Lightweight Elk Rifle - help me decide

[kukusya]

Browning BLR

View attachment 698563

Wow. No scope/rangefinder or other fancy things.

 

[tkdguy]

Elk hunting for me was always alone in roadless/ no vehicle areas.
Mileage guess was day 1. 16 miles in to camp at 4pm
Day 2 12 miles in 3pm
Day 3 9 miles in <3pm
Day 4 7 miles ???
Day five depends 3-7 miles in ???
Light rifle is responsible for miles walking; up 600 ft ;down 6-7 hundred feet;(x2)
back to camp Usually 3-4 miles.

What is you lite rifle? Scoped?

 

[The Heretic]

Wow. No scope/rangefinder or other fancy things.

I have a scout scope mount for it. Haven't put it together yet.

 

[Foggy3]

Scale battery died but she's super light.
Barrett Fieldcraft 6.5 CM
Seekins Rings
Leupold mk5HD 3.6-18x44

 

[tkdguy]

Scale battery died but she's super light.
Barrett Fieldcraft 6.5 CM
Seekins Rings
Leupold mk5HD 3.6-18x44

View attachment 698665 View attachment 698666

AND,WHAT IS THE TOTAL WEIGHT UNLOADED.

 

[Foggy3]

AND,WHAT IS THE TOTAL WEIGHT UNLOADED.

I'll snag a new scale battery and let you know. I just mounted the scope a few minutes ago. It's noticeably lighter than my 30-06. A couple pounds at least.

 

[tkdguy]

I'll snag a new scale battery and let you know. I just mounted the scope a few minutes ago. It's noticeably lighter than my 30-06. A couple pounds at least.

THE SCOPE WEIGHT IS WHAT?

 

[PaulB47]

"And you have a elk in front of you. You will not notice the recoil of the 300wm at all."

Seems to me, if you've managed to develop a flinch from previously shooting this rifle, then it won't matter if you notice the recoil or not, when actually making your kill shot. Maybe I'm wrong?

I have tried to teach pretty big guys who flinch with their .30-06 rifle. Never could group worth a damn.

I remember reading a magazine article about a guy who looked around several deer camps many years ago, noticing the hanging deer. The ones shot with calibers like .250 Savage had one hole in them, properly placed. The ones shot with Magnums were all over the place, and it took several hits to get the animal down. Yeah, I know it is deer rather than elk, but still something to think about.

 

[The Heretic]

I've shot several deer with the 7mm Rem Mag - back in the 70s when I think the projectiles were just from less powerful 7mm rifles (like 7x57). All of them were under 100 yards and the meat destruction was terrible. It was a PITA to reload. So I switched to .308 Win. My dad took more elk with his sporterized '03A3 in .30-06 than most people have seen in their lifetime.

To each their own, but I don't have a need for magnum rifles for hunting. I don't flinch (usually) but it isn't fun for me to shoot magnum rifles.

 

[pharmseller]

And I wonder if, after stepping on his d^ck, Curt2933 comes back to apologize?




P

 

[pharmseller]

Tikka says the T3x in .30-06 weighs 6.4 lbs.

7mm Rem Mag is 6.5 lbs.

Add a pound or so for scope and rings. So basically you're carrying a six pack of pounders in glass, plus a big bag of chips.



P

 

[HaveGun]

My elk/deer/bear/antelope/coyote rifle for past 25 years has been an Rugger M77 All Weather Rifle in .30-06.

But I shot my first elk at 14 years old with a .257 Roberts using 120 gr Noslers handloaded by my dad. Took one step before piling up. Took more deer and antelope and elk over the years before giving in to all the talk about it not being enough gun for elk. Got the .30-06 in my mid 20's.

Now, that old Ruger is getting heavier and heavier.

Dad and brother upgraded their elk rifles the past couple of years, so I guess I'll have to soon, as well.

My brother went from the Tika T3 Lite in 300 WSM to a Christiansen Arms Ridgeline in 6.5 PRC. He's addicted to long-range shots and fired this 3.5" group at just over 600 yards...



The Ridgeline is an amazing rifle. He paid $1800 and traded in 2 or 3 rifles to finance it.



Here's his in the woods last season...



Dad went from his trusty wood-stocked .270 to a Kimber Mountain Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor.

I'll probably go to a Ruger American Hunter in .308 since I'm cheap.

 

[CLee0507]

My preference would be a 700 action with standard sporter barrel, bedded in a Grayboe Outlander Lightweight

This

 

[tkdguy]

My elk/deer/bear/antelope/coyote rifle for past 25 years has been an Rugger M77 All Weather Rifle in .30-06.

But I shot my first elk at 14 years old with a .257 Roberts using 120 gr Noslers handloaded by my dad. Took one step before piling up. Took more deer and antelope and elk over the years before giving in to all the talk about it not being enough gun for elk. Got the .30-06 in my mid 20's.

Now, that old Ruger is getting heavier and heavier.

Dad and brother upgraded their elk rifles the past couple of years, so I guess I'll have to soon, as well.

My brother went from the Tika T3 Lite in 300 WSM to a Christiansen Arms Ridgeline in 6.5 PRC. He's addicted to long-range shots and fired this 3.5" group at just over 600 yards...

View attachment 700105

The Ridgeline is an amazing rifle. He paid $1800 and traded in 2 or 3 rifles to finance it.

View attachment 700110

Here's his in the woods last season...

View attachment 700109

Dad went from his trusty wood-stocked .270 to a Kimber Mountain Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor.

I'll probably go to a Ruger American Hunter in .308 since I'm cheap.

My elk/deer/bear/antelope/coyote rifle for past 25 years has been an Rugger M77 All Weather Rifle in .30-06.

But I shot my first elk at 14 years old with a .257 Roberts using 120 gr Noslers handloaded by my dad. Took one step before piling up. Took more deer and antelope and elk over the years before giving in to all the talk about it not being enough gun for elk. Got the .30-06 in my mid 20's.

Now, that old Ruger is getting heavier and heavier.

Dad and brother upgraded their elk rifles the past couple of years, so I guess I'll have to soon, as well.

My brother went from the Tika T3 Lite in 300 WSM to a Christiansen Arms Ridgeline in 6.5 PRC. He's addicted to long-range shots and fired this 3.5" group at just over 600 yards...

View attachment 700105

The Ridgeline is an amazing rifle. He paid $1800 and traded in 2 or 3 rifles to finance it.

View attachment 700110

Here's his in the woods last season...

View attachment 700109

Dad went from his trusty wood-stocked .270 to a Kimber Mountain Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor.

I'll probably go to a Ruger American Hunter in .308 since I'm cheap.

What is the weight on these rifles with the scope?

 

[HaveGun]

What is the weight on these rifles with the scope?

No idea on my dad and brother's rifles. My old Ruger is 8.5 lbs. In researching a lighter scope for my AR10 build, I discovered that most 3x9 hunting scopes weigh between 1 to 1.6 lbs.