I hear a lot about the "feel" of a rifle and agree it contributes a great deal to ones ability to hit with it in field conditions. My two favorite rifles are three pounds apart but feel the same, balancing right on the recoil lug. Adding weight to the front makes them drag for me and adding weight to the rear makes them feel "whippy". Any concensus on this or is it all personal feel? If it matters one is a Ruger 77 with a PacNor #4 contour .35 whelen and number two is a flyweight Rem M7 with a PacNor #2 in .308.

Forward action screw / recoil lug.

Browning A-Bolt II, 30-06 with Leupold fixed 4x scope. Balances about where the magazine is. I know because it carries one-handed there with my fingers on the floorplate. It points fine for me, but that may be from my practicing more than the gun's own center of gravity.

Harder to say with my Winchester Classic Safari Express rifle in 375 H&H caliber, since now, more than 1 year after I received the gun, it is still not functioning . It's not all Winchesters fault the past few months. A gunsmith did an incorrect trigger job, and the striker snaps on its own if the bolt is closed briskly . Actually, the past month or so, I blame on Winchester, who have received payment for replacement trigger parts but have not delivered them and who will not return phone calls.

Glad I didn't have a buffalo hunt scheduled or anything. I had hoped to have a year's worth of practice shooting and load development for this rifle completed by this point in my life.

H. C.

[ 05-29-2003, 08:05: Message edited by: HenryC470 ]

I figured out how to test how well I like a barrel-heavy rifle before I have my Montana 458 Lott built.

I can fill the barrel of my 375 (and an empty case) with 38 caliber bullets. The 158 gr LRN's I have are slightly smaller than the bore of my 375. With an empty case in the chamber, I can just fit 35 of them from case head to muzzle and hold them in with masking tape. This adds 0.79 lb. to the rifle, evenly distributed along the rifle's bore. Not a perfect simulation of a fatter barrel, but not too shabby.

H. C.

[ 05-30-2003, 21:14: Message edited by: HenryC470 ]