What one rifle for home or farm protection and hunting would you pick.

[crestoncowboy]

AR. I don't understand why some members have mentioned magazines like they're a bad thing. Magazines are generally regarded as beneficial in a fight rather than a detriment. My lever guns are for fun (target shooting and hunting). My fighting rifle is set up to win the fight and it is equipped in such a way to give me the best opportunity to do just that.

Because magazines fail. Every day. Especially in adverse conditions. Blind boxes or tube fed can fail but it's pretty hard to make it happen

But i agree they are plenty good and as long as the user knows they are expendable wear items I give them little thought.

As far as the AR and being impossible to kill.....id worry more about the gas system than the magazines. There are a billion mags in existence now. More every day.

But for home/farm defense your probably not crawling in mud and through brush and razor wire so it makes little difference IMO. Sometimes ill grab my Cz 17 HMR or a lever action 22. My pick of AR is just to be sure ive got enough rifle to kill a whitetail if I needed it.

Id sure hate to have to choose only one though. Would I give up my first rifle? A 257 Robert's 700 mountain. Would I give up some nice older and valuable winchester and Remington wood/blued rifles for an ugly AR..... would I give up the 338 lapua 110 BAT and Barret for a puny AR...would I give up my grandpa's winchester M1 carbine or my dads old Ithaca 22 levergun that I learned to shoot with? Idk. Lol

From a practicality standpoint id almost have to. But would I.....IDK.

I guess if I could only have one rifle I'd have far more handgun and shotgun to fill some gaps. Lol. My 460 could take a lot of the big rifle room. Any of my 22 handguns could take over some small game action and replace my collection of old 22 leverguns.....

 

[crestoncowboy]

M2. . First thing it would kill is the bank account.

Shortly after it will kill your back if the farm isn't neatly in one direction and you actually need to move the gun in the middle of the night half asleep. Lol

 

[Gumby0961]

Of what I own, it would have to be my AR in 7.62 x 39. Seems to work for everything except long range.

 

[Armored farmer]

AR. I don't understand why some members have mentioned magazines like they're a bad thing. Magazines are generally regarded as beneficial in a fight rather than a detriment. My lever guns are for fun (target shooting and hunting). My fighting rifle is set up to win the fight and it is equipped in such a way to give me the best opportunity to do just that.

Some states.....(ahem) have new laws pertaining to semi auto rifles and magazines.......

 

[9x56MS]

Marlin 336 in 35 rem.

 

[Choctaw]

Some states.....(ahem) have new laws pertaining to semi auto rifles and magazines.......

Oh yeah, that's right. Sorry about that.

 

[crestoncowboy]

Some states.....(ahem) have new laws pertaining to semi auto rifles and magazines.......

If I were limited to others with no magazine, I may consider a lever action. Ive killed many critters at my chickens with a cz452 in 17 HMR as well of a mag fed bolt rimfire is ok. I have a few old pump and semi auto Remington 30-06 as well but in that "fox with a hostage" scenario the hostage is probably just gonna die with those. Lol.

Not that I care so much, I shot through a duck this year with my AR that a fox was carrying off....mercy kill or collateral damage.....I don't know. Lol. The last two years were my worst EVER for Fox. Apparently I have a better crop of Foxes than I do fowl.

 

[9x56MS]

If I were limited to others with no magazine, I may consider a lever action. Ive killed many critters at my chickens with a cz452 in 17 HMR as well of a mag fed bolt rimfire is ok. I have a few old pump and semi auto Remington 30-06 as well but in that "fox with a hostage" scenario the hostage is probably just gonna die with those. Lol.

Not that I care so much, I shot through a duck this year with my AR that a fox was carrying off....mercy kill or collateral damage.....I don't know. Lol. The last two years were my worst EVER for Fox. Apparently I have a better crop of Foxes than I do fowl.

Foxes tend to be hard on fowl and they don’t stand for the shot very well either. I find a shotgun with #5shot does pretty well though.

 

[kerreckt]

Mini 30 with red dot.

 

[d2wing]

Years ago my rifle was a 742 in 30-06, a shotgun and a .22LR. Now my hunting rifle is a 7-08 bolt action. I would be well served by an AR in .223 as i have killed big deer with one. I could get by with a .22 LR or 30-06 or shotgun as each has been my main weapon at times. I didn't hunt deer or big game with the .22 LR but in a pinch I could. I have hunted with a .357 revolver as well. You can kill game with just about any rifle. Soft point expanding ammo is required in my state. Well I can. If you can't that is on you. Kinda the same with self defense but that is conditional. What are you defending against and at what range. And what kind of law enforcement or not. You could be under gunned or over gunned possibly.
The guys that like tube feeds must never have had a damaged or lost tube part. You can carry a spare box magazine. A tube, not so much. I have 4 tube feed rifles, 3 of them have had issues that required repairs and in 2 cases spare parts that were hard to find. Still looking for a inner tube and but plate for one rifle. But to each his own.

 

[Beck]

My Ruger Mini-30 with 18" barrel, of course.

My Rossi 92 levergun in 357 Magnum with 20" barrel is a close second choice.