THE search continues for the perfect flyweight rifle. The idea of absolute minimum carrying weight will always interest hunters who hunt in mountain country where the hills are steep and the air is thin. Acquiring a light rifle is easy. It’s the effective ultralight rifle that’s harder to come by.
The genuine flyweight mountain rifle is the lightest outfit practicable for its calibre, the accuracy needed and the recoil felt. The Howa Super Lite is the new contender here.
Flyweight rifles weighing 2kg without a scope have been around for at least three decades, but most were semi-custom jobs like the Ultra Light Model 20 and Rifle Inc Custom Model 700. They were not affordable nor easily obtained by the average Aussie hunter.
The Howa Super Lite has all the necessary credentials to be successful. My sample weighed 2kg naked, which increased to a mere 2.5kg field-ready when outfitted with a Picatinny rail, rings and a Crimson Trace 3-9x40 scope; a sling and magazine with three cartridges added only a few extra grams.
“Howa chose the Stocky’s featherlight VG2 carbon-fibre stock which weighs 455g”
How do they do it? For starters, it’s only chambered for short-action
