Last night after I got home from hunting I weighed my two rifles. Both rifles are built on 700 SA actions. The light rifle, 20P, 1.5-4 Leupold Scopes, 20" Criterion barrel, butt bag and 10 rounds of ammo 7.76 pounds. My heavy rifle, 22-250 AI, 2-12 Athlon scope, 24" Shilen barrel, butt bag and 10 rounds of ammo comes to 9.69 pounds.

I'm 75 11/12 short and not very strong anymore, I can't dead lift my Grumman canoe and put it over my head to carry it anymore. I can feel the difference but I carry my rifles in a back scabbard so it really isn't an overly heavy burden. I have gravitated away from the heavies for quite awhile finding little advantage to a calling rifle that weighs over 9 pounds. But I like to experiment with different rifles and this is the first season with these two. I could live with just the light rifle here, it is a handy little devil.

I say take it out for a day and try it. That’s the only real way to know. My calling rifle used to be darn near 15lbs. I rebuilt that rifle not sure exactly were it is now bu I would say it’s 10 or less and feels a lot easier to carry.
Mines a bighorn action, carbon stock, carbon barrel, heavier can. I beleive shorter barrels are handy to have if running surpressed. 22” or less. 6mm with a 20” barrel and a 87 grain bullet should give good ballistics and be handy.

Lots of good replies here-thank you
Not sure about cutting down the barrel for length, I mean 4 inches is significant, but so is about 50 fps per inch. (24" to 20")
Kinda defeats the reason I went AI, well, that, and I hate trimming brass.
But, I'm pushing 40 grn vmax just shy of 3900 fps and its a glorious thing.

Did a little surfing, and most factory .223 setups unless you go "Lite" on the barrel are around 8.5-9 lbs., sans a scope. So add another 1-1.5 lbs. for scope and now I'm talking within a pound or so of my current setup?

The only humping I do with a gun any more is with the help of tadalafil.
I pretty much like making as many stands as I can rather than walking.
I will try it out in the field and post some pics as soon as I can being a fng.

My Thermal rig...A Savage 11VT .243 is 19#....22" Bull...Suppressor...Trijicon IR-Hunter MK3 35...Aux battery...MDT LS chassis...AB Arms Urban Snipe stock and Ergo tac grip and a couple little extra stuf on chassis...
.it actually isn't to bad since I carry it mounted on tripod over shoulder...balances good.


????...I don't believe you'll loose 100fps per inch....

Yup, I fat fingered that
Changed to 50 fps max.
Thx

as shown weights are

Top is a Kimber Montana 223AI 6 3/4 lbs 18" BBL
Rem 700 20 Prac 7 lb 2 oz 18" BBL
Bottom AR 223 7 lb 7 oz 16" BBL

These could b lighter is I used other scopes, but I like the SWFA SS 6x. My longest shot last trip with the 223 AI was around 210 yards, bang flop result.

I took the Kimber to AZ last trip and used it the whole trip. Going to take the AR15 on next trip, along with the 20 P

https://i.imgur.com/RLcCUNd.jpg

I have heavier rifles for prairie dogs and such, but prefer the lighter rifles for carrying in the field. I am 61 and not as fit as the old days years ago. LOL I would just build another rifle if you have that option.

My predator rifles run between 9-10# but, the short M4gery @ 8.1# was my favorite. It was the handiest rifle ever, especially for quick target acquisition.

Regards,
hm

My model 11 wearing a factory profile 22” .223 barrel is 7.5#. Same rifle wearing a 26” heavy Varmint barrel but in a Bell & Carlson M40 Varmint /tactical stock is 10.5 lbs. weight is pretty much all in that long tube. I could take a pound off cutting it back to 18”. Easily.

Its really personal and depends how far you walk and how you hunt. I have guns from 6lbs to 25lbs. I have taken my 24" heavy barrel AR coyote calling when it just happened everything else suitable was not sighted in. Its about 13 lbs. I also walk around hunting prairie dogs from sticks or from fence posts with this gun. Does it work? Sure. Is it as pleasant and useful as my lighter guns? Heck no! Its horrible from sticks and really hard to move/adjust the sticks.

I find something with a total weight scoped between 7 and 8 lbs to be ideal. I also have a cz 527 varmint in 17 hornet that is 9lbs or so and its also pretty good. A lot of it is also balance and handling. I like light guns with long barrels. The long barrel increases the moment of inertia compared to the overall weight. Plus you get more velocity with less muzzle blast. Its a win win. I really dislike stubby guns with 18-20" barrels. To each their own though.

So, what’s the story on these Lite barrels?
I am looking at a Tikka “super lite” in 223 with one of these, are they accurate?
Can these fluted lite barrels be threaded to use a can?
I shoot suppressed always and that would be a deal breaker for me.
Light though.

Pulled the Krieger off and I'm gonna have it cut down to 20" as suggested.
Threaded for my Specwar, should be back in a couple weeks.

I've got a couple of slings that use 2 straps, and you carry it on your back like a pack. The straps are adjustable and long enough to wear over your backpack. Used it to haul my Ten-Point crossbow no problem.
Soup

Got my barrel back after the chop down to 20” today
Definitely handles better
9’ 14oz. With scope

If someone could help me with pic from photo bucket, I will get some pics up

For me is more about balance than the actual weight. My go to AR upper for years was a 16" fluted bull barrel. Went to a 10.5" after getting a can to keep the overall length, weight and balance about the same.

I also had a 24" heavy barrel 20 practical that I absolutely hated because of length and balance.

I’m with Crapshoot…weight is relative. If I have to pack it in go light. Otherwise, being a more “robust” gent, I prefer the stability of weight so I don’t over power the gun. My .308 is nicknamed the Hog…Hand Of God because of how it puts coyotes down.

The hog is all of 14 lbs with my suppressor. 16 in fluted stainless .308 on our billet upper/lower set, Magpul MOE stock, 3.5 lb trigger, YHM Phanton suppressor, camera and mount. I run the Nightstalker tripod from our friends at Night Goggles, mainly because I film while hunting.