Long Range ShootingMarksmanshipPrecision Rifles

How Heavy is Too Heavy, Rifle Weight

The opinions and conclusions I share are 100% biased and subjective to my experiences. Now that that disclaimer is out of the way, let’s get started.

A few years ago, I committed to a competition called Assassins Way, a month-long field competition that is designed to test a variety of field craft, rifle craft, and other skills a well-rounded shooter should know. The gear requirements however are such that you have to carry your load for the entire month through multiple states and biomes. No swapping out gear, replacing items, etc. Knowing the demands of being out in the field for a long time, I gave myself a year to test equipment, techniques. I wanted to learn the stuff that I didn’t have a good grasp on in order to leverage myself toward a top finish. 

Weight is Stability but you still have to carry it

Most of what I did was test equipment and challenge dogma embedded in the art of long range and field shooting to see for myself if they were true or old wives tales. Many of the tests went against my own scientific mind to validate accepted beliefs, and also just for shits because I like to go against the grain.

Nevertheless, the year had many twists and turns, ups and downs, but in the end I am farther then where I aimed to be. I am confident about what I will use and how I will approach this event as a competitor looking to win.

So, lets rewind a year.

One of the first posts I made online was about overall loadout considerations. Even if you haven’t carried a huge pack with weeks of equipment and food in it, you can imagine that a 22lb competition rifle is probably not an ideal choice, so the question that arose of what weight is ideal for an event like this. 

With my background in adventure racing and climbing I was less concerned initially with equipment than I was in choosing a rifle build and caliber that would fit the bill for unknown distance shooting. I also thought it would be a quick process to make a decision and run with it. I was wrong. 

Fairly quickly I developed a test to compare different weight rifles. It was an early paper test that is now the predecessor of the RifleKraft target. Within a few days I found that the popular theme of adding weight for competition definitely allowed me to shoot smaller groups from a variety of positions off of a bag. 

As a competitive person, and sometimes a hot head, I didn’t like not being able to shoot any rifle as well as another. Rather than accept that I was better with a 20lb rifle than a 16lb rifle I started to diagnose why. The reason quickly revealed itself: I lacked the proper fundamentals. Sure, I had some great results, in fact in a 15-month period I received 7 trophies but all of that was meaningless now. I realized I wasn’t as good as I thought I was.

Heavy or Balanced which is better ?

I have seen top level shooters pick up light rifles and shoot just as good or better. Most of the top competitors spent decades working their fundamentals. Most of the top competitors are the top because they have nearly perfect fundamentals and use weight to gain an extra percentage point or two. If a shooter with poor fundamentals adds weight not only do they not develop fundamentals, but they seem to confuse what the pros are doing as what they need to do. This happens in sports, shooting, and probably any activity that has skill and equipment involved in a competitive setting. 

Having seen it in climbing and other outlets I decided to double down on fundamentals.

The Kraft was born and you know that part. I had ok fundamentals, but they lacked in comparison to the top-level competitors. They still do I imagine, but I’m getting better. 

Now I can take a 10lb rifle, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25 and shoot the same kraft baseline with 6 bra, 6.5 Creedmoor, 308, and 6.5 prc. I shot a lot and focused on shooting fundamentals for a year neglecting most other skills, but fundamentals are called that for a reason. 

So, does weight matter? Yes, kind of. If you have solid fundamentals it could provide a small percentage boost, but if you lack fundamentals it could deteriorate your skillsets and confuse what you need to do to improve. 

Heavy Rifle, Light Trigger

Unfortunately, due to covid Assassins Way was postponed, however, when the time comes, I plan to use a 10-12lb rifle simply for the sake of being able to move more efficiently across terrain and not smoke my legs. I shoot the same now with a light rifle so I have no concern about an advantage weight might add. In Assassins Way the advantage of a light rifle far outweighs the small increase in hit percentage on small targets such that it’s a non issue for me. 

In NRL PRS style, which I mainly do for training and testing because there aren’t enough other outlets, I believe that the 16-18lb range is ideal for the speed of stabilizing positions under a short time; heavier than that for me really has no measurable influence on hit percentages as identified during the competition season.

As an example of some of the tests I conducted, I shot 6 PRS and NRL national matches in the last year with decreasing weight in my chassis from 20 to 14lbs at each event. Because I also decreased bullet velocity concurrently at these events I always show baselines with what I dubbed a competition speed load to verify group sizes were consistent and thus differentiated between chassis weight and bullet speeds. Remember these were just my tests so I know you need to isolate one variable not two, but there aren’t that many comps and I wanted to do it this way (suck it). 

Hit Percentage tells the Tale

I noticed no real change in hit percentage with rifle weight vs lad velocity which has a substantial influence as I broke a minimum threshold (future post.

 So, to make a short story long, adding weight doesn’t help my shooting all that much, but It could help grow sexy biceps if that’s the real goal.

Take Away Weight conclusion: With good fundamentals, weight offers a small boost in performance but for the less experienced shooter it’s a crutch that will ultimately come back to bite you.

Chris Way

RifleKraft

Interesting article.

I agree with a lot of it - with the proper fundamentals, there's less for the recoil to exploit.

I do think these new heavy PRS rifles with feather triggers are a crutch, and have diminished applications in "real world" applications.

I love how Chris experiments and places a heavy emphasis on fundamentals. I would think many PRS shooters would be surprised at big of a crutch their rifles are - you can get away with A LOT with a 25 lb 6mm. I once had a top tier PRS shooter (who helps/helped train at a big time precision rifle training center) shoot my unbraked TacOps .308 rifle, and he couldn't produce groups less than 1 MOA with it.
 
Very similar to USPSA where 'gamer guns' dominate, big heavy 5 inch barrel guns shooting light loads because that's what top guys do. But give those top guys a standard glock and they still smoke you because their 'handgun' fundamentals are top notch.

And the we all carry glock 19 clones for ccw, because who wants to carry that hunk of steel all day.
 
Excellent read!
I mainly shoot NRL22 and no CF yet and seen some of these guys with top gear that very heavy rifles struggled to shoot on many stages due to their weights. One shooter had a 22lb set up that was ridiculous for a rimfire. Haven't seen him shoot anymore. I been on it for 3 years and still working on fundamentals but learning fast.
 
I just watched a clip of a guy shooting a 175# rifle like this Anzio 20mm 🤣
IMG_4951.jpeg
 
Very similar to USPSA where 'gamer guns' dominate, big heavy 5 inch barrel guns shooting light loads because that's what top guys do. But give those top guys a standard glock and they still smoke you because their 'handgun' fundamentals are top notch.

And the we all carry glock 19 clones for ccw, because who wants to carry that hunk of steel all day.
Speak for yourself, I hate glocks and their clones and wouldn't touch one for carry if you paid me.

The article is good, though. Fundamentals are necessary. I learned and still train with either a pellet rifle and tiny targets or .22s and tiny targets because it's cheap and easy, and they're unforgiving on the fundamentals.
 
For years I've shot the Sporting Rifle Match at Whittington in Raton. Recently I attended my first NRL match- I was the ONLY GUY there with a sling on his rifle. Very eye opening- my focus has always been on practical, useful field marksmanship....Don't think I'll go back to the NRL event even though it is local to me.

What's this got to do with the weight of a rifle? If you can't hump it in the field, I'm not much interested in it. Might as well shoot benchrest where you "caddy" your rifle from the trunk of your car with all it's associated junk to the bench, "Wow, we shooting now!".
 
For years I've shot the Sporting Rifle Match at Whittington in Raton. Recently I attended my first NRL match- I was the ONLY GUY there with a sling on his rifle. Very eye opening- my focus has always been on practical, useful field marksmanship....Don't think I'll go back to the NRL event even though it is local to me.

What's this got to do with the weight of a rifle? If you can't hump it in the field, I'm not much interested in it. Might as well shoot benchrest where you "caddy" your rifle from the trunk of your car with all it's associated junk to the bench, "Wow, we shooting now!".
Agreed…
 
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<The M240B has entered the chat>

The only thing worse than humping the pig was getting stuck as the AG. I guess jumping the base plate would be worse. I can tell stories about how hard I was as a younger man, but that doesn't change the fact that if I hit the woods of my own accord with 29+ lbs in my arms and/or 120+ lbs in my ruck sack I'm an idiot... and I deserve to suffer.
 
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Glad to hear some others voice what I've thought. I suppose its like top fuel dragsters, nothing practical about it.

That huge vise your BR gun is in isnt going to do any good if youve got to run across the field.
 
I would gladly hump the semi auto pig out deer hunting,probably not so great at snap shooting,but a real winner in a tree stand on a rest ! Watch the belt length in NY! I can’t afford $18,000.00 ( used ,good condition)though.
 
Like anything, it is the right tool for the job.

Even the blue rifle above in the picture Frank took at the February 2023 PALA training right next to me was supercool to shoot with...all that free Berger 6.5 Creed Lapua brass he gave us....out of the price range for some of us, and just another tool in the box for others of us.

PRS has its class of right tools; hunting has it class of right tools; bench rest and F-class have theirs, etc. Comparing one to the other sometimes is like saying which is faster: using a school bus or a supercharged corvette to get a class of kids to school on time? Bus does in one go, but slower; corvette does much faster, but has to make many trips, and probably not in as short a time. One gets you one and done, and the other makes you look good, doing it. Sound familiar? Who cares other than those we share a similar mindset with? Opinions here seem to be based on a one-gun-fits-all premise, and I get that.

When we were young, how many of us used just one color of crayon from a new box on the construction paper? Only difference now is that the blue crayon above and below is a lot more expensive, but in this Golden Age of high velocity target golf, it sure is nice to have lots of choices....

PalaRifle.jpg
 
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Nice article. I really appreciate Chris taking the time to look at things from different perspectives. I could write a long reply citing how IPSC lost its practical roots and F-TR went from Harris bipods to Cattle Grates on the front of their rifles, but I won’t. It’s just human nature.

You can either accept that you have to go down the equipment rabbit hole to be competitive or you can dismiss it completely and shoot for your own individual purposes.

If the powers that be wanted to keep competition close to real world and practical, the solution is simple - make the competition as real world as possible also. That will force the equipment to follow suit. One easy example, what if PRS routinely had 5 sec. pop-up targets that you had to shoot offhand or kneeling? The equipment would change to accommodate unsupported shots. There’s 10 other things like this that could be done so stages weren’t so choreographed.
 
It occurred to me that PRS is the rifle equivalent of USPSA Open Division... there's not a shred of practicality in the equipment (unless you look really hard) for anything but that specific game. I wouldn't carry a PRS gun any more than I would carry a 1911 race gun in .38 Super. That doesn't mean I can't use a comp gun to build transferable skills though (or that they don't make a decent test bed for equipment, because comp guys are running their shit harder than just about anyone else not doing it for a living).
 
I could write a long reply citing how IPSC lost its practical roots

Interesting how the best military units in the US continue to hire certain USPSA Grand Masters (most of which have zero military experience) to teach them how to be the most effective shooters they can be.

Practicality lost, indeed.

They understand that the skills to run a pistol or a rifle to a high level transfer from sport to war. The only change is the context, and that's where tactics come into play.

Shooting sports that emphasize "tactics" never actually drive improvement in tactics and always end up being a contrived simulation of nothing that can actually be used in the real world. I give you IDPA as exhibit #1.

Practical does not mean "using the same shit I carry day to day in scenarios that are identical to real life". Such has almost no marksmanship training value and zero entertainment value. Because in case you missed it, sports have to be entertaining or no one would do them or watch them.
 
My fundamentals are weak, weight is my small crutch, and Tripod rear is the big crutch! I hit lots of targets, but I'm just playing the game. I build good positions, have pretty decent natural point of aim, but my body is never still and I always have a fn wobble zone bigger than the target, if I'm physically driving the rifle. I don't like free recoil, but the reticle is mostly still for that. Low positions are okay but one its high kneeling or standing, goes to shit. Have to time my trigger press, which I know is garbage. Bottom line, I need to get better! Currently building a nrl hunter heavy rig(2 barrels), that'll become the new training rig to fix my crap. Should probably take some classes from quality instructors.
 
My fundamentals are weak, weight is my small crutch, and Tripod rear is the big crutch! I hit lots of targets, but I'm just playing the game. I build good positions, have pretty decent natural point of aim, but my body is never still and I always have a fn wobble zone bigger than the target, if I'm physically driving the rifle. I don't like free recoil, but the reticle is mostly still for that. Low positions are okay but one its high kneeling or standing, goes to shit. Have to time my trigger press, which I know is garbage. Bottom line, I need to get better! Currently building a nrl hunter heavy rig(2 barrels), that'll become the new training rig to fix my crap. Should probably take some classes from quality instructors.
Sounds like PRS and NRL are helping you identify your weaknesses and are providing you a place to work on them to get better. We all need more training, so I agree with you on getting more. I need to also.

Why not go with the light rifle (12#) for NRL? Then when you do use a heavy rifle for competition, it’ll be cake.
 
Sounds like PRS and NRL are helping you identify your weaknesses and are providing you a place to work on them to get better. We all need more training, so I agree with you on getting more. I need to also.

Why not go with the light rifle (12#) for NRL? Then when you do use a heavy rifle for competition, it’ll be cake.
Babysteps my friend! I'm having my smith cut me two barrels, 6# heavy palma for heavy hunter, and 4# light palma for light hunter. I've got quite a few rifles to play with.
 
Interesting how the best military units in the US continue to hire certain USPSA Grand Masters (most of which have zero military experience) to teach them how to be the most effective shooters they can be.

Practicality lost, indeed.

They understand that the skills to run a pistol or a rifle to a high level transfer from sport to war. The only change is the context, and that's where tactics come into play.

Shooting sports that emphasize "tactics" never actually drive improvement in tactics and always end up being a contrived simulation of nothing that can actually be used in the real world. I give you IDPA as exhibit #1.

Practical does not mean "using the same shit I carry day to day in scenarios that are identical to real life". Such has almost no marksmanship training value and zero entertainment value. Because in case you missed it, sports have to be entertaining or no one would do them or watch them.
They do hire Grand Masters etc...Why? Because when you are at that level of performance- SF, Delta etc...the TINIEST of things can be an advantage. That doesn't mean that they use ALL of the Gamer techniques on the battlefield, it might be something as simple as a slight grip adjustment- that makes the difference to them in ONE specific scenario, it's a tool.... At the "bleeding edge" of performance tiny, tiny things can matter. Somehow I don't think that applies to most of us, speaking for me and most of the shooters I know anyway.
 
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They do hire Grand Masters etc...Why? Because when you are at that level of performance- SF, Delta etc...the TINIEST of things can be an advantage.
Which bolsters the point I'm making


That doesn't mean that they use ALL of the Gamer techniques on the battlefield,
Pistol shooting is pistol shooting. There aren't any "gamer" techniques when it comes to shooting a handgun. There is low performance and high performance.

Playing the practical pistol sport involves many other skills besides shooting. Tactics, if you will, to be more effective in a particular context that is not fighting.

At the "bleeding edge" of performance tiny, tiny things can matter. Somehow I don't think that applies to most of us, speaking for me and most of the shooters I know anyway.
That depends on how far along the skills road you are and how much further do you want to go.
 
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The best part of the military using civilians to teach shooting is when the argument gets turned around

Having taught the military from a civilian facility, I can tell you on any given day someone will use it as a positive, and someone will use it as a negative.

The reality is, that it gets them out of the incestuous training cycle the military uses. It opens up minds and gets them outside of the box. You can create training scars with any type of instruction, but by mixing it up you break those scars down to the smallest possible amount.

Some train equipment, some train marksmanship, and some will dabble in tactics, but in most cases, it's just about thinking differently. In military schools, the instructors are nothing more than someone put in the position because they are available. They might have deployed as X, but they never taught before and have no instructor credentials but are there to repeat the course of instruction. How they interpret that course of instruction is debatable too. Some see their job as someone to fail students, and others see their job to pass students, a small but important difference.

Also, there is the payoff aspect too, who pays off the decision-makers with hunts, trips, and equipment so the guys under them will attend courses. That is very real too. That doesn't mean it's right, but it is real.
 
The best part of the military using civilians to teach shooting is when the argument gets turned around

Having taught the military from a civilian facility, I can tell you on any given day someone will use it as a positive, and someone will use it as a negative.

The reality is, that it gets them out of the incestuous training cycle the military uses. It opens up minds and gets them outside of the box. You can create training scars with any type of instruction, but by mixing it up you break those scars down to the smallest possible amount.

Some train equipment, some train marksmanship, and some will dabble in tactics, but in most cases, it's just about thinking differently. In military schools, the instructors are nothing more than someone put in the position because they are available. They might have deployed as X, but they never taught before and have no instructor credentials but are there to repeat the course of instruction. How they interpret that course of instruction is debatable too. Some see their job as someone to fail students, and others see their job to pass students, a small but important difference.

Also, there is the payoff aspect too, who pays off the decision-makers with hunts, trips, and equipment so the guys under them will attend courses. That is very real too. That doesn't mean it's right, but it is real.
Now if they could just get folks to understand that PsyOps instruction is no different.

Just 'sayin!

Sirhr

PS. Well said!
 
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I'd rather have aloud effective brake than a 2x or 3x the weight gun, but then again I'm used to carrying lots of weight for my size (not body weight wise). Grew up on a ranch that required lots of lifting and throwing calves 4x my weight and some 10x's. Feed sacks weighed 100#, not like these OSHA bags of 50#. When I was in 3rd grade I carried my dad 100 yards on my back and he weighed 220#. That's because he didn't want to get stickers (sand burrs) on his feet. I think he really wanted to see if I could carry him? A balanced 30# gun can feel lighter than an unbalanced gun 1/2 the weight (to me that is, ymmv).
 
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