GG375,After looking at my response to your post I see I have missed a couple of points.The rifle weighs exactly 7 lbs without a scope- a little heavier than advertised.I did have a hiccup with the scope I put on it as this might be of interest as I believe it is -or was - a problem in Europe. I had a beautiful new (or at least unused) Zeiss Jena 4x32 with rails front and middle tube.The front rail was very short and in removing it from the rather stiff claws it split along the front rail on one side.I removed the front rail and have ordered a ring to hold it together. I notice that in Europe now the rail is along the centre tube only with a ring on the objective lens for scopes mounted with claws.I noticed also that the West German Zeiss 4x32 of a slightly later vintage had the front rail reinfoced.All this suggests my problem was not unusual.Best wishes HUBERT