What Weight of Stalking Combo do you Lug Around ?

Blackrider

Well-Known Member
Me.......an R93, Zeiss Vic HT plus Harris Bi-Pod approx 11 lb.
Now personelly I reckon that is fairly light. By comparison, I know fellow stalkers who carry R93 LRS 2 300WM plus Zeiss Vics coming in at 17lbs plus !
Again, I've lugged my kit up and down some of Argyll's challenging terraine and I would stop at my combo, not really wanting to carry anything much heavier.

How about you ?
 
custom bat in 7x64 with swarovski A line 6x18x50 and ATEC mod and bat rings all in weight 8lb.

chris
 
Never weighed it, but it feels roughly the same weight as I've carried in the field throughout my professional career as a field biologist.

I think we all have a sort of in-built comfort point with weight carried, and tend to stabilise around it, regardless of what we're doing.

On a side note - I recently came across a fascinating analysis of the weight carried by a standard line infantryman throughout history. It seems to have stayed almost exactly the same across recorded history. The author theorised that armies keep loading up their soldiers until they can't carry any more. Every technological advance that lightens the load of specific bits of kit is immediately followed by a increase in the amount of other stuff carried. Any technology that arrives that is substantially heavier than its predecessor (muskets and ball versus bows; kevlar body armour versus nothing) leads to a reduction in other stuff carried.

Which leads me to suggest that the obsession with lighter rifles is a chimera: most people will compensate for any reduction in the weight of their rifle by adding other bits until they're carrying exactly ther same total weight.
 
My Rifle, scope and mod come in at just under 9lbs which is fine for me. However, as a newcomer to stalking I'm still carrying way too much extra kit with me in pockets/bum bags etc. I'ts taking a while to hone it down to the kit I actually need rather than think i might need.
 
does the "onesie"count towards the weight of your stalking gear stratts :rofl:.the missus says i have to allow for my bellius beerus ,sarky mare:cuckoo:
 
As light as possible for me a sako 85 a-tec maxim mod no bipod it comes in at about 9lbs inc magazine with five rounds sure wish it was lighter mind you, but I simply cannot shoot without a mod these days tinnitus ended that a long time ago......





Forgot to mention scope is a zeiss 7x50
 
Last edited:
Parker hale .243, Atec Maxim mod, Nikko Nighteater 4-16X50, Harris Bipod and leather sling...12lbs with no ammo, knife or any other kit at all. The weight doesnt really bother me though, i prefer the feeling of solidarity from a heavier rifle or shotgun.
 
Blaser k95 in 7x57r weighs in at 6,4 lbs With swarovski 3-12x50, and a bit less when I put on the 3-9x42 kahles. Usually don`t carry that much when stalking, so a pair of binoculars and a set of garden cane shooting stix (soon to be replaced by a set from limulus), a knife and a set of latex gloves.
 
Blaser k95 in 7x57r weighs in at 6,4 lbs With swarovski 3-12x50, and a bit less when I put on the 3-9x42 kahles. Usually don`t carry that much when stalking, so a pair of binoculars and a set of garden cane shooting stix (soon to be replaced by a set from limulus), a knife and a set of latex gloves.
Now 6.4 lbs is light but well acceptable with a K95 Blaser !
 
I'm pretty happy with the k95, got it this summer as a birthday/new job present for myself. If it was'nt for the close combat moose hunting and some driven boar shooting, I don't think I would use any of my other rifles anymore.
 
Most of us can very easily and cheaply reduce the weight of our stalking gear by several kgs. Just have a look at the expense account / pie or beer investment around your middle!
 
Most of us can very easily and cheaply reduce the weight of our stalking gear by several kgs. Just have a look at the expense account / pie or beer investment around your middle!

Exactly. Why agonise about an odd pound or two of stalking gear when most of us are a stone or two over weight.
 
The rifle in my Gallery tips the scales at a fraction under 6kg, however there's also as another SD member pointed out recently, the kitchen sink in my rucksack.

Regards JCS
 
Back
Top