Why are factory single shot rifles not lighter?

[Loper]

I’ve been following threads about single shot rifles like The Hobbit Rifle and the CVA mountain rifle build and while the concepts seem interesting, it baffles me that the factory produced single shots are not lighter than they are. They are significantly shorter than most bolt actions or semi-autos but seem to weigh about the same. It appears that any weight savings gained by not having a traditional (bolt, lever, semi) receiver is lost due to overly thick barrels. But why do the manufacturers only make heavy barrels? It’s seems to me that if they made a standard sporter contour barrel or an even thinner profile barrel they could drastically reduce weight, making a very light and handy rifle.

Can someone who knows these style of rifles explain why the manufacturers only produce thick barrels? I like the idea of having a shorter overall rifle, but probably wouldn’t consider a single shot unless both length and weight could be reduced without breaking the bank.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Check out the Blaser K95. There are only a few thousand things keeping me from getting one.

 

[Marbles]

Some of it is the forestock direct mounts to the barrel, so the barrel is always exposed to pressure applied to the forestock. A profile that was thick for the first 7 or 8 inches, then agressively tappered would be nice.

 

[Loper]

I didn’t think about how the forestock attaches to the barrel, that make sense. Yeah it seems that an aggressively tapered barrel would be the ticket.

 

[Choupique]

I had a CVA scout 2 with the big nasty bull barrel on it. Such a nice shooting rifle but you pretty much had to carry it muzzle down because it was so muzzle-heavy.

 

[Bluefish]

It just comes down to the barrel. My contender is only 4 parts, frame, stock, forend, and barrel. It’s 7lbs with a 20” bull barrel and scope. It’s about the same length as a 16” AR. Most of the common barrels are not super light. They also have a big lug on the bottom thats welded on. Might make it harder to make a carbon barrel, never really gave it much thought as it was already pretty light and handy. Also no magazine to add weight.

 

[Macintosh]

Two thoughts:
—THOSE rifles may be heavy, but not all single shot rifles are. Check out the k95 mentioned above or other kiplauf rifles. Some are very light.
—many people dont want a light rifle. While there may be advantages for some things, there are clear disadvantages to a light rifle, and it would not surprise me at all if the people that tend to buy single shot rifles are looking more for shootability than they are for packability.

 

[Wildhorse]

I've carried a ruger model one chambered in 270 weatherby for many years now one of the best shooting and easiest packing rifles I have if not the best packing. It balances well in the hand is more then accurate enough to take 600+ yard shots (although I tend to keep them under 500 on living things) and light enough even with an older nikon 3-9 to carry all day. It's the one rifle that when its deer season I dont even think twice it's the first I grab and I have never needed more than that one round to drop an animal. Probably my favorite rifle caliber combo I own.

 

[Loper]

I've carried a ruger model one chambered in 270 weatherby for many years now one of the best shooting and easiest packing rifles I have if not the best packing. It balances well in the hand is more then accurate enough to take 600+ yard shots (although I tend to keep them under 500 on living things) and light enough even with an older nikon 3-9 to carry all day. It's the one rifle that when its deer season I dont even think twice it's the first I grab and I have never needed more than that one round to drop an animal. Probably my favorite rifle caliber combo I own.

I’ve always like the look and “classicness” of the Ruger No. 1s. I’m sure at some point in my life I will own one. What is the weight of your 270 with the scope?

 

[Wildhorse]

I’ve always like the look and “classicness” of the Ruger No. 1s. I’m sure at some point in my life I will own one. What is the weight of your 270 with the scope?

I'm traveling for the holiday but when I get home I'll stand on the scale with it for you and let you know. I'm actually planning to let this one go to fund a custom built left handed 270 weatherby.

 

[mtwarden]

I would be interested in a lightweight single shot rifle, not at $5000 though.

 

[Wildhorse]

I’ve always like the look and “classicness” of the Ruger No. 1s. I’m sure at some point in my life I will own one. What is the weight of your 270 with the scope?

Sorry this has taken me so long to take care of for you with an older nikon pro staff 3-9x40 and a round in it it was 9lbs even on the scale when weighed 4 times.

 

[Loper]

Sorry this has taken me so long to take care of for you with an older nikon pro staff 3-9x40 and a round in it it was 9lbs even on the scale when weighed 4 times.

Thanks for weighing it. That’s actually heavier than I thought it would be. I know these aren’t ultralight, but I figured it would be about 8 to 8.5 lbs. with scope. I think those ProStaffs scopes only weigh 13 or 14 oz.

 

[KenLee]

I'd think the main reasons are that cheap lightweight rifles would be difficult to shoot accurately and would kick the snot out of you in calibers most people would buy.

 

[onlybrowning]

The TC Contender and G2 can be made quite light and compact. Obviously, caliber is the biggest limiting factor in that platform.


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[6mm Remington]

Here's a Ruger #1 in 6.5 ManBun (Creedmoor) that weighs 6.8 pounds with a 24" barrel.
https://ruger.com/products/no1/specSheets/21319.html.

Here's another Ruger #1 that weighs 7.5 pounds with a 24" barrel. It depends on which model you get. I have two Ruger 1B's that are a little heavier due to the 26" medium heavy barrel.

Ruger® No.1 Single-Shot Rifle Model 21319

ruger.com

 

[KenLee]

The TC Contender and G2 can be made quite light and compact. Obviously, caliber is the biggest limiting factor in that platform.


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I'd like to have an 18 inch sporter weight barrel in 7-30 Waters to piddle with.

 

[onlybrowning]

I’ve got a 22” MGM .30-30 AI coming soon. I’m anxious to see what it weighs with VX5HD 2-10x42 on it.


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[mtwarden]

Here's a Ruger #1 in 6.5 ManBun (Creedmoor) that weighs 6.8 pounds with a 24" barrel.
https://ruger.com/products/no1/specSheets/21319.html.

If Ruger thought there was a viable market, my guess is they could come up with a lighter syn stock, shorten the barrel to 20-ish", see if there were any other bits that could be lightened and have a rifle that was close to (or even slightly under) 6#.

Wether there is a viable market, I don't know. I know one bloke that would be interested

 

[Loper]

If Ruger thought there was a viable market, my guess is they could come up with a lighter syn stock, shorten the barrel to 20-ish", see if there were any other bits that could be lightened and have a rifle that was close to (or even slightly under) 6#.

Wether there is a viable market, I don't know. I know one bloke that would be interested

Make that two….