If you were to build a .300WM for hunting…

[Rifleman97]

Anything shorter than 22 inches and I'd recommend going from 300wm to 300wsm. With ammo prices it's a little hard to recommend it (even though it's not too bad relatively speaking) but an 18-20" wsm if you handload would be a stellar hunting rifle

Weight depends on your athletic ability and the terrain you hunt. I'm young, in shape, and this year I'll be hunting in Nebraska. For all I care as long as the gun is under 16 pounds and has a scope with a proper magnification, I'm good to go. I'm not a fan of lightweight guns, but I'm sure I will be when I get older and more out of shape

 

[PopNFresh]

reducing weight on a rifle is an exponential cost, the first few pounds hurt your wallet a bit but the last 6 ounces hurt your wallet a ton.

you could get it light with an ultralight stock, pencil barrel and titanium action. go super light on a small scope but nothing about that is cheap.

thunderbeast offers facemounts for their cb brakes for their cans, it would cost weight but allow a thinner profile barrel and a reliable can mount system

that 300wsm would put you into a short action too and save a tiny bit of weight, I think they do better in short barrels with that fat powder column too

 

[PopNFresh]

double posted

 

[ducky]

For all I care as long as the gun is under 16 pounds and has a scope with a proper magnification, I'm good to go. I'm not a fan of lightweight guns, but I'm sure I will be when I get older and more out of shape

What you are is young, and inexperienced. Hunting Nebraska is vastly different than hunting out west. Try going on a walk carrying a 15-16 lbs rifle, a day pack with some food and water, cold weather gear, spare socks, spotting scope, tripod, binoculars, cordage, knife sharpeners, knife, saw, game bags, and etc...

Hike in 5-6 miles gain 2-3K in elevation, shoot an elk or deer. That deer or elk might have gone down a steep draw and now you're descending maybe 4-500 yards to recover your animal and another 1000 feet in elevation.

Find your animal, quarter it up into game bags, put as much as you can fit on your back. Pick up said heavy rifle and ascend back up to where you shot it, and then proceed to hike out to your camp or vehicle.

Solo hunting big mule deer you probably only have to make two more trips to pack out the rest. A big bull elk might mean 3-4 more trips. Now you're also hunting MT, ID, or WY and your in grizzly country and you're carrying said sub 16 lbs rifle on every trip in and out, unless you brought a handgun.

I was light infantry my first four years in the Army. All I can tell you I'd rather carry an M16A2/M4 and a 210 round basic load with a 40 lbs ruck on a 20 mile march than the M249 SAW, M60, or M240B with their basic load of ammunition and 40 lb ruck. You have yet to experience the suck and the lessons it brings.

If you ever hunt western states in the mountains learn to shoot a 7-9 lbs rifle. I don't care how good of shape you're in, at the end of the day your body will thank you. When your older and still in good shape and able to enjoy all of life, you'll be glad you took some stress off.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

reducing weight on a rifle is an exponential cost, the first few pounds hurt your wallet a bit but the last 6 ounces hurt your wallet a ton.

you could get it light with an ultralight stock, pencil barrel and titanium action. go super light on a small scope but nothing about that is cheap.

thunderbeast offers facemounts for their cb brakes for their cans, it would cost weight but allow a thinner profile barrel and a reliable can mount system

that 300wsm would put you into a short action too and save a tiny bit of weight, I think they do better in short barrels with that fat powder column too

Yeah, and magnums are not ideal in super lightweight rifles.

 

[Rifleman97]

What you are is young, and inexperienced. Hunting Nebraska is vastly different than hunting out west. Try going on a walk carrying a 15-16 lbs rifle, a day pack with some food and water, cold weather gear, spare socks, spotting scope, tripod, binoculars, cordage, knife sharpeners, knife, saw, game bags, and etc...

Hike in 5-6 miles gain 2-3K in elevation, shoot an elk or deer. That deer or elk might have gone down a steep draw and now you're descending maybe 4-500 yards to recover your animal and another 1000 feet in elevation.

Find your animal, quarter it up into game bags, put as much as you can fit on your back. Pick up said heavy rifle and ascend back up to where you shot it, and then proceed to hike out to your camp or vehicle.

Solo hunting big mule deer you probably only have to make two more trips to pack out the rest. A big bull elk might mean 3-4 more trips. Now you're also hunting MT, ID, or WY and your in grizzly country and you're carrying said sub 16 lbs rifle on every trip in and out, unless you brought a handgun.

I was light infantry my first four years in the Army. All I can tell you I'd rather carry an M16A2/M4 and a 210 round basic load with a 40 lbs ruck on a 20 mile march than the M249 SAW, M60, or M240B with their basic load of ammunition and 40 lb ruck. You have yet to experience the suck and the lessons it brings.

If you ever hunt western states in the mountains learn to shoot a 7-9 lbs rifle. I don't care how good of shape you're in, at the end of the day your body will thank you. When your older and still in good shape and able to enjoy all of life, you'll be glad you took some stress off.

I've hunted out west twice before, once in northern Colorado by and once just west of salmon Idaho. I used a 10 pound 300 rum when I did Idaho, Colorado I used a Winchester 70 30-06 which is around 8-8.5 pounds scoped

My point was that if you're not hunting in a mountainous area, that you don't need to worry about weight. If you are however, then weight does begin to matter. For getting a good answer to OP's question, context matters. Hence me not recommending an ultra heavy OR ultralight rifle until I had some context.

 

[Upnorth1]

I've hunted out west twice before, once in northern Colorado by and once just west of salmon Idaho. I used a 10 pound 300 rum when I did Idaho, Colorado I used a Winchester 70 30-06 which is around 8-8.5 pounds scoped

My point was that if you're not hunting in a mountainous area, that you don't need to worry about weight. If you are however, then weight does begin to matter. For getting a good answer to OP's question, context matters. Hence me not recommending an ultra heavy OR ultralight rifle until I had some context.

I hunt hilly terrain and will be doing a 9 lbs gun.

 

[memtb]

I hunt hilly terrain and will be doing a 9 lbs gun.

Elk/deer hunting in Wyoming……9 lbs of rifle was all I wanted to carry. When I was much younger and in pretty darn good shape, the rifle and my daypack filled with most anything that I may need, was getting pretty heavy at day's end of a hard hunt.

I'm still carrying that 9# rifle, but the hunts are a lot less physical now…..and less productive. Generally your success rate is tied closely to the time and miles you can put in the field! A heavy rifle makes that much more difficult! memtb