Short, light rifle for little deer

[Intheshop]

7-08 ADL with carbon fibre stock. Thin'ish 22" brrl..... and would seriously consider 24". Then have two scopes,straight 6X for hiking/trail use..... and 4.5-14 for chillin,hanging around the house.

I could make a dang good case for a 308 in the above but,the 7's recoil puts the whole package in a better,larger tune window. Need the bullet weight of the 7 over the smaller bores.

 

[Tommie]

As I continue to mourn the demise of the 250-3000…

 

[AWS]

Any of the dandi little Ruger 77 RSI's would be nice and handsome also. Wooters liked the full stocked Sako's, I could live with one of those, OH I do..

 

[rjtfroggy]

As I continue to mourn the demise of the 250-3000…

Not all that hard to put one together.

 

[CharlieNC]

View attachment 1284898

Everybody should own a 30-30 lever gun! Among others of course like a 223, 308, .......etc

 

[potatojudge]

My light rifles are Kimber Montana 7-08/Mountain Ascent 280AI, Browning low wall in 260 and 338 Federal, or Contender carbines in various calibers- 7-30, 44 mag, 6.8 SPC.

For short, a Contender can't be beat since the action saves you an inch or two over a bolt action. 7-30 is a great deer round with 120 grain ballistic tips. Match grade custom barrels are reasonably priced and easily swapped.

 

[PigButtons]

My light rifles are Kimber Montana 7-08/Mountain Ascent 280AI, Browning low wall in 260 and 338 Federal, or Contender carbines in various calibers- 7-30, 44 mag, 6.8 SPC.

For short, a Contender can't be beat since the action saves you an inch or two over a bolt action. 7-30 is a great deer round with 120 grain ballistic tips. Match grade custom barrels are reasonably priced and easily swapped.

Or if you need more you can get an Encore for the 308, 30-06, CM, or something unique, as there's still a few custom shops building barrels.

 

[JFrank]

A friend of mine swears by his Browning lever action 308.

 

[284winner]

Having successfully filled a tag for an Oregon blacktail this week, with my 26" barrel, 10.5lb 30-06 with a fixed 10x scope, I felt a bit "over gunned" if you will in those dense woods. The gun is built for NV mulies and AZ coues deer at long range. So now I'm looking into something short, light, and with a little less horsepower than the 30-06 with 178s.

I currently shoot and load for 6.8spc and 6br which I think both cartridges would do everything I need on those deer, but I'm also not opposed to an inexpensive factory rifle that I chop the barrel on.

Thoughts? I'm not set on those chamberings, just what I have that may work well.

What immediately comes to mind and real surprised nobody else threw it in the mix is the 257 Roberts With the 120 class bullets, makes it a fantastic deer cartridge from most size deer and recoil is barely detectable. Not sure what your long range is but should be good for ranges out to 500 yards. Ruger makes it in the #1 model rifle. Pretty light rifle.

 

[choprzrul]

Kimber Mountain Ascent 6.5 Creedmoor. 22" barrel, 4lbs, 13oz. https://www.kimberamerica.com/mountain-ascent

 

[choprzrul]

What immediately comes to mind and real surprised nobody else threw it in the mix is the 257 Roberts With the 120 class bullets, makes it a fantastic deer cartridge from most size deer and recoil is barely detectable. Not sure what your long range is but should be good for ranges out to 500 yards. Ruger makes it in the #1 model rifle. Pretty light rifle.

My tang safety M77 with a med sporter Bartlein 22" barrel is a shooter with 115gr Partitions....but not exactly light

.

 

[varmintshooter]

For a lite rifle and small deer I would look at a CZ 527 in 223 cal. They are a 9 twist so will let you shoot 65 Sierra Gameking or 60 Nolser Partition. Keep shots under 200 yds. I think the 16.5" barreled gun comes with a threaded muzzel and is just under 6 lbs. They may also come in 6.5 grendel but I'm not sure without looking.

 

[284winner]

My tang safety M77 with a med sporter Bartlein 22" barrel is a shooter with 115gr Partitions....but not exactly light

.

7lbs for the #1 w/22" bbl

 

[choprzrul]

7lbs for the #1 w/22" bbl

Once I add the scope, bipod, sling, and spare ammo on the buttstock, it starts to add up....
.

 

[shoot4fun]

The Remington Model 7 in 7MM08 has been my game winner for almost 30 years. It's short, light and handles better than anything I ever tried in our smallish shooting houses. Not to mention it strikes deer sized game like lightning. Too bad they are not currently in production.
I owned a Kimber M84 Hunter for a season. Lightweight for sure but I found mine,(257 Roberts) to be not ideal for function and the small action/magazines to be too short for tuning some good shooting hunting loads.

 

[284winner]

Once I add the scope, bipod, sling, and spare ammo on the buttstock, it starts to add up....
.

U bet it does. Only have sling and 18oz scope, 6oz base/rings. Around 9 lbs total. Lots of good options. 7/08, .260, .308, 25 Creedmoor, 6.5 Creedmoor.

 

[LAH]

Boring I know but works extremely well.

 

[Adam in WI]

Boring I know but works extremely well.

I would carry that rifle for the simple fact that it looks like it knows what the hell it's doing.

 

[Toddmack]

Having successfully filled a tag for an Oregon blacktail this week, with my 26" barrel, 10.5lb 30-06 with a fixed 10x scope, I felt a bit "over gunned" if you will in those dense woods. The gun is built for NV mulies and AZ coues deer at long range. So now I'm looking into something short, light, and with a little less horsepower than the 30-06 with 178s.

I currently shoot and load for 6.8spc and 6br which I think both cartridges would do everything I need on those deer, but I'm also not opposed to an inexpensive factory rifle that I chop the barrel on.

Thoughts? I'm not set on those chamberings, just what I have that may work well.

I think you know the answer already but would like an excuse for a new cartridge.

 

[drano38]

OP, do you have an AR-15? If you do, build a 6.8 SPC upper. That's what I did a few years ago. AR Performance 16" light barrel, Clark Custom carbon fiber forearm. Vortex 1-4x with illuminated reticle.
The sling can be single point at the buffer tube nut, or 2-point by moving one end to the front of the forearm.
Light, maneuverable, easy to carry.
A lever gun is a great choice also as mentioned by several people already.