"Hybrid" Rifle - Lightweight and Precision - Both or Neither?

[zog]

I'm new to precision shooting and have put some investment into a lightweight precision 6.5 PRC with titanium action and carbon barrel, thinking I was going to use it for backcountry hunting and for long range setup hunting. It's 6.6 lbs naked and 8.6 lbs scoped. I have heard the term "hybrid" used for this type of setup.

I'm shooting it but wondering about the hybrid concept. It isn't as light and nimble as my 6.5 crd mountain rifle, but also is not heavy enough to be the comfortable, effective precision long range shooter as the 13 lb bench rifle I learned on. To shoot mine well I have to be really careful and it is easier to pull a shot.

Reminds me of when mountain bikes were just becoming a rage many years ago. It didn't take long for a "hybrid" bike to come out - trying to get a both a mountain bike and a road bike in one, but for most people the hybrid turned out to be neither. It was a lousy mountain bike, only good for gentle trails, and a slow road bike.

So just for some discussion - for the lightweight precision shooters, how do you like your setup? Do you believe you have both a mountain rifle and a precision rifle?

 

[jakelly]

Might as well “run what you brung.”
But...
That said, the trend is moving toward 20+ lb small sixes. For a reason...

 

[D_TROS]

thisis a real concern for my shooting partner and I. we have been doing a couple team matches a year where we traverse roughly 30 miles over 3 days on timed rucks while carring our gear for the whole weekend (food, tend, sleeping stuff, rifle, pistol, both ammo, tripod, binocs, etc etc)

you get no points for the rucks, only disqual if you dont make the time. only rifle and pistol hits count in match placement.

obviously our rifle is the largest weight. 2 yrs ago it was 18. last yr 14. this yr 12. i dont thinkni will go any lower. i shoot a small 6br for weight and went down to a 24” barrel. might even try a lighter profile.

pt being, going any lighter will make it harder to shoot...fact? hard to say. i have nvr shot a precision 8lb rifle. i have shot a 300 kimber 8lb hunting rifle with a 3-9 and it almost broke my shoulder. haha.

for us, we wont be going any lighter and watching impacts and having a reliable scope are both results of heavy. and getting hits and making corrections is the name of the game.


ymmv
DT

 

[D_TROS]

eta - i would say 12-16 lbs or 10-14 are the new hybrid and are VERY effective shooting platforms.


GL
DT

 

[SonoranPrecision]

I’ve been entertaining the idea of doing a sort of switch barrel setup with a new build. Tl3 action (any action with interchangeable bolt heads would work), KRG whiskey 3 chassis, and a light-ish weight scope (Vortex AMG 6-24 in this case). For shooting competition I can a run a heavy 26” barrel in a light caliber, Arca rails, weights, etc. Then when it comes time to hike up mountain and down canyons looking for elk, I can swap out for a larger caliber (338 Sherman Short looks interesting) polymer forend, carbon barrel, etc. to cut the weight down. It will still probably be in the 12lbs range, but I’ll have the advantage of shooting from unconventional positions all year with the effectively the same rifle.

That’s about as close to a hybrid setup as I can bring myself to do.

I guess it really comes down to your primary purpose for the rifle. I want the ability to take long shots on medium to large game, with the familiarity of a rifle I’ve shot all year. I also really enjoy being competitive when I compete, so that’s my own problem to solve. If I didn’t care how I ever placed, and used competition as practice for hunting, then I would build a hunting rifle and shoot competitions, not to place well, but to get better with my hunting rifle.

All that said, I prefer dedicated rifles for individual tasks, as they do the specific jobs better, but monetary constraints often are a limiting factor.

 

[b6graham]

my 16 pound rifle is light by today's standards. cut that in half lol fuck that for PRS

8.6 pounds scoped isnt hybrid

that 13 pounds is closer to 'hybrid' as it would be 'okay' for a comp or two and 'okay' for a minimal stalk hunt scenario(as a winmag/PRC/Norma, not a 6.5PRC short action)

assuming this is a good action, get a heavy barrel and comp style chassis for comps and keep the carbon for hunts

 

[doogie_howitzer]

I have several rifles that are around 9 lbs which are a lot of fun to shoot steel with out to distance. They won't be winning a PRS match, but you didn't mention that as a goal.

A generalized tool is never going to be perfect for every application but it can fill in. It's just up to you if the trade off is acceptable or you need something more specialized.

 

[Travis224]

While not a precision rifle, this is my calling rifle. I went and ordered a custom 6creed reamer for lighter varmint bullets, and while I wanted an 18" barrel, they aren't an option. So 16" proof barrel and the MPA ultralite chassis with TL3. With Halo LR thermal I still only was 10lbs. But it's very nimble and super accurate. I cut 3/8 groups at 100yds..but it's not as easy to shoot to 300yds although the Triggertech helps it. No way would I attempt a prs match with something this light.

 

[Jabot]

My "hybrid "
13.8 #
I'll pull the arca off ,run a 5 rd mag and lighter bipod and sling drops it to 11.5 .I hiked quit a bit hunting last year with a 12 # rifle, should be ok

 

[chevy_man]

I grew up carrying a Remington 700 LA in a Fajen Walnut stock. With a 12 oz scope it's still 9 lbs. Add the 15oz suppressor and it's heavy.

That rifle doesn't go on walk and stalk hunts anymore. It goes on the ones where I'll walk into a shelter-belt and sit and wait. Never more than a mile.

The Barrett fieldcraft with 18" barrel, 14 oz scope, and 15oz can is 7 lbs. Those 3 lbs make a huge difference when I walk 10 miles.


I wouldn't shoot the pencil barreled Barrett at a comp. I don't carry a 10 lb rifle hiking.

The 243ai I'm slowly putting together in a bravo, with a mark 5 and 26" MTU looks like it'll be about 18 lbs depending on how much lead I use to balance it.
I'll probably shoot a few deer with it, but they will be crop depredation where I only need to go 100 yards from the truck.
Should be stellar for shooting matches though.

 

[SonoranPrecision]

I would also say that just because a rifle is a light mountain rifle, doesn’t necessarily reduce its precision. Is it great for PRS competition? Of course not. But it can still be extremely precise and accurate for the 1 or 2 shots you’ll take at an animal. I’m reminded of the old adage “A jack of all trades is a master of none...”. Then there’s the last bit that everybody forgets “...though often better than a master of one.”

 

[cjs88]

I would also say that just because a rifle is a light mountain rifle, doesn’t necessarily reduce its precision. Is it great for PRS competition? Of course not. But it can still be extremely precise and accurate for the 1 or 2 shots you’ll take at an animal. I’m reminded of the old adage “A jack of all trades is a master of none...”. Then there’s the last bit that everybody forgets “...though often better than a master of one.”

What are you? A philosiphisor? Don’t think I’ve heard the end of that quote. Pretty neat.

 

[SonoranPrecision]

What are you? A philosiphisor? Don’t think I’ve heard the end of that quote. Pretty neat.

You might say I dabble in a bit of everything lol

 

[Eoddave27]

If it was me I think I would consider buying a second chassis or stock I could add weight too. You will not have the cost associated with building a whole rifle and optic. You could just drop your barreled action into the appropriate chassis for the application. I know personally I tend to like heavier rifles but not overly so. My precision rifles tend to be 16-18 lbs and my hunting rifles are as light as I can get them.

 

[Supersubes]

I'm new to precision shooting and have put some investment into a lightweight precision 6.5 PRC with titanium action and carbon barrel, thinking I was going to use it for backcountry hunting and for long range setup hunting. It's 6.6 lbs naked and 8.6 lbs scoped. I have heard the term "hybrid" used for this type of setup.

I'm shooting it but wondering about the hybrid concept. It isn't as light and nimble as my 6.5 crd mountain rifle, but also is not heavy enough to be the comfortable, effective precision long range shooter as the 13 lb bench rifle I learned on. To shoot mine well I have to be really careful and it is easier to pull a shot.

Reminds me of when mountain bikes were just becoming a rage many years ago. It didn't take long for a "hybrid" bike to come out - trying to get a both a mountain bike and a road bike in one, but for most people the hybrid turned out to be neither. It was a lousy mountain bike, only good for gentle trails, and a slow road bike.

So just for some discussion - for the lightweight precision shooters, how do you like your setup? Do you believe you have both a mountain rifle and a precision rifle?

Seem like you’ve already built what you’re asking about. Can’t do much better really. Seem like acceptably light weight guns now would have been considered the heavy field type guns of 10 years ago. No doubt PRS has played a role in that.


I’ve been obsessed with light and handy for a bit, and i’ve built a few of them so far. They shoot well, and I’m happily not lugging around boat anchors any more.

 

[TRG65]

My Sako TRG weighs in at 16.8 with a mag, bipod, and scope, so it's right outside of the hybrid range that DBros guessed at earlier. I've shot it in matches for several years. I wish I could put it on a 1-2# diet, but I won't change scopes, there aren't lighter stocks available that I know of, and I think the balance would be off with a CF barrel (not to mention I don't want to burn out a CF barrel each year).

I personally don't want a 20 pound match rifle. I'd like a bit of a chance to hit a positional shot if one comes up and after handling the heavy rifles I don't think I could do that.

 

[steve123]

Lightweight carbines are really fun shooters with small cartridges! I'm not much of a big game hunter anymore but varmints yes. My 20-221AI is sweet to shoot and very accurate at 8lbs with scope.

My good friend has a 11 lb 6.5 Saum for hunting. It's surprising how much buck and rifle upset it creates compared to my 24lb 6.5 Saum, lol, which kicks like my 14lb 6mmBR. All of them are braked, all of them accurate enough.

I have different rifles for different reasons but I try to avoid rifle upset by picking the minimum bullet weight and amount of powder, that meets my needs for each application.

Just mentioning, lol, that I hated shooting my other friends unbraked 10lb 300WSM but it did the job for 1 or 2 hits on a couple elk!

Solution??? See if you can get another bolt for your Ti action so you can shoot 223 or some other light recoiling cartridge to enjoy your rifle more often, then come hunting season put the 6.5 bolt and barrel back on.

 

[psychogecko]

I am enjoying the conversation. It certainly comes down to what exactly you want...and your wallet. I know I am not alone in the thought process of starting out with something that fits most of what we want, but it is not exactly what we want. I like the dirt bike example, or talk on the suppressor forum. Sure there is some that can be used for all, but a small light rifle is easy on the back hiking all day, does it kick like a mule and make you flinch? Over time I have and continue to build my specific purpose rifles...or at least I have not found my hybrid gun of choice.

 

[Rateoftwist]

my 16 pound rifle is light by today's standards. cut that in half lol fuck that for PRS

8.6 pounds scoped isnt hybrid

that 13 pounds is closer to 'hybrid' as it would be 'okay' for a comp or two and 'okay' for a minimal stalk hunt scenario(as a winmag/PRC/Norma, not a 6.5PRC short action)

assuming this is a good action, get a heavy barrel and comp style chassis for comps and keep the carbon for hunts

What is your setup? Really like it

 

[Rateoftwist]

My personal solution was to use the same action and stock for two rifles; one for hunting and one for competition. I shoot an FN SPR McMillan A series in comp and I am building a 300 win Alaskan with a McMillan a3 Hunter stock in carbon fiber with a reasonable hunting scope. My .02 but there are many more experienced shooters chiming in. Good luck and good hunting too.

 

[fancygunz]

thisis a real concern for my shooting partner and I. we have been doing a couple team matches a year where we traverse roughly 30 miles over 3 days on timed rucks while carring our gear for the whole weekend (food, tend, sleeping stuff, rifle, pistol, both ammo, tripod, binocs, etc etc)

you get no points for the rucks, only disqual if you dont make the time. only rifle and pistol hits count in match placement.

obviously our rifle is the largest weight. 2 yrs ago it was 18. last yr 14. this yr 12. i dont thinkni will go any lower. i shoot a small 6br for weight and went down to a 24” barrel. might even try a lighter profile.

pt being, going any lighter will make it harder to shoot...maybe? hard to say. i have nvr shot a precision 8lb rifle. i have shot a 300 kimber 8lb hunting rifle with a 3-9 and it almost broke my shoulder. haha.

for us, we wont be going any lighter and watching impacts and having a reliable scope are both results of heavy. and getting hits and making corrections is the name of the game.


ymmv
DT

Wow, what kind of match is that? Sounds exciting...

 

[wade2big]

I can shoot light rifles almost as well as heavier ones off of bags. If it is windy or the support is less stable, the nod goes to the heavier rifle of course. I just don’t enjoy shooting the lighter rifles as much do to the recoil.

 

[DeltaWhiskey67]

I’ve been entertaining the idea of doing a sort of switch barrel setup with a new build. Tl3 action (any action with interchangeable bolt heads would work), KRG whiskey 3 chassis, and a light-ish weight scope (Vortex AMG 6-24 in this case). For shooting competition I can a run a heavy 26” barrel in a light caliber, Arca rails, weights, etc. Then when it comes time to hike up mountain and down canyons looking for elk, I can swap out for a larger caliber (338 Sherman Short looks interesting) polymer forend, carbon barrel, etc. to cut the weight down. It will still probably be in the 12lbs range, but I’ll have the advantage of shooting from unconventional positions all year with the effectively the same rifle.

That’s about as close to a hybrid setup as I can bring myself to do.

I guess it really comes down to your primary purpose for the rifle. I want the ability to take long shots on medium to large game, with the familiarity of a rifle I’ve shot all year. I also really enjoy being competitive when I compete, so that’s my own problem to solve. If I didn’t care how I ever placed, and used competition as practice for hunting, then I would build a hunting rifle and shoot competitions, not to place well, but to get better with my hunting rifle.

All that said, I prefer dedicated rifles for individual tasks, as they do the specific jobs better, but monetary constraints often are a limiting factor.

We have 3 bolts for each receiver to switch from magnum, standard and .223. For a dedicated hunter a mid size receiver with a magnum bolt gives you about everything .243 - .338 you would want to play with.

 

[b6graham]

What is your setup? Really like it

Manners PRS mini chassis
TL3
28" Heavy palma
Razor Gen 2 4.5-27

 

[Raffy]

Hi all. Virgin poster here. I am planning to buy or build just such a rifle as the op has done, but was considering how the balance would be optimized with weight depending upon your choice of build components. For example lightweight as possible stock and scope and average/heavy weight steel barrell, say 24 inches or so unfluted, maybe suppressed, just to keep the weight out on the end to reduce the thing jumping around shot to shot from the recoil. Basically a big game hunting rifle set up varmint style. Ive not tried taking this type of rifle hunting, and never shot a competition, but in my mind it might help both situations. However I dont like the idea of a barrell heavy gun slinged over the shoulder trying to tip upside down while traveling through rough or thick terrain, and dont advocate carrying upside down either. Hence the balance part of the problem. Might a dual purpose rifle benefit from avg/light weight components to bring the weight up to a suggested range in a more balanced configuration or have the thing be barrell heavy, but still save weight.

 

[D_TROS]

Wow, what kind of match is that? Sounds exciting...

Search

Mammoth Sniper Challenge

https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/mammoth-sniper-challenge-2020-discussion.6933732/

and
Bushnell ELite Tactical Sniper Challenge
and
Wyoming Tactical Rifle Championship

Highly recommend


GL
DT