Fads&Fashion in new rifles,

Uncas

Well-Known Member
Why is it so trendy in most rifle manufacturers to make short barrelled ultra-light guns that rattle your teeth every time you pull the trigger,
what's happened to the good old 8lbs twenty four inch barrelled .270/30-06.
For those that think that I might be recoil shy I have fired plenty of rounds in 9.3x64/.416/450x400 3 1/4.
All those have been of appropriate weight 9.5/10.5 lbs.
 
Why is it so trendy in most rifle manufacturers to make short barrelled ultra-light guns that rattle your teeth every time you pull the trigger,
what's happened to the good old 8lbs twenty four inch barrelled .270/30-06.
For those that think that I might be recoil shy I have fired plenty of rounds in 9.3x64/.416/450x400 3 1/4.
All those have been of appropriate weight 9.5/10.5 lbs.

Who wants to lug around something heavy when you can carry something lighter that does the same job.
dave
 
Might be due to the almost universal use of scope, this meaning the line of sight is higher and barrel
being lower giving a straighter line of recoil, this in turn lessens the need for a heavy rifle to dampen
the movement.
Also, as a species we are getting weaker
 
I carry a T-3 Lite in 7mm-08 that weighs about 7 pounds loaded. My FN 6.5x55 weighs 9+ pounds. The difference in rifle fatigue at the end of the day @ five to seven thousand feet is noticeable. That said, I won't own a heavy recoiling rifle in a lite weight. 300 WM is about my limit in a light rifle with a well designed stock.~Muir
 
Fads&Fashion in new rifles,

I personally prefer wooden stocks- when I was buying my rifle at ivythorn we weighed the S&L stock on my rifle and a "lightweight" (manufacturers own terms for it) synthetic stock. There was about 2.5oz between them.

I've also used synthetic pump guns for wildfowling and dont find there's any noticeable difference between those and my beretta o/u with wooden stock.

That said I'm well over 6 foot tall and about 100kg so a few ounces here or there are no real biggy, and I also do a fair amount of weight training at the gym so I'm pretty good at lugging heavy loads long distances! YMMV and all that :)

I just think buy what you like, what works for you and most importantly learn how to use it effectively.
 
Last edited:
Why is it so trendy in most rifle manufacturers to make short barrelled ultra-light guns that rattle your teeth every time you pull the trigger,
what's happened to the good old 8lbs twenty four inch barrelled .270/30-06.
For those that think that I might be recoil shy I have fired plenty of rounds in 9.3x64/.416/450x400 3 1/4.
All those have been of appropriate weight 9.5/10.5 lbs.

Cause by the time the hunter has stuck his latest 1-50x56 scope and moderator that could be part of the Forth Rail bridge and a bipod and night vision and ..... it's no longer lightweight
 
Heym I think you have hit the nail on the head.
That's why I like clean rifles long barrels no mods and small scopes.
 
I really don't understand why some people want to carry a rifle wich is more than 3kg ( 6,5 pounds) . In "normal" calibres this is maximum for me. ( anything below 7 mm RM) A 7 mmRM and 300 Wm can be about 200 grams heavier. Once you add a scope, mounts, ..... they get heavy. Anything above 4 kg , complete package, is to heavy.
 
I can't see the reasoning in lugging a "soft" shooter for maybe just a couple of rounds out hunting, something light & lots of knockdown for me.
 
Fads and Fashion in new rifles??? this trend has been running since the beginning of rifle making, look at the history, have a close look at rifle designs.
Some are designed to be heavier, others make greater attempts to be lighter.
Absolutely nothing new. We just have more and better materials to choose from nowadays.
I draw the line at ultra thin barrels and would not go under normal sporter weight, all other components including barrel length can be lightened and if done properly don't sacrifice accuracy.

edi
 
It's amazing the weight can add up. The S&B 6x42 is 436g, the 2.5-10x56 zenith is 667g. Add on 300g for a moderator plus another 300g for a bipod, and say 100g for a set of mounts. That easily another 1 to 1.3 kg added to you rifle - that's 2 to 3 lbs in old money.

24" barrel keeps noise down and velocities up and 42mm are nice and light. All up weight c8.5lbs - no problem to carry, but enough weight to make it easier to shoot. And to be honest even a big days hind stalking you will only shoot four or five shots so recoil is not a problem.

And can always loose a bit from around the middle - money saved on big scope etc buys an extra two or three days on the hill and that removes any surplus weight.
 
I carry a T-3 Lite in 7mm-08 that weighs about 7 pounds loaded. My FN 6.5x55 weighs 9+ pounds. The difference in rifle fatigue at the end of the day @ five to seven thousand feet is noticeable. That said, I won't own a heavy recoiling rifle in a lite weight. 300 WM is about my limit in a light rifle with a well designed stock.~Muir

Strewth!!
 
Part of the issue I think is people having one rifle (or a few) to do several jobs. I know that's the case for me. I intend on putting in a variation for a 6.5 x 55 and building up a nice dedicated lightweight stalker from that, aiming for an all up weight of no more than 8 lbs.

At present, I use my rifles for stalking, target and long range corvid and fox control so by necessity, they have larger scopes than ideal for stalking. I only use stainless mods, (SL5) which are a bit heavier than most alloy ones (not a huge amount in the case of the SL5), but both rifles have laminate stocks and heavy barrels to allow more than a couple of shots to be fired before barrel heating becomes an issue for range work. Its primarily the heavy barrels which add to weight (one is 24 inch, the other is 26 inch). Both rigs tip the scales at 12lbs loaded minus the bipods which I don't use for stalking. Whilst heavy for a stalking rifle, I can manage ok on a days outing, including climbing the hills, but that extra 4lb or so takes its toll by the end of the day.
 
Why is it so trendy in most rifle manufacturers to make short barrelled ultra-light guns that rattle your teeth every time you pull the trigger,
what's happened to the good old 8lbs twenty four inch barrelled .270/30-06.

Ultra-Lightweight rifles are like, sooo 2015 guys! Have you not been watching the catwalks this season? Here's a bit of a flavour of what you can expect in 2017:

241092015.png
 
Back
Top