Skibum,
I'd advise you to shoot somebody elses ultra-lt. rifle some before you spring for one. Shooting one,especially off-hand may put some thing in context. Remember that hunting you'll probably have to shoot straight while breathing heavily and/or with your pulse racing...tough with a rig weighing under 6.5 lb.s loded. I found I reached the point of diminishing returns in lightening a hunting rifle a few years back. I talked myself into a Ti 700 in 7mm08 with a really light scope, rings, and sling. I found it too light for me to shoot well. I ended up having to have a muzzle break put on it to make it easier to point, and the trigger lightened to about 2.5 lb.s to be able to shoot it as accurately as I wanted. It works for me now, but by the time I'd had the work done, I had a gun that weighed only a little less and cost almost as much as a stainless Sako or Cooper. Or I could have bought a stainless Model 7 and saved a bundle. I had wanted a stainless 6.5x55 but couldn't find one. They are available now from several makers and in a very light gun I think a 6.5x55 might make a more practicle choice than 7mm08 because of the availability of heavier bullets. You're very unlikely to be making many shots over 150 yards with a really light rifle anyway, so a 7mm08's higher velocity wouldn't help much.

My .270 sheep rifle I built weighs 5# 6oz with scope and sling attached. It handles fine in the field, and when you are literally carrying your house on your back for a week at a time, every little ounce counts. It also shoots quite well. I built a 5# 2oz .243 for an AK sheep guide and he loves it. It also shoots very nicely and he killed a 40+" Dall with it on its maiden hunt.

I am working on getting the long action rifles down to 5# even with scope and sling attached.

Marc,
How far are your typical shots? Do you usually use a shooting stick? Lay prone?

My son is a cadet at the Air Force Academy. They have an "Outfitters" club that gets the cadets out hunting. His deer rifle is a 30-30 and I knew that wouldn't do for elk.

I ran across a Weatherby Ultra Lightweight in 30-06 used for a bargain price and snapped it up, mounted a B&L Elite 4000 2.5-10x scope and found a few boxes of Winchester 180 grain Silvertips on clearance at Wally World.

He was here a couple of weeks ago, if I'd known how well that Wby shot I might have kept it for myself. It's got plenty of recoil, but to me it's close to the ultimate elk rifle (assuming the '06 is aenough caliber for you).

quote:

Finally they became available and damned if they didn't put 26 inch barrels on the magnums. Man, you can't win, its like they get it almost perfect and say, "No, lets screw it up somehow, just a little!!"

Doug, that's a $35 fix that any smith worth his salt can pull off. I'd go 23". You won't hurt accuracy and may improve it. For the guys that like a long tube a 26" tube is a good thing because the barrel won't grow with use. For us that like a shorter tube they can be easily cut... no big deal.

My "ultimate" is a Remington 700SS mountain with a PAC NOR barrel in 250 Ackley, a remington synthetic stock and two scopes for different purposes. For off-season target and varmint shooting, I use a Nikon Buckmaster 4.5-14; during deer season I exchange that with a Leupold compact 3-9x. In that configuration, it's as light a rifle as I've seen without spending over 2K.

I agree with Warhawk...the Weatherby Ultra Lightweight in either 30-06 or 338-06 is about as good as it gets. Period.

Woody

IMHO,

1. Kimber Montana - if you have a bit more to spend...
2. Tikka T3 - if you are trying to remain moderate...
3. Stevens or Savage if you are keeping the $ expenditure really lean.

DJ