Trying to keep the Ruger 77 .357 Mag carbine slim and simple.

Day after Christmas there isn't much to do but head to the range of course. I was surprised when I hefted my 77/357 carbine in one hand and a stock 77/357 in the other the weight difference between the two was exceedingly noticeable. Curiosity got the better of me and the postal scale came out when we returned home. The pistol caliber carbine is meant to be a light easily handled short range rifle not a full weight target rifle but with scope, sling, 4 magazines (unloaded) pull through, stock pouch/cheek rest and the rear adjustable sight I installed, my carbine came in at 7 lbs 13 oz. WOW my carbine got FAT since high school I thought. A good chunk of added weight is in the scope which I don't use too often (yet). The weaver K 2.5 power on factory Ruger rings is a fantastic little scope for this type of carbine and it is also adding 1lb of weight with rings to the gun. So that means on my gun everything minus the scope/rings I'm still at 6 lbs 5 oz. Its amazing how fast weight adds up, an oz here oz there the 4 unloaded mags don't weight much but they still add 1/2 lb to the package.

For comparison I weighed the stock 77/357 and it came in at spec sheet weight of the naked gun. A handy 5 lbs 8 oz. Its not surprising I know to understand that when you add stuff the weight goes up but you want to keep in mind if you intend to go afield with a rifle you've added a few accessories to you don't want to be surprised by how much weight she's gained since you really carried her last. Food for thought. The good thing is we're not as bad as the tacticool crowd here and adding a whole lot we don't need, 4 mags for this carbine may be a tad excessive by 1 or 2 perhaps but overall everything that was put on was put on for a reason and is used. Now if I can only figure out how to mount a on-board GPS night vision fish finder I'll be the coolest...

I'm not overly concerned with weight but its just an interesting thing to keep in mind. For comparison the Savage AXIS economy rifle with scope weighs 6 lbs 8oz and a standard stock AR-15 with no junk weights about 7 lbs 2 oz.

For those who are interested the scope is a vintage weaver K2.5-1 with micro-trac cross hairs. I have several such older low power K series weaver scopes and though I do not often employ the scopes they are great for applications such as this.