Ultralight rifle

I'm after a mountain rifle in a common calibre (.270, 7mm-08 etc). It will be used for shots out to 350 yards.

It needs to be durable, rather accurate, easy to carry, and no frills.

Currently I'm swinging between the Kimber Montana or the Weatherby MK V ultralight. Anyone used either? Very conflicting reviews on both the Weatherby MK V's, and the Kimbers regarding poor accuracy.

I've handled both and find them both pretty comfortable to bring to the shoulder, with a slight edge to the Mark V.

Cheers.

Rem Model seven? only in short actions but pretty light and low on frills, usually good accuracy

ive got 2 kimber montanas they are really accurate but i have had a dud 260 montana which was common, i think the new kimbers are a step up from the older ones as far as accuracy is conserned

Not keen on the remington. Preferably a rifle I don't need to do much work on (really nice factory trigger, bedded etc).

I had a Sako Finnlight, but had issues with it and dealing with Beretta.

Winchester extreme weather is another I've looked at.

Kimber has a short stock which sucks if you're a big fella.

Have a look at the new Howa lite weight rifles too seen plenty of good reviews but havnt seen one in the flesh

Forbes if you can find one in 260 or 7mm08. Might even have new ones with the supplier in 270/3006

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Originally Posted by Frodo

I'm after a mountain rifle in a common calibre (.270, 7mm-08 etc). It will be used for shots out to 350 yards.

It needs to be durable, rather accurate, easy to carry, and no frills.

Currently I'm swinging between the Kimber Montana or the Weatherby MK V ultralight. Anyone used either? Very conflicting reviews on both the Weatherby MK V's, and the Kimbers regarding poor accuracy.

I've handled both and find them both pretty comfortable to bring to the shoulder, with a slight edge to the Mark V.

Cheers.

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Mk5 Weatherby Ultralight does have disadvantages: nothing much you can do with the trigger, so you have to learn to shoot as is, recoil increasing stock design, and they went through a bad patch with barrels. But - they are very durable stocks that can take all sorts of abuse and they shoulder and point well, and the rifle can be very accurate once you get the hang of locking it in with the sling to control recoil effect, in the process of rebarreling a .270 Ultralight to 2506 Rem, specifically as a 400yd tops/alpine rifle, wore out 2 x 2506 barrels in one of these, I rate them. Not keen on the Kimber, based on what I hear, not actual experience though.

I like the Kimber and ultralight. Both of mine were 280ai so both booted a bit, easy as to handle but something to bare in mind.
Some have had Forbes, I haven't but they look good.
Been some good rifles on here for sale mate but it would depend on price.


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Kimber Hunter?

Attachment 65971

What issues did you have with the Finnlite?

My finnlight flung empty cases into the underside of my brand new scope, scratching the paint off. I was using low optilock rings.

I'm not a fan of Beretta and the way they do business in general, so I'm never putting my money into another Sako 85. They're good rifles if you get one which ejects fine.

im a big fan of the kimber
i wish my montana had the fluited barrel but trust me they are almost silly light and dont need it
seriously tho you gain nothing over a t3 tikka and my mountain rifle (280rem is a tikka) and when you are skidding down a scree slope you dont think twice about burying the tikka deep

I am really impressed with my Howa Alpine Mountain Rifle, for the money it is a really good package, not much really needs to be done, mount a scope and go shoot stuff.
Comes factory cerakoted, Bansner (Legendary Arms) High Tech composite stock, 5.7lbs, factory trigger is great and fully adjustable, most (from reviews) seem to be accurate, mine sure is.

Never used any of the others you were looking at so can't comment, sure they are good too. Moulded trigger guard and stock on the kimber hunter would put me off.

Cheers for the recommendations guys, much appreciated.

When I bought my sako, I had a "spend as much possible" mindset. I ended up having very high expectations, which only made it worse when the rifle didn't live up to them. Furthermore, I realised my needs in the field weren't necessarily the same as my preconceived requirements. E.g most of my shots were 350 yards and under, making a large scope/expensive rifle not particularly practical.

Recently I bought a nice wooden stocked rifle, more for the form than the function...and even though I'll hang onto it, it's not something I want to go bashing up on the mountains.

So something like a Tikka, Kimber or Howa sounds pretty good for NZ conditions, and I won't be paying $$ for features which don't make any difference realistically speaking.

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Originally Posted by Pointer

Kimber has a short stock which sucks if you're a big fella.

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I'm called Frodo for a reason...;) :)

Wby MKV or Howa mountain rifle or model 7 REM or Tikka would be my pick. If you're only shooting out to 350 yrd you have plenty of good options.

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Originally Posted by Spudattack

I am really impressed with my Howa Alpine Mountain Rifle, for the money it is a really good package, not much really needs to be done, mount a scope and go shoot stuff.
Comes factory cerakoted, Bansner (Legendary Arms) High Tech composite stock, 5.7lbs, factory trigger is great and fully adjustable, most (from reviews) seem to be accurate, mine sure is.

Never used any of the others you were looking at so can't comment, sure they are good too. Moulded trigger guard and stock on the kimber hunter would put me off.

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The Howa is an attractive lightweight rifle.
the tipping point for me was barrel length, because I wanted 6.5 Creedmoor. So the Kimber won.

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Originally Posted by Daggers_187

The Howa is an attractive lightweight rifle.
the tipping point for me was barrel length, because I wanted 6.5 Creedmoor. So the Kimber won.

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Fair call, I went .308 as the 6.5 is too close ballistically to my 7x64, so barrel length wasn't an issue, toying with chopping it to 18ish inches and adding a DPT now.

My band saw is waiting for your barrel ;-) I chopped a kimber hunter at 14" this week, just to show you how mean I can be :-)!

My pick would be 1-Kimber Montana , 2-Remington 7, 3-tikka light factory fluted but maybe changing for carbon stock if you want to get lighter, 4- howa alpine , 5- weatherby . The Winchester is a heavy action and To my view is best suited to heavy recoiling calibers like 300 wsm or bigger in the long action.

Have a kimber and love it, when I spoke to kimber in the USA last year regarding the hunter and its short stock they told me it was a mountain rifle, so was meant to be used with the wearer in a thick jacket ? Not much use for northlanders.

Tikka Superlight with one of Stugs stocks? Love mine.... it's light and accurate... would be lighter without the stupidly heavy Nightforce!!
Attachment 66011

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Originally Posted by SlimySquirrel

Tikka Superlight with one of Stugs stocks? Love mine.... it's light and accurate... would be lighter without the stupidly heavy Nightforce!!
Attachment 66011

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How much did you save with the stug?

Think it's roughly half the original stock.

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Originally Posted by SlimySquirrel

Think it's roughly half the original stock.

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Was it a t3x to start with?

Nah, just a T3. So it's worth more than a Sako Finnlight now.

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Originally Posted by SlimySquirrel

Nah, just a T3. So it's worth more than a Sako Finnlight now.

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Only if @buzzman is selling said sako

Is the carbon stock any skinnyer though the grip area (mag well) than a standard stock?

@stug

@Timmay it is the same size as a normal T3 stock. Weight is approx 550g with a 0.5" pachmayr and about 570-600g with a limbsaver.

@stug thanks mate. If one wanted it slightly thinner through there (I find with gloves on its a bit thicker when carrying) is that possible? No drama if not.

@Timmay unfortunately no. I would need to make a new mold to alter the size of the stock.

@stug are you thinking about tackling an R8 ? i know you've got the r93 set up now

It's not often you see second hand Kimbers for sale.

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Originally Posted by Timmay

@stug thanks mate. If one wanted it slightly thinner through there (I find with gloves on its a bit thicker when carrying) is that possible? No drama if not.

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Here you go.

Not sure I want to use that on my palms gimp
You southern boys sure are strange.

I decided on a Weatherby MK V ultralight. B)

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Originally Posted by outdoorlad

It's not often you see second hand Kimbers for sale.

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I would also feel bad about selling stuff that doesn't work.....[emoji14]

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Originally Posted by Frodo

I decided on a Weatherby MK V ultralight. B)

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Looking forward to the picture in the gun porn section! :-)

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Originally Posted by Taff

Have a kimber and love it, when I spoke to kimber in the USA last year regarding the hunter and its short stock they told me it was a mountain rifle, so was meant to be used with the wearer in a thick jacket ? Not much use for northlanders.

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That looks stunning. Great worksmanship @stug