Hunting / military style semiauto differences are ...?

T

tl

New member
Looking at the posts from the past couple of weeks there are several that reference AR15 style rifles, but few comments regarding the 'hunting' semiautos, such the Browning or Remington models. My sense is that most would recommend going to a Bushmaster rather than a BAR for a semiauto (?). My brand references in this post are meant to be generic of type rather than specific brand.

Are the hunting semiautos in a sort of 'no man's land'; not as accurate as a good bolt action, but not the adrenalin rush of a Bushmaster? I understand intended use qualifies a potential purchase; bolt action for high accuracy, but am not clear on intended use of an Armalite (for most of us at least) rather than a Remington Model 7400 if there is a preference for a semiauto.

After many years away from rifle shooting (and that was a .22LR) I may have opportunity soon to do longer distance shooting (up to 500-600 yards), so have been researching centerfire rifles; amazing variety of choice that I was generally unaware of. The shooting would primarily be target, but not competition, with an occasional need to dispose of larger varmint (up to feral dog size). General ease of maintenance is also an issue.
 
The hunting semi autos are basically deer rifles, in calibers like 270 Win, 30'06, 308 and 243. They usually have a magazine capacity of 5 rounds and are more nicely finished than military weapons.

The military semi autos have larger mag capacities and a more businesslike appearance.

I have noticed a tremendous shift in the last 20 or 30 years where people have avidly bought military rifles. When I started shooting in the 60s you could buy a Garand/Mauser/Lee Enfield/Etc. for a song, but nobody would buy one. They wanted the deer rifles.

Maybe it is the SHTF/Armageddon mentality that makes military rifles so popular?
 
Virtually non-existent.

Unless you're a gun grabber.

Where permitted by state law, many people hunt deer with military/military-style semi-automatic rifles, ranging from the M1 Garand to the SKS to the AR-15.
 
actually my hunting rifle is my M1A Springfield, but I understand your question. I think most hunters, since they are usually limited to 5 rounds or less, might gravitate to the bolt gun for economics, it's cheaper dollar for dollar. Having said that I do know several people who use the Remington auto. One I know uses it because his hand was chewed on by some farm machinery when he was a kid and he can't comfortably operate a bolt in the field. I think some shooters gravitate to the military style autos for recreational shooting, as in shooting in volume. A few years back I started trading my (so called) sporting guns for military style rifles as my personal response to the clinton/gore/mao/shumer/feinstein/stalin/... you get the idea. I am sure I am not alone there. I also believe that the shooting habits of the general public follow the military by about a generation or so, no real evidence, just my belief. That being the case I figure the black guns are here just about on time.
 
I think it's a reasonable generalization that the sporting semi-autos are built to tighter internal dimensions of the moving parts. Much less need to operate in military field conditions of dirt and rain, or with sustained rates of fire. Another generalization is that the two-piece stocks common to semi-autos precludes tack-driving accuracy.

Historically, the big selling point for the semi-autos has been "when you need a quick second shot". The ads commonly show a buck bouncing away in thick timber...

I'll say "yes" to BigG's question about the tremendous increase in folks who are concerned about "SHTF", during this last 25 years or so. Add in the fatter billfolds most of us have as compared to 40 years back, to buy large amounts of "plinking" ammo in .223, .308 or AK. This sort of "play" was almost unheard of in the 1950s/1960s.

tl, for what you say you want to do, I'd think a bolt-gun would serve you quite well. Unless you handload, a .308 would probably be the least-cost cartridge. Otherwise, folks are doing some amazingly accurate shooting with the .243/6mm family--and that's certainly a good cartridge for feral dogs.
 
I think the last line you wrote about being teh general ease of maintence is one of the hunting semi-auto's downfalls. While I haven't worked with a BAR, I have seen plenty of people with the Remington autos and quite honestly, you couldn't give me one of them. :barf: The main problem with every one I have seen is that they are prone to malfunction unless kept spotless and taking them apart to get them spotless is a chore in itself! If I remember right, you have to take a barrel nut off with a special wrench to get the bolt to come out. Those barrel nuts are on there TIGHT too and trying to use an open end wrench won't work very well either. Many owners of the Remington auto's feed gunsmiths and put their kids through college by working on Remingtons. ;) With a military style service rifle, you get similar performance of the civilian autos and in a weapon design that is made to work under harsh conditions and when they do need to be cleaned, they aren't very hard to take apart and put back together. For many years though a lot of hunters were hung up on asthetics and didn't want to be thought of being "rambo" out hunting deer. For this reason, vanity, you never seen many service rifles carried out hunting. With cheap SKS rifles though and the thought of throwing this false idea of "not a 'sporting' rifle" mentality back at the anti-gunners, I have been seeing a lot more military service rifles being used in hunting as well. Maybe we have hunters wising up to the idea that a military service rifle is no different than any other hunting rifle other than you carry your extra ammo in a magazine rather than rattling around loose in your pockets. :D
 
Thanks for the information; it helped answer some questions. And raised at least one: its it possible to stop at one rifle once the first is purchased? I have more than one handgun, so I think I already know the answer; a nice .308 bolt gun, and I see Bushmaster has an interesting .223 varmint gun, etc., etc.
 
well, heck! Everybody needs some kind of .22 plinker. Then, for your basic varmint gun, you need a centerfire .22 of some persuasion. You probably need to do some handloading for the .223, the .220 Swift, and the .22-250 until you get it right.

Then, something in the .243/.257 Roberts style, for hunting those "smaller" deer and for coyotes. Ya gotta check out the 7mm08, the .260 and the .280, as well. Ah, load development!

You really NEED a good .308 target critter, and everybody oughta have a .30-'06.

Then there are the .338/.35 on the '06 case; and you can go on up to the various magnums.

The possibilities are limited only by your billfold and the db level of wives and children at mealtimes...

:), Art
 
"Military-style" semi-autos seem to have become hunting autos around these parts. Mini-14s are very popular varmint guns in the back window of ranch trucks, I know a few guys who use properly-loaded and sighted SKSs as brush guns for whitetails down in the creek bottoms, and my first two Montana deer were taken with a stock M-1 Garand. Most important, in my views, is first the shooter and then the ammo. I once saw two morons at the range "gettin' our new guns ready for deer season". One had an open-sighted SKS with ball ammo, the other a brand-new Ruger 9mm camp carbine. Both were blasting away with rapid semi-auto, offhand, at a 25-yard beer can to "zero" in. I made sure they were not going hunting anywhere near where me and my sporterized 1903A3 were going and made a few comments about appropriate calibers and loads for hunting as well as leaving a couple of paper targets and a suggestion to try them at the 100-yard panel. One guy couldn't believe the 9mm wasn;t powerful enough for deer as he'd seen Mel Gibson shoot a beretta through a dozer blade.:)
 
I often hunt with my FN-FAL. I shoot it more than my bolt guns, I can hold a sub moa group with it and I found 5 round mags for it. I like a pistol grip in the field.
 
Most of my 'military semi autos' have or will have scopes, except the M1 Garand. With enough practice, someone can hunt w/ open sights w/ a Garand.....under 200 yards for he average person. Unless somone shoots it constantly.....then 200+

I'm working on a 6mm PPC upper for my AR. IN my state, .234 (6mm) is the smallest allowed bullet diam. Why one might ask, since I have '06 and 308's....... something different.
 
well never seen Remington 742 with a steel butt plate for knocking skulls... other than that, pretty much the same stuff.
 
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