Who hunts with a 14-16lb rifle?

LRshooter6mm

LRshooter6mm

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Minuteman
Oct 1, 2017
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#1
Curious to hear who hunts with a 14-16lb rifle?

Getting a new barrel spun and my chassis, bipod, trigger, action, scope and rings weight 9.7lb. Want to use this for NRL hunter as well. I can get a match heavy Palma barrel for $335 shipped so I’m leaning towards that cut to a 24” which would put the build at around 15lb. Would prefer a medium Palma but the heavy Palma is too good a deal. When hunting in Wyoming the rifle will be packed in an Eberlestock with a scabbard so the weight is on my back. Is this a terrible idea?

Also, is a 24” for a 6.5CM going to be detrimental to accuracy with factory ammo? I could go 26” I guess. Talk me into/out of it

Thanks I’m advance
 
#4
My hunting rifle is at 14.5# right now with everything (including bipod) on it. It has a 22" 6.5CM barrel you'll be fine. I just strap it to the side of my Stone Glacier via their quick detach system. I wouldn't go on a sheep hunt with it but for coues/antelope it's good. It's fine for day hunting but if I was backpacking 6+ miles into a place, camping the whole hunt, and coming out with everything I'd try to lighten it up.
 
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#5
Depends.

Are you talking mountain backpack hunt? Terrible idea.

Driving around in some sort of vehicle until you find something to stalk, terrain not much of an issue, then only taking the gun, knife, and a little water for the stalk? It could work.

24” vs 26” will have zero affect on the accuracy of a rifle or lack there of.
 
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#6
I think its a terrible idea, but many here claim they do it. I want my pack with rifle to weigh sub 40 lbs(for 4-5 days out), and I wouldn't even come close to that with a 15 lb gun. My rifle weighs 8 and a few ounces suppressed and ready to hunt.

A 16” barrel would not be detrimental to accuracy, pick what you like.
 
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#8
Game taken would be for cow elk and deer. Deer hunting wouldn’t be much more than a few miles trekking. Elk would be max 6.5 miles and max of 1700 elevation gain/loss. We don’t backpack in, just hunt for the day and go back to camp on the side by side. Packing elk out is always us going back to the side by side, ditching our gear except bear guns and frame packs, then hiking back to haul the game out
 
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#9
Supersubes said:
I think its a terrible idea, but many here claim they do it. I want my pack with rifle to weigh sub 40 lbs(for 4-5 days out), and I wouldn't even come close to that with a 15 lb gun. My rifle weighs 8 and a few ounces suppressed and ready to hunt.

A 16” barrel would not be detrimental to accuracy, pick what you like.
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My pack including the rifle would weight about 35-40lb
 
#10
LRshooter6mm said:
Game taken would be for cow elk and deer. Deer hunting wouldn’t me much more than a few miles trekking. Elk would be about 6 miles with 1700 elevation gain/loss. We don’t back pack in, just hunt for the day and go back to camp on the side by side.
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For day hunting I think it'll be fine if you're in alright physical shape. Because that means the rest of your pack won't be horribly heavy.
 
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#12
I've had as heavy as about 13.5 pounds for hunting. I now favor the 10 - 11 pound range including scope, bipod, suppressor, and mag, which means about a 7 pound bare rifle set-up. That's about the best compromise for me between packability and shootability.

If 14+ pounds is your only option, then use it, but it's sorta shitty to intentionally plan for that in my opinion. Also, the eberlestock bags that I've used (pretty limited) were not good. I'd definitely look at other options. Maybe newer ones are better, but you might look at Exo or Stone Glacier or something (lighter and better IMO).
 
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#14
Secant said:
I've had as heavy as about 13.5 pounds for hunting. I now favor the 10 - 11 pound range including scope, bipod, suppressor, and mag, which means about a 7 pound bare rifle set-up. That's about the best compromise for me between packability and shootability.

If 14+ pounds is your only option, then use it, but it's sorta shitty to intentionally plan for that in my opinion. Also, the eberlestock bags that I've used (pretty limited) were not good. I'd definitely look at other options. Maybe newer ones are better, but you might look at Exo or Stone Glacier or something (lighter and better IMO).
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I use the gunslinger 2 for packing and (plan on using) the mainframe f1 for packing out. I have no complaints with the gunslinger especially with the scabbard. We do a lot of spot and stalk. I plan on getting some padded hip belt and shoulder straps because that’s currently the only downside
 
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#15
LRshooter6mm said:
I use the gunslinger 2 for packing and (plan on using) the mainframe f1 for packing out. I have no complaints with the gunslinger especially with the scabbard. We do a lot of spot and stalk. I plan on getting some padded hip belt and shoulder straps because that’s currently the only downside
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I don't own and I bet I haven't used the Gunslinger 2. If I remember right, I had a LoDrag. My rifle would easily slip from side-to-side as I was walking, and it would push the backpack portion far enough away from my body to be noticeable (compared to other backpacks with the same contents). And a metal grommet was placed right were a muzzle would ride. And the scabbard was low enough (or my legs are short enough) that I would occasionally kick the bottom of the scabbard. A buddy had a Team Elk (I think), and I had similar complaints. I think I looked over the previous gen of Gunslingers and had similar thoughts.

Similar to my thoughts regarding the rifle - if that's what you already have then use it. But, for example, the 2,200ci Exo K4 is 2 pounds lighter, and I can all but guarantee that their frame/suspension will ride nicer compared to that 2,200 ci EB. Lots of preferences with backpacks, but I'd say a high quality/properly fitting backpack is second only to high quality/properly fitting boots when it comes to hunting - at least where and how I hunt.

Regarding factory ammo, the most recent lot of ELD-X that I've bought had a 20-shot muzzle SD of 14 fps, an average MV of ~2,670 fps from a 22" barrel, and a temp sensitivity of just under 1-fps/degree (looked at 10 - 30 shot averages at 20-, 29-, 35-, 39-, 56-, and 86-degrees). That same lot of ammo out of a different 18" barrel had an average MV of 2,523 fps, and a 20-shot MV SD of 9.7 fps. Precision from both barrels was ho-hum, but all things considered that ammo is definitely fine for shooting big game out to about 600-yards (longer depending on your risk tolerance).

If you aren't married to 'traditional' hunting specific marketed ammo, the latest batch of Lapua loaded 136 Scenars that I bought had a 10-shot group of 0.675 MOA, with a 20-shot MV SD of 12.9 fps. Some of the offerings from Berger or Federal loaded Bergers have also shot well and had good SDs & temp sensitivity. Lately, the ELDMs that I've shot have generally been decent in terms of precision (multiple barrels), but have had terrible SDs (over 20-fps for 20+ rounds).

Good luck on the hunt.
 
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#16
Depends on the type of hunting you do. Long trek/ backpacking hunts I would do something lighter. Short walks ya go hard. Personally my Hunting rifle is 10 lbs ready to go but it gets used for every type of hunting.
 
#17
Hunt said:
Pounds = pain. As I get older, I want lighter.
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Every time I hunt in the mountains, I come home and buy a lighter piece of gear. When I was in my 20's I didn't even notice the weight, and I carried around boat anchors. Now in my 40's, my mountain rifle is just over 8lbs including ammo, optic, suppressor, everything, all in. If I could figure out how to get it down 2 more pounds, I'd do it..
 
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#19
I'd also like to point out that you don't need to shoot a 22" barrel in a hunting rifle. I started shooting suppressed a handful of years ago, and before that, my rifles were 24" or even 26", since I had a thing for weatherby mark V rifles. My barrels keep getting shorter and shorter, and animals just keep dying. A 6.5cm in a 16" barrel is lethal to all reasonable hunting ranges. Step up to a short mag, and you can stretch it even further.
 
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#21
Did it one time on a walk-in antelope hunt. Ended up taking a fricken 200yd shot anyway. Won't do it again that way. From near a vehicle or a road, sure, but if you gotta hike in it's no problem until you get a pack full of meat and then screw all of that.
 
#22
I was told by several hunting buddies that my 15# 300wm would be way too heavy. I did an elk hunt back in November and hiked 16 miles in 2 days with that rifle and a full size RRS tripod. I had no issues with the weight. In fact the second day I carried my dad's 12# gun too because the hike was taking a toll on him. My only complaint was the rifle was balanced in front of the mag like most my rifles in didn't want to hang on the sling like an ass heavy rifle would.

20231108_174607.jpg
 
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#23
Punkur67 said:
I was told by several hunting buddies that my 15# 300wm would be way too heavy. I did an elk hunt back in November and hiked 16 miles in 2 days with that rifle and a full size RRS tripod. I had no issues with the weight. In fact the second day I carried my dad's 12# gun too because the hike was taking a toll on him. My only complaint was the rifle was balanced in front of the mag like most my rifles in didn't want to hang on the sling like an ass heavy rifle would.

View attachment 8489240
Click to expand...
That will look close to my set up. I have a KRG whisky 3, Curtis Valor, Leupold mark 5, Gunwerks bipod, and now just thinking about the barrel. What contour is that?
 
#25
Punkur67 said:
I was told by several hunting buddies that my 15# 300wm would be way too heavy. I did an elk hunt back in November and hiked 16 miles in 2 days with that rifle and a full size RRS tripod. I had no issues with the weight. In fact the second day I carried my dad's 12# gun too because the hike was taking a toll on him. My only complaint was the rifle was balanced in front of the mag like most my rifles in didn't want to hang on the sling like an ass heavy rifle would.

View attachment 8489240
Click to expand...
How did you carry your rifle? What sling? What sling attachments?
 
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