huntsman22
New member
Ruger ultra-lite.stainless 20 in. barrel,comp.stock,6 1/4 lbs.
Ruger compact.stainless 16 1/2 in. barrel, laminate stock 6 lbs.
Ruger compact.stainless 16 1/2 in. barrel, laminate stock 6 lbs.
Ultra light (Backpacking) Deer rifle? recommendations?
- Thread starter Suavegato
- Start date
Quote:
I've personally never seen a hunting rifle in anything other than .22LR with a barrel shorter than 20".
You're not planning on hiding it in your pants, are you?
My Rem. 788 in .243 has a 17" barrel. It shoots REAL nice too.
I've personally never seen a hunting rifle in anything other than .22LR with a barrel shorter than 20".
You're not planning on hiding it in your pants, are you?
My Rem. 788 in .243 has a 17" barrel. It shoots REAL nice too.
GC
Well-known member
Remember that when you cut a barrel off on a standard rig, the stock is going to look funky because it is designed for the longer barrel. So that will not only look odd, it may throw the balance off as well because you have more stock than you actually need up front. Short barrel rifles have a stock that is proportionite to the barrel length to look good and balance correctly. There are plenty of carbine length bolt guns if you look around. Barrels from 16 1/2", 18 1/2", 20" are the most common. 18 1/2" - 20" is about as short as I care for personally, and, really like 20" - 22" barrels best.
Suavegato
New member
Ok, so I finally made it around to local shops and was able to handle some of the weapons on my short list, here are my thoughts…
Remington 7:I really liked the feel of this weapon, super short & light, good balance and came up nice for me but… the action was really rough. Felt & sounded like a grinder when cycling the bolt and the trigger was horrible! I’m sure I could have some trigger work done or replace it but that action just wasn’t smooth at all (at least on the ones I tried).
I wasn’t able to find any
Sako Finnlight’s 75 or 85
but they are realistically out of my price range anyway…
Same as above for the Steyr Mannlichter. Nice looking but just too much $ for me.
I also tried a Weatherby while at one place. Nice gun but again, very pricey and the molded cheek piece just DID NOT fit me well at all. I am used to shooting straight stocked rifles (rem 700’s) and did not like the fit of that one at all for me…
The A-Bolt Ti was nice but for the money I think I can get something just as nice, weighing roughly the same and shooting just as well if not better.
I have the same “fit” issue with the Kimber Montana. When I throw it up I am seeing about 1” of bbl. For some reason the stock cheek fit keeps my head up too high? It seemed like a nice weapon but not the right fit for me…
And so after all of that, so far the winner is…
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The Tikka T3. I really liked the fit and feel of this one. The action was like butter and the trigger was crisp, light & smooth as silk. It threw up on my shoulder very well and just felt nice. When I shouldered it I was looking right parallel down the BBl. It also has a much friendlier price tag than some of the others I looked at, around $600. There was a customer in the one store while I was there who apparently was quite the expert on rifles, the guy at the counter said he knew more than everyone else who worked there put together, so I asked if I could pick his brain. I told what I wanted and what I was looking for etc. Without hesitation he recommended the T3 too. He said he has 9 of them and loves everyone and everyone was out of the box sub 1”MOA. So as of right now, I’m really leaning towards the Tikka T3 in 7mm-08.
I’ve read some feedback about the stock rings though, not good… prone to loosen up and slide? For my purposes, I want a very rugged weapon, no something I have to be delicate with and baby, so I would like to go double dove tail anyway. Any thoughts on that from anyone who knows?
Thanks again guys for all of the info. & help. I think I am about to “pull the trigger” on this new weapon.
biGjOhn
Remington 7:I really liked the feel of this weapon, super short & light, good balance and came up nice for me but… the action was really rough. Felt & sounded like a grinder when cycling the bolt and the trigger was horrible! I’m sure I could have some trigger work done or replace it but that action just wasn’t smooth at all (at least on the ones I tried).
I wasn’t able to find any
Sako Finnlight’s 75 or 85
but they are realistically out of my price range anyway…
Same as above for the Steyr Mannlichter. Nice looking but just too much $ for me.
I also tried a Weatherby while at one place. Nice gun but again, very pricey and the molded cheek piece just DID NOT fit me well at all. I am used to shooting straight stocked rifles (rem 700’s) and did not like the fit of that one at all for me…
The A-Bolt Ti was nice but for the money I think I can get something just as nice, weighing roughly the same and shooting just as well if not better.
I have the same “fit” issue with the Kimber Montana. When I throw it up I am seeing about 1” of bbl. For some reason the stock cheek fit keeps my head up too high? It seemed like a nice weapon but not the right fit for me…
And so after all of that, so far the winner is…
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The Tikka T3. I really liked the fit and feel of this one. The action was like butter and the trigger was crisp, light & smooth as silk. It threw up on my shoulder very well and just felt nice. When I shouldered it I was looking right parallel down the BBl. It also has a much friendlier price tag than some of the others I looked at, around $600. There was a customer in the one store while I was there who apparently was quite the expert on rifles, the guy at the counter said he knew more than everyone else who worked there put together, so I asked if I could pick his brain. I told what I wanted and what I was looking for etc. Without hesitation he recommended the T3 too. He said he has 9 of them and loves everyone and everyone was out of the box sub 1”MOA. So as of right now, I’m really leaning towards the Tikka T3 in 7mm-08.
I’ve read some feedback about the stock rings though, not good… prone to loosen up and slide? For my purposes, I want a very rugged weapon, no something I have to be delicate with and baby, so I would like to go double dove tail anyway. Any thoughts on that from anyone who knows?
Thanks again guys for all of the info. & help. I think I am about to “pull the trigger” on this new weapon.
biGjOhn