Mountain Rifle

[Colville]

Overall, weight's a big deal for a complete pack because of wear down  over time.  50+ lbs is just going to beat you down in due course and that's just your gear/food.  So I get the point of reducing the rifle a lb or more.

However, it does nothing to the meat math problem.  An average mule deer is going to have 65 lbs of meat and really good ones closer to 100.  You either can or can't carry it in one load without wasting meat. An LB of rifle will not solve that problem. Nor will other minor kit adjustments.  The meat math can only be addressed by multiple hunters or multiple trips making where and with who you hunt the solution to the meat problem.

My sense of diminishing returns says get a rifle that shoots better than you to the range you can reliably shoot. Get that rifle in a lighter weight option if possible but I'm not going to spend the cost of two rifles to get one rilfe that is 1 lb lighter and can't improve on accuracy.

[fillthefreezer]

Overall, weight's a big deal for a complete pack because of wear down  over time.  50+ lbs is just going to beat you down in due course and that's just your gear/food.  So I get the point of reducing the rifle a lb or more.

However, it does nothing to the meat math problem.  An average mule deer is going to have 65 lbs of meat and really good ones closer to 100.  You either can or can't carry it in one load without wasting meat. An LB of rifle will not solve that problem. Nor will other minor kit adjustments.  The meat math can only be addressed by multiple hunters or multiple trips making where and with who you hunt the solution to the meat problem.

for me, multiple trips and often times, multiple hunters are just not an option.
i know i dont have to tell you this, but for the sake of others, especially those newer to packing in, looking to this section for guidance on gear selection, i feel it should be in this thread.
saving a pound on a rifle is obviously not going to make a difference once an entire mule deer is loaded in the pack plus camp. neither will a pack that weighs 9lbs. or sleeping bag that weighs 4 or 5lbs even. but if going off these numbers (which seem to be common weights for gear alot of people around here pack) all of a sudden my kit is 5, 7, maybe 9lbs lighter... maybe more. i just read a thread the other day where a guy was packing in for a fishing trip and he couldnt understand why he was at 69lbs before water...

[Stein]

I looked at all the choices mentioned and was about to write the big check when I decided that a 700 in 30-06 stainless would do the trick for $400.

A general observation at the range is the average guy with a lightweight rifle is probably 20 pounds overweight - some many more than this.  I'm not passing judgement, just making an observation that there are many ways to drop weight in the back country.

I figured I would pocket the grand and hit the gym a few more times.  Now I have one rifle that I use for everything which has much more advantage in shootability, confidence and practice time then saving 2 pounds.

The grand I saved was used to buy a new trigger, stock, reloading equipment, practice ammo and range time and I ended up with pretty much a perfect solution for me.