length in the barrel where it needs to be for accuracy and proper balance.
If you want to spend less money a Tikka is a lot cheaper and only about a pound heavier.
Savage rifles used to be fairly lightweight, but since changing to steel bottom metal recently they have put on weight and are now heavy and are have increased in price to the point that they are no longer a bargain.
Howa's are excellent rifles,but at nearly 8 lbs hardly lightweight.
The Kimber uses a trimmer action designed to be as light weight as possible and a lightweight 18 oz stock. They keep some weight and length in the barrel where it needs to be for accuracy and proper balance.
If you want to spend less money a Tikka is a lot cheaper and only about a pound heavier.
Savage rifles used to be fairly lightweight, but since changing to steel bottom metal recently they have put on weight and are now heavy and are have increased in price to the point that they are no longer a bargain.
Howa's are excellent rifles,but at nearly 8 lbs hardly lightweight.
Clifford L. Hughes
New member
Bgky:
Look at the light weight or feather weight controled feed model 70 in a caliber of your choice.
Semper Fi.
Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
Look at the light weight or feather weight controled feed model 70 in a caliber of your choice.
Semper Fi.
Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
I have a Remington Model 7, stainless synthetic in 7mm-08. I can't think of a more practical rifle/caliber combination for woods shooting but capable of reaching far beyond .35 Remington or .30-30 Win territory when needed. The gun is a joy to carry.
However, the optimum scope for a Model 7 is a low end variable in the 1-4X or 1.5-5X range. Model 7s don't look good, nor shoot any better with the Hubble telescope mounted on them.
However, the optimum scope for a Model 7 is a low end variable in the 1-4X or 1.5-5X range. Model 7s don't look good, nor shoot any better with the Hubble telescope mounted on them.
TheNatureBoy
New member
You can't go wrong with either one in my opinion. I'd probably go with the 7mm-08 because of the large selection of bullets.
Have you actually weighed them, or are you trusting their website. Savage used to use aluminum bottom metal and plastic trigger guards. Several years ago they changed to steel and never updated their website. All that I've put on my postal scales were a pound heavier than advertised.
The OP said he was looking for a lightweight rifle. While those weights are not considered heavy, they are about 2 lbs heavier than many other options.
Bear in mind that neither the 25-06 or the 7-08 will reach their full potential from a short barrel. I have both calibers and have older rifles that have 24" barrels. For example, the 7-08 with the 24" barrel pushes close to the 280 velocity with less powder and less recoil. Neither caliber will get near stated velocity or energy with short barrels.