One Rifle Only
 

You can have ONE rifle. Whatever you like to do or want to be ready to do, that ONE rifle has to do it all. Target shooting, hunting, home defense, Red Dawn, survival, ratting, boat gun, anything - only ONE rifle is allowed you.

What would you pick and why? Model, caliber, and accoutrements.

Oh by the way you’re not allowed any other firearm. No pairing the ONE rifle with a tactical shotgun, a NFA subgun, an airgun, a pistol, etc. And, while this is implicit, you can’t change rifles. ONE rifle for life.

Think of it like Hunt For Red October. “One ping only”.

(I thought about this question because, seems to me, for much of American history a man might well have had only one rifle.)

Right now: AR10 with robust optic and back up iron sites. 30 years ago I would have chosen an FN FAL or H&K G3.

The 7.62×51 NATO is by far one of the most versatile rounds ever created.

If really only one, then it'd have to be an AR-15. Parts and ammo grow on trees.

FN SCAR H or AR10 in 308

Ak47. Wasr or better for country of manufacture.

It would have to be my standard Marlin 1895 in .45-70, fitted with a Skinner peep sight. This rifle shoots readily available factory ammunition, and if one handloads, an incredibly broad variety of bullet weights and configurations. It can be loaded down with light bullets of less than 300 grains at at less than 1,000 fps for casual plinking, or "loaded for bear" with 400 grain bullets at over 2,000 fps, capable of killing literally any game animal in North America. It is accurate enough to win rifle matches that are restricted to lever guns and single shots. It holds five rounds and can be "topped off" on the fly, making it suitable for home defense or outright battle. It is absolutely reliable, and as indestructible as any rifle we are capable of producing. It shoots cast bullets or jacketed bullets equally well. There are at least a dozen different powders that can be used to assemble useful loads. Brass lasts forever, with a couple dozen reloads pretty normal before they have to be discarded. The lighter, lower recoil loads make it a fantastic rifle to teach new shooters. At about eight pounds, it's light enough to carry all day when hunting. Just a very versatile rifle.

Probably the humble bolt action .22LR.

A creature of habit, I guess, but you can shoot all day for very little money, easy on the body, quiet, accurate.

+1 on the FN SCAR H with a Nightforce ATACR 1x8 because that’s how mine is set up and it’s very versitile.

30-30 lever action with iron sights - a ghost ring or peep.

What a terrible question. I guess I'd have to keep the Browning Mk 3 and tell people to get the hell out of my line of fire in a HD situation. It uses .308 Win.

I believe the correct term is spoon. :)

That would be the Marlin 336 I've had since '78.... stock sights are good enough for me. Or mebbe the .357 version ...

Ammo availabilty would be the reason .... probably the latter wins.

I recall what was hard to find, but still around when shelves emptied a couple of times.... had to go to the "boonies" and pay a fortune, but it was here.

I have no need for anything reaching out over 75-100 yds.... not around here.

Longspoon

I don't know guns except the WW1 Springfield made good headshots in Nazi Zombies.

I'm looking over what you guys would choose and I like the one on the left. I think it's the AR10. If I had to choose I would choose no scope especially for home defense situations.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1655726547.jpg

1903a3

3006 will stop anything
can shoot it all day long
Can hit things out to 600 yds all day long
Can hit things beyond 600 if I put some extra effort in it
No batteries to run out
optics to fog up or get damaged.
ammo matched to the irons, I can shoot various distances in wind and rain and hit. it.

Y'all can keep the mattel guns :D

I believe I've even seen folks call those a "ladle" here.

For all the proposed uses, I'd probably go shotgun rather than a rifle. Semi automatic, I can get some distance with nice punch if I need it with slugs, Home defense and zombie attack 00 buck. Boat gun yeah why not? I like a shotgun for an "all the above" gun.

Benelli M4 12 gauge

^^^^
This, but a pump.

The Ruger M77 shoots well, I'd like a .243. All around, for a rifle, probably a .270 caliber.

One rifle only?

For where I live, my Ruger Ranch...older model that I apparently got lucky with since it is accurate for the model. While I am rural, there are few unobstructed vistas.

It as also never had a FTF in over 2k rounds.

One shotgun?

My Browning Citori O/U. I'm a simple man at the Citori is close to simple man proof.

One pistol?

Before I bought a Beretta 92D (DAO) two years ago, I would have written my Browning High-Power. I like 9mm for ease of use and recoil: My son has all the .45's except my Dad's Colt Commander from the early 50's.

The 92D is also almost simple man proof as well.

It is a theme with me:cool:

Thankfully, this is a rhetorical question...maybe a "what is your favorite rifle?" would be more appropriate?

For me, it's my Reminton 721 in .257 Roberts, topped with a 4 power duplex hairs Leupold scope. I've had it since my 15th birthday, know it's features and ability well.

Stijn & I agree on "Mattel rifles"...I have a mini 14, and it's lots of fun, but for only one? The reliability of a bolt action, please. The .257 has been carried up and down many hills of the upper and lower Santiam pass...no failures.

Belgium made Browning A5 .12ga shotgun.

Lever action in .357, Marlin or Winchester, you know, to go with the pistol, because even in a doomsday scenario, I am going to have a pistol.

Not really, at least in my case. I have a lot of the rifles that have been mentioned here; lever actions, bolts, AR, etc. in a lot of different calibers.

The Ruger is far from my favorite rifle. That would be my M1 Carbine, a complete grin every time I shoot it...or my Marlin 39A Carbine (only 12,500 were made) that my Mother's Father gave me when I was 11...or my...

The Ruger wins on simplicity (semi automatic rifles won WWII), logistics and performance in my part of the world.

Remington Model 8 .308 semi-auto. Another good shooter.

I gave my 9mm Browning HP to my bookkeeper. She wants to learn how to shoot, and I made her promise to join our club and take the safety class. I just couldn't get used to the mag disconnect. It was a very very nice pistol though.

great choice. I think a more reasoned question would be what 2 rifles would you keep. I would definitely keep the M4 in that scenario. The only reasons that I don't think it's the primary rifle, is the mag capacity and range, which is around 100 yards with a slug round.

I have recommended here before, an all woman's class is the deal for female beginners. We hosted one on my farm and the results were spectacular.

My wife participated and loved it.

The M4 is not a rifle, it's a shotgun. No rifling=not a rifle.

^ well then we can be really picky and point out that a rifled slug makes it a rifle.

Just the same as a potato cannon can pass as a rifle dependent on the potato.

I was thinking this until Jeff described a more versatile version. I looked for it at Midway and saw the bad news. They don't have one in stock. Which is really good news, since their price is $5K.

M1A.... All day long

I do like the lever gun angle.. digging this well set up marlin

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1655756115.jpg

Not really. A rifled barrel would arguably make it a rifle. But a rifled slug? Not in my book it wouldn't. If I'm going for all around gun, a smooth bore barrel using rifled slugs. I lose some accuracy but I maintain function from small game to larger game to home defense. And I'd probably drop a red dot on it.

Oh my eyes... that's just so wrong.... gimme some eye bleach and wake me up from this nightmare....

Once seen.... can't be unseen.... dayum :D

The red dot that I have gets in the way of the charging handle. And the EO Tech has a larger viewing window. So for my purposes, it seems that the EO Tech gets the nod. As I mentioned in the shotgun thread, I have a tac light on it, factory Benelli sling, and a side saddle that holds 8 shells, 2 of them are rifled slugs.

screw shotgun, if the zombies/russians get that close it's already lost.
they have 5.45, shotguns won't keep them far out. 3006 will.

I really like the red dot I use for deer season. I have another that I mount for Turkey season. I used a cheap Mossberg 500 with a rifled barrel for deer season until Ohio approved using rifles with straight wall cartridges. Now I use my 450 and my poor shotgun just sits in the gun cabinet. My Ithaca featherlight 12ga keeps it company though.