Hary Pope felt the proper weight of a man's offhand rifle was 16 pounds and 12 pounds for a women. In those days, they shot 50 to 100 shot matches, not an easy thing to do with a rifle that's too heavy. What this trivia means, is that, as firehunter says, one must practise and develop the muscle tone needed - not an insurmoutable thing to do for someone serious about shooting what he/she wants.