Marrakai,

I suppose that I shouldn't have stated/implied that an 8 lb. Rigby is the "good weight," but shooting it offhand should not be that big a problem, assuming it has the right stock.

Actually my 416 Rem in a Mod. 70 I got down to 7.7 lbs. and it is just fine to shoot offhand.

I tried getting a CZ 550, converted to the 416 Rem, down to the same weight but it pitched up at 8.3 lbs. Offhand it is fine to shoot also. I tried to get McMillan to use a lightweight filler on their CZ stock for it but they chickened out. If they had it would have come in at about 7.5 lbs. too.

I never shoot any of them off the bench. A very bad practice! It comes with the limitations that I do not care how they "group" and I usually don't use a scope anymore. I can sight-in the rifles for 25 yards with open sights just shooting offhand. If the bullet winds up where I was aiming when it went off then it is sighted-in. If not, adjustments to the open sights are then made until it is "sighted-in."

But that's me. Like I said, everyone needs to decide for themselves.