Rifle Balance and Why it Matters While Shooting

You might think rifle weight is one of the most important considerations you need to make when selecting a rifle, but it’s actually where that weight is that matters most. Recently, I was setting up a rifle for deer tracking.

I fitted a Remington 870 stock to a Model 740 receiver and noticed that the gun was exceedingly front-heavy. This wouldn't work for the quick snap-shots I was expecting to take in the woods, so I added lead to the stock. The result was a more balanced rifle that came up to my face quickly and stayed there.

The thing about rifle balance is that it can alter your shooting for better or worse, depending on what you’re after. Here’s a rough breakdown of how rifles are balanced and how that balance can work to your advantage.

Front Heavy

A front-heavy rifle will have more weight in the barrel than in the butt. You’ll notice this immediately as the rifle will feel as if it wants to fall forward when you balance it with one hand just below the guard screw or magazine well.

Several things can make rifles front-heavy. For example, you might want to attach all kinds of trendy gadgets to the pic rails on your rifle. The result of all of those flashlights, IR illuminators, and barricade stops will be a front-heavy gun. Ammo can also weigh a gun down in the front—specifically when it comes to lever actions. If you’re tricking out a lever gun and making it lighter, consider how ammo in the magazine tube will affect the balance.

Front-heavy rifles aren’t all bad. In fact, they can really improve your shooting if there isn’t too much weight in the front. A front-heavy rifle has a way of “hanging” on target when shooting offhand. In other words, it will steady your shots when you’re shooting unsupported. This is a good thing for slow offhand shots at static targets. Too much weight, though, and it will leverage against you. You’ll need to fight to keep your rifle up, and this will make you wobble on target. One rifle I’ve shot that has the perfect amount of weight in the front is the Nosler Model 21.

Butt Heavy

Butt-heavy rifles feel lively. They have more weight in their rear end and usually have pencil-thin barrels and wood stocks. If you balance your rifle at the center point and it falls backward, you have a butt-heavy rifle.

Adding things to a rifle on the butt end can also contribute to its butt-heaviness. A butt cuff full of ammo is the main culprit here, as are heavy stocks that have adjustable comb risers or trap doors for cleaning kits.

When holding on a target, a butt-heavy rifle will feel as though it’s all over the place. You’ll notice that you need to physically keep your crosshair where it’s supposed to be. You have nothing to push against, so it’s all on you to make a good offhand shot.

With that said, a butt-heavy rifle is an asset to the snap shooter. By that, I’m talking about those who need to shoulder their rifle and shoot immediately. Deer trackers can do quite well with a butt-heavy rifle. If this sounds like you, go for a butt-heavy vs. a front-heavy rifle. The best butt-heavy rifle I’ve shot was a Christensen Arms Ridgeline Scout.

Just Right

If Goldilocks were shooting bears rather than eating their breakfast, she’d opt for a perfectly balanced rifle. These guns are rare. I’ve only held two of them in my life. Their makers were meticulous and considered every detail down to the scope rings. A perfectly balanced rifle (or shotgun, for that matter) will feel like you’re holding something magic. It’s not front heavy, and it’s not butt heavy; it just exists.

If you get your hands on a perfectly balanced rifle, don’t do anything to screw that up. Add a minimally invasive scope, and leave the lights and lasers at home. During one rifle test, where I was shooting several rifles from leading manufacturers at once, I had a chance to shoot timed drills with a rifle like this. No matter what I did, I just kept hitting with it. Perfectly balanced rifles are a joy to carry and effortless to shoot.

One of the two balanced rifles I’ve held was a NULA model 20. Melvin Forbes, a rifle magician from West Virginia, made these guns one at a time, by hand, for several years. Wilson Combat has recently bought the company and started making them en masse. In my opinion, it’s the best bolt-action hunting rifle on the market today. The other was a prototype Westley Richards & Co. sheep hunting rifle with a sleeved aluminum barrel. I held it at their factory in Birmingham, England, and almost wept. This gun is harder to get your hands on than the last real Four Loko, so I suggest going with the NULA.

Shooting Off of a Barricade or Tripod

Not everybody shoots offhand today. In fact, few actually do. Usually, hunters and shooters are leaning their rifles on something—taking shots from the bench or shooting from a tripod or barricade. This is a little sad, but that’s for another story. Rifle balance still comes into play when you’re shooting from a barricade, and it has a lot to do with how your rifle is constructed.

One of my biggest gripes with modern bolt action rifles is the need to include a large detachable box magazine. I love having extra ammo, but I don’t like it at the expense of my shooting. Big box magazines make it more difficult to balance a rifle on an object because they interfere with its balance point. Grab a bolt action with a flush fit or internal magazine, and you’ll have plenty of wiggle room to stop your rifle from wobbling.

Balance also comes into play when you’re adding shooting aids to your rifle. ARCA rail is a revelation when it comes to precision rifles. A full length of this on the forend can give you unlimited ways to balance your rifle on a tripod or bipod. It really works because you can move your rifle backward and forward while trying to get steady behind it. If you’re shooting a rifle with an ARCA rail, use this to your full advantage. For more minimal setups, like Spartan sockets, picatinny rail, or M-Lok, take the balance point of your rifle into consideration when selecting where to add these attachment points. If you don’t, you’ll be fighting your rifle to shoot right.

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