One Rifle?

[Slalom.45]

I just wanted to throw this in about 5.56 or .223 being big enough for deer. My son (11 yrs old) took his first deer this weekend with a Mini-14 using 64 gr soft points in .223. 50 yard tree stand shot slightly quartering away. Went in a little high taking out the spine before passing completely through and exiting the rib cage on the other side. Dropped the 120# doe in her tracks. Expired in less than 30 seconds.

I chose the Mini 14 because I had it, and because there is almost no recoil. I have never taken a deer with less than a 30-30 and I admit I was a little nervous. Not anymore. With the right bullet and placement it will do the job.

 

[Request Dust Off]

I just wanted to throw this in about 5.56 or .223 being big enough for deer. My son (11 yrs old) took his first deer this weekend with a Mini-14 using 64 gr soft points in .223. 50 yard tree stand shot slightly quartering away. Went in a little high taking out the spine before passing completely through and exiting the rib cage on the other side. Dropped the 120# doe in her tracks. Expired in less than 30 seconds.

I chose the Mini 14 because I had it, and because there is almost no recoil. I have never taken a deer with less than a 30-30 and I admit I was a little nervous. Not anymore. With the right bullet and placement it will do the job.

Congrats to y'all.

I too believe you are 100% correct. Some will disagree

All arguments aside whether .223 will do the job a big deterrent to .223 on deer is in some states it is not legal for deer. Deer being Whitetail in this context. Mule deer can be a different matter. Distance to target is another factor. Around this region shots tend to be closer in. In some places you can't hunt with a rifle either so narrowing down the area and the game helps immensely.

.243 is a nice round as well for a lighter recoiling deer capable round.

Browning bolt action in .270 or 30-06. Ammo is cheap and everywhere.

I would skip the Browning myself. .30-06, .270, .243 and .22-250 never vacated the shelves here. (Not recommending .22-250 for this)

If you get something like a .325 WSM good luck finding ammo!

 

[gwpercle]

Winchester model 94 in 30-30..... But , I guess that's just way too "old school".
Although, it's not a dreaded black assault rifle and might get by in Californa, ammo is available just about everywhere and you can't say it wont kill deer. Might be something to think about.
Gary

 

[Ijaw]

Perhaps a .444 Marlin

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/bigbore/444.asp

 

[mike84z28]

Winchester model 94 in 30-30..... But , I guess that's just way too "old school".
Although, it's not a dreaded black assault rifle and might get by in Californa, ammo is available just about everywhere and you can't say it wont kill deer. Might be something to think about.
Gary

I use mine all the time. Old school yes but still very cool !

 

[topgunz1]

gwpercle makes an interesting point, if you are going to be traveling, you may want something that's guaranteed legal in all 50 states, like a lever gun.

 

[jvr]

+1 shot gun. 12 gauge / if not 308 in what ever flavor you think. bolt / m14 socom (ar10 but could be dicey in some states with the evil black gun). bar. (lots of ammo everywhere for these guns)

 

[Jolly]

Springfield makes a California compliant M1, MA1902CA M1A California, in .308.

I think it would still qualify as a nice battle rifle as opposed to a CQ weapon, but a bit more reach never hurt nuthin', IMO. A .308 will handle anything in North America, including the average bear with the right ammo. And it doesn't mess the cases up as much as a PTR.

OTOH, if you want rock solid reliability, something that's easier to reload for and can even use cast bullets effectively, a good bolt action 30-06 is a mighty versatile weapon.

 

[Wolfgang1952]

The OP said if you could only have one (1) rifle what would it be. I’m thinking he is thinking for when the SHTF time. My LR308-AR10A2 Carbine would fit all your criteria. You got to remember that 243, 270, 3006, and all your other fancy and oddball ammo will disappear real quick. The only thing that will be around will be 5.56, 7.62x51, 7.62x39, 9mm and possibly 40 cal and maybe some 45acp, other than that the rest will disappear real quick. That is why I have settled on five primary rounds. They are 12gage, 7.62x51, 5.56, 45acp and 22cal. Every time I can afford it I am buying another case or two of my of primary ammo and just stashing it for when its needed.

And to add I have condensed my weapons to basically to three types, handgun, rifle and shotgun. 45acp handgun (sig p220-45), 22-AR15A2Carbines, 2-AR15A2 Rifles, 1-LR308-AR10A2 Carbine, 1-LR308-AR10A2 Rifle, 1-AR45A2 Carbine, 2-AR22 Carbines, 2 Model 12 Winchester pump shotguns.

Wolf

 

[xobelkcat]

You got to remember that 243, 270, 3006, and all your other fancy and oddball ammo will disappear real quick. The only thing that will be around will be 5.56, 7.62x51, 7.62x39, 9mm and possibly 40 cal and maybe some 45acp, other than that the rest will disappear real quick. That is why I have settled on five primary rounds.

Wolf

I don't know about this. After Obama won the first or second election, after fort hood, sandy hook, or any event that caused panic buying/hoarding of ammo, all your calibers were the first to fly off the shelves. the calibers that stayed in stock, at least in my area, were 7mm-08, 7mm mag, maybe .243win. At least in rifle calibers.

The way I see it, the most common, or most popular calibers are going to have the greatest demand, and least likely to be found.

 

[Seadonist]

Don't know if I would choose a bolt action or AR platform but caliber would definitely be .308. Most versatile round out there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DuckYou]

I would narrow down to:

AR-10 .308
AR-15 5.56
30-06 bolt gun
12 gauge
9mm handgun or 4
22lr rifle
22lr pistol
A 5.56 can and a cleanable 22lr can

wont take up too much room. There is usually a lot of storage room in RVs.

 

[Saw]

16" barrel AR10-type platform. Accuracy, range (.308~2400ish FPS out of a short barrel), ammo availability, magazine cap (or not...as required), optics mounting options, modularity (relatively speaking). Probably tough to get Kalifornia configured though.

...so 30-30 lever gun.

 

[AustinBR]

Only one rifle?



And if you're planning on defending yourself inside the RV, I'd take a handgun, unless you plan on defending yourself against bear attacks in the bedroom

Slightly off topic...I want one. Someone should sponsor and donate to the Austin cause...ya know, for all of the FREE work I do here!

 

[RM Holsters]

If I could only have 1 "rifle" would be an AR10 variant.
If I could only have 1 "long gun" it would be a 12 gauge shotgun. From hunting fowl, small game, large game at short distance, bears, self defense or crowd control (zombie apocalypse). You can even get the inserts for shotguns to shoot anything from .22 to.308.

 

[Harrisracing]

One gun...dang tough call.

To second the .223 argument...my best friend shot and killed 15 does in one week this year with .223 62gr FMJ's out of a CZ american bolt action - All dead with ONE bullet each. He even shot one at 285 yds...not a perfect shot...and it died within 75 yards.

So my one gun would be: an MGI Marck V Hydra in .223 with a 20" target crown barrel (to be used on big game if needed) and a 9" .300 blackout barrel (pistol gas) with a form 1 suppressor pinned and welded to it (bringing it to 16" overall length). About 100 rounds of subsonic .300 blackout, and 100 rounds of 62gr FMJ or other larger grain .223 ammo. I would have one 10-round magazine in the receiver, and 3 other 30 round GI mags in the case (more compact). I would be willing to bet this would all fit inside a small toolbox. Optic would be either a bushnell throw-down, Weaver kaspa 1.5-6x, or vortex viper 1-4x scope.

It is important to note that this wouldn't be an SBR as travelling state-to-state with an SBR would be damn near impossible with ATF advanced notice. The suppressor, however, does not require notification to travel.

 

[shrxfn]

One gun...dang tough call.

To second the .223 argument...my best friend shot and killed 15 does in one week this year with .223 62gr FMJ's out of a CZ american bolt action - All dead with ONE bullet each. He even shot one at 285 yds...not a perfect shot...and it died within 75 yards.

So my one gun would be: an MGI Marck V Hydra in .223 with a 20" target crown barrel (to be used on big game if needed) and a 9" .300 blackout barrel (pistol gas) with a form 1 suppressor pinned and welded to it (bringing it to 16" overall length). About 100 rounds of subsonic .300 blackout, and 100 rounds of 62gr FMJ or other larger grain .223 ammo. I would have one 10-round magazine in the receiver, and 3 other 30 round GI mags in the case (more compact). I would be willing to bet this would all fit inside a small toolbox. Optic would be either a bushnell throw-down, Weaver kaspa 1.5-6x, or vortex viper 1-4x scope.

It is important to note that this wouldn't be an SBR as travelling state-to-state with an SBR would be damn near impossible with ATF advanced notice. The suppressor, however, does not require notification to travel.

Unfortunately suppressors are not legal in all states so if traveling then he could be violating the law unknowingly. Or find out the laws in all the states and plan travel around the ones that do not have unfriendly gun laws.

 

[Harrisracing]

Unfortunately suppressors are not legal in all states so if traveling then he could be violating the law unknowingly. Or find out the laws in all the states and plan travel around the ones that do not have unfriendly gun laws.

Well that kinda goes without saying...same as the magazine restrictions, firearm restrictions etc. Check the state laws (or don't travel to those crappy states!). But the SBR transfer across state lines is a huge PITA compared to suppressor.

 

[Jimbo1949]

22LR Reasonable cost.....cheap ammo. Will take anything from rabbit to deer.

 

[Magdump]

One rifle for everything... Nobody does that. But one of the most versatile in my opinion would be a AR in .300 AAC. So many loads. Everything but the barrel is interchangeable with a standard 5.56 AR. Loud or quiet, heavy and slow or light and fast. Hits like 7.62x39 or slings a 220 grain bullet without waking up the woods or totally giving away your position.

2nd choice would be one of the old rifle/shotty combos. I like my 30-30 on 12ga just fine