Lightweight set up

[Msax80]

I had another thread going and learned a lot, the more I read other threads the more I pinpoint what I want to end up with.
My hope is to take a savage and gradually upgrade it to be a lightweight rifle capable of taking blackbear, elk and whitetail out to 800 yards once I am up to it.
Whitetail account for 80%, blackbear 18% and elk 2% of my hunting.

Was thinking of a caliber in the 280 or 7mm range. Any suggestions on which would function well out of a shorter barrel? Should I stick with short action to keep the weight down?

 

[kiwi3006]

7 WSM or 7SAUM would work well. I have seen some 7 lb with scope rifles chambered in 7/338 Norma magnum, that will easily make the 800 yd Elk criteria.

I have just lightened up my Model 7 7SAUM and got the bare rifle weight down to 5 1/4 lb. I fluted the barrel and bolt, replaced the firing pin with a lightweight version and made a carbon fibre stock for it. With a Bushnell 6500 2.5 -16 x 42 it should go 6.5 lb ready to go.

Be aware that lightening up a rifle will come close to spending the money on an all ready light rifle, you could look out for a Kimber Montana or Browning Titanium Abolt.

 

[sourdough44]

Here's an easy choice, A Browning X-Bolt 'Micro-Hunter' in 7mm-08. You can buy it from Grices Gun Shop right there in PA. The vast majority of your hunting is standard deer in 'Eastern cover', no need for a cannon.

 

[roninflag]

i shoot remington/sako; you need the savage guys to step up.

 

[Msax80]

Thanks guys, I am looking into some of these options.
Will the 7-08 reach out that far well? Is 7x57 an option?

I feel like the 7 mm, 270 wsm or 7 wsm may be my best options.

 

[Clay Target Guy]

I have a 260 in a Remington model 7 that tips the scales at 6lbs straight up.
I have had light weight rifles in bigger cal. all the way up to and including a 300 RUM that went just over 7.5 lbs (that was too much of a good thing for me).
I built a 7mm WSM that was 7 lbs scoped out and it was not fun to shoot from the bench unless you had the muzzle brake installed.

Just what I have learned is that when you lighten a rifle up be sure you think about what round you are building around. The recoil gets real stiff in a hurry as the rifle looses weight.
For me, my 270 WSM that was just a tick over 7 lbs scoped out was about all I wanted shooting 130 gr bullets. Much more recoil and it would not be fun at all.

My 260 will shoot a 100 gr bullet at 3275 FPS and recoil is not bad at all. This is what I hunt with most all the time now and have sold all my other light rifles (they looked good on paper but after shoulder surgery, they were not fun to shoot). I will admit that the 100gr might be light for elk, but you can always jump up to a 140 gr for that.