Best Lightweight Rifle under $2,000?

[bvolcic]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum, and am in the market for a lightweight rifle to put a long range scope on. What rifle would you recommend in a lightweight? I am looking to go on a sheep hunt in the next year or two, and want something light to pack in. I live in Wyoming and mainly hunt mule deer and elk. Is there a certain calibur that you all would recommend? I have been looking at the 7MM calibur, but would like some other peoples opinions. I have always been a Weatherby guy, but have heard mixed reviews lately, their lightweight looks good on internet, but have not been able to see one in person yet.

Please give me answers to the following:
1. Brand of lightweight rifle you would recommend?
2. What calibur do you like for all around deer and elk?

Thanks,

bvolcic

 

[Ranger Jim]

Welcome to the site, you will definitely learn some things here if you use the search menu and read some posts. I've been here for a short while and have started to understand a lot more about rifles and long range shooting than I thought I ever would. As far as what your looking for, there are several out of the box rifles you can choose from.
Starting from low price range, the Tikka T3 Lite SS weighs in at 6.37 lbs. comes in a variety of calibers and starts at around $500.00. They are tack drivers right out of the box, have a good reputation on shooting forums. The price also leaves a lot of spending cash for good optics. The down side to the Tikka is the use of plastic parts, mainly in the magazine.
You mentioned Weatherby, they make the Mark V Ultra Light Rifle, it comes in at 6 3/4 lbs. Price is around $1,300 so it leaves you less money for optics but a nice Nikon Monarch scope can be had for what you would have left and they are great scopes.
Remington's custom shop makes a Mountain rifle, it weighs 6.5 lbs. runs around $1,400 used or near new, they use the 700 action, stainless barrel, and is a really good shooter.
As far as calibers go, in a lightweight rifle you don't want to go too large. I would stay between the 300 WSM and 7mm-08 Remington. Good luck with your search and keep us posted.

Ranger Jim

 

[azsugarbear]

Browning A-Bolt or X-Bolt in a short magnum should also be thrown into the mix. Not much in the way of aftermarket parts, but great accuracy and lightweight. Not too familiar with the Savage family of firearms, but I hear they also have great out-of-the-box accuracy. Just not sure if they have a lightweight model.

As far as caliber goes, I believe the 7mm family will offer you the widest range of bullet selection and great downrange ballistics.

 

[rtv900]

If you happen to have a donor rifle/action already you might look into having a gun build with it. Talk with some of the gun smiths on this site and see what your options are for your price range. Just a thought.

 

[J E Custom]

If you happen to have a donor rifle/action already you might look into having a gun build with it. Talk with some of the gun smiths on this site and see what your options are for your price range. Just a thought.

+1
If you have $2,000.00 to spend and have a donor(A rifle That does not shoot well)
you can have a custom rifle with a custom barrel,stock and in the weight and caliber
you want built.

If it is primarily a deer rifle then go with any 7mm if it will be used more for elk go
30 cal.

Something like the Remington Mountain rifle in 7/08 would be great If you gust don't want
to fool with a custom.

The 7 WSM would be a good all round rifle.

More choices.

J E CUSTOM

 

[djbwow2008]

You can build a full custom for slightly more than $2000 if you shop smart. I got the prices for the following example build online at Stiller group buy-Sniperhide forums, Brux barrels, Manners stocks, and Centershot Rifles Websites.If you build a 7mm wsm or 300wsm on a long action you can save a little money without the wyatts.

Stiller Predator Action with recoil Lug......$775 -SH Group buy
Stiller 20 Moa base......................................$50- SH Group buy
Rem BDL Bottom metal,spring,follower...$125
Manners MCS-SL stock..............................$475
Brux barrel #2 ,3 or 4................................$300
Barrel fitted and chambered.....................$180
Bead blast metal..........................................$35
Pillar Bed....................................................$180

Total..........................................................$2120
Trigger options through SH Group buy
Jewell..........................................................$225
Factory Rem.................................................$55
Timmney....................................................$100

Other options
Flute barrel................................................$125
Wyatts extended box mag.........................$85
Muzzle brake.............................................$160

You could probably save more money with a different stock option. Anyways just something I came up with in about 15 minutes. Prices aren't exact but there close.Just use for reference. Alot of smiths only require 50% down. Probably 6 months to a year lead time to finish gun which gives you time to save a bit extra. Just something else to consider.

Dan

 

[Trickymissfit]

Welcome to the site, you will definitely learn some things here if you use the search menu and read some posts. I've been here for a short while and have started to understand a lot more about rifles and long range shooting than I thought I ever would. As far as what your looking for, there are several out of the box rifles you can choose from.
Starting from low price range, the Tikka T3 Lite SS weighs in at 6.37 lbs. comes in a variety of calibers and starts at around $500.00. They are tack drivers right out of the box, have a good reputation on shooting forums. The price also leaves a lot of spending cash for good optics. The down side to the Tikka is the use of plastic parts, mainly in the magazine.
You mentioned Weatherby, they make the Mark V Ultra Light Rifle, it comes in at 6 3/4 lbs. Price is around $1,300 so it leaves you less money for optics but a nice Nikon Monarch scope can be had for what you would have left and they are great scopes.
Remington's custom shop makes a Mountain rifle, it weighs 6.5 lbs. runs around $1,400 used or near new, they use the 700 action, stainless barrel, and is a really good shooter.
As far as calibers go, in a lightweight rifle you don't want to go too large. I would stay between the 300 WSM and 7mm-08 Remington. Good luck with your search and keep us posted.

Ranger Jim

I have a Weatherby MK. V. lightweight rifle sitting in my gunsafe. Still has the hang tags on it, and I paid a little more than $600 for it. The rifle feels like it's a 7.5lb. gun rather than a 6 3/4lb. gun. It's a long action 30-06. The barrel looks tobe about 22" long, and is very slender. How it shoots I don't know as I'd actually forgoten that I owned it!! So now I gotta round up another Leupold 3x-9x scope.

I hunted with a borrowed Remington 700 Mountain rifle a few years back chambered in .257 Roberts. What more could a guy ask for? I've also hunted with a Ruger lightweight in .257 (out of a safe full of .257's), and it as well was not a bad rifle. I liked the way Ruger cut the stock, but there wasn't anything wrong with the Remington stock as well. But neither of these two rifles are my favorite for a nice lightweight gun. My favorite is an old Marlin MR-7 chambered in 30-06. It's light, shoots good (all three rifles here shoot 3/4" groups at 100 yards). But also not a lot of fun to shoot 180 grain bullets in, but still no where as bad as my .450. I liked the basic build of the gun, and the way they went about it. Has a blind drop box magazine similar to some Brownings (they are small and can easilly be carried in your coat pocket). The action reminds you of a pre 64 Winchester, but with a Remington bolt. Trigger is typical for a hunting rifle, and is set at about 4 lb. The stock is cut similar in shape to a Ruger. I bought the gun to use as a donor for a .338-06AI build, but just shot too good. So now it looks like it's gonna be a MK. V. in .338-06. The build quality of the MR-7 is at least on par with anything out of Remington, and in some ways better
gary

 

[royinidaho]

Hmmmm,

First thought is that a long range scope (for shooting 800 - 1500 yds and a lightweight 8 pounds, all up, are a bit incompatible in my way of thinkin'.

From what I've seen lately a Win Mod 70 Featherweight in 270 Win or 280 Rem with a good scope would be a decent choice.

I've shot the 280 and was impressed. I shot with a fellow shooting an '06 in that model with a mid range priced scope that was good to 775 yards. Plus every thing would be well under 2k bucks plus you'd have the time to tune it a bit if needed.

Just a thought......

 

[Long Time Long Ranger]

I am very happy with my tikka t-3 light 338 winchester for a light rifle. I am shooting 185 grain Barnes ttsx and the combination does very well on game. I have it shooting very well out to 800 yards. There are many choices though. Good Luck.

 

[breadfan]

I have a 7mm-08 Weatherby Mark V Light Weight Carbine 20'BBL that I hunt with most of the time and I love it. It had a synthetic stock and was around 7 lbs. Then I put a nice wood stock on it, it's still really light. I love that short barrel! These are not hard to find and they are not expensive, I think they can be had for under 600.00 if you look.

 

[projp]

Browning TI in 7 Short Mag.
Gun is about $1,100
With Leupold VX II 6-18 weighs in at about 7# total
Great light weight combo but not real long range.

 

[Loner]

I've hunted with a 700 mountain rifle in 7 STW for 13 years now. It's out of the
custom shop, which could be good or bad I hear, weighs 5.7 pounds and holds 3/4
moa or better year after year. I don't hot rod my heavy loads. If I had been living
in Mt. when I was buying I would have gone with a 300 win mag because of the elk
hunting.

 

[bvolcic]

Guys,

I sure appreciate all of the great information on the different combos and the time that you have taken to help me out. I am not that studied in the ballistics and what calibers are highly thought of. I hope to get more educated on these topics through this web-site. What did we do before we had great forums like this?

Thanks,

bvolcic

 

[Nomad]

Tikka