I was out hunting javelina yesterday (unsuccessfully). I was carrying my 30-06, which I know is too much gun, but it's all I got, and my buddy had his SKS.
The whole time I was out there I was thinking that I'd really rather have a lighter, more easily carried rifle. It was a several mile hike out to the bedding areas, over some pretty steep terrain. The whole time, the nylon sling on my rifle was digging into my shoulder. I know I should just go out and buy a padded leather sling, but I should also by a 'javelina' rifle too.
Getting out to where we were going, my rifle barrel kept getting caught in the brush that we kept having to crawl through. I was thinking that it would be nice to have a little rifle that I could either fold up or somehow easily disassembleand stick in my pack (my pack is fairly large) or tie onto the back in a way that it wouldn't stick out too much. With the terrain out here, hands-free hiking is pretty much a must. My buddy carried his SKS in his hands and had a hard time keeping his balance on the steep slopes out here.
I like my buddies SKS a lot, it has a nice feel and it's plenty accurate for javelina. But, it isn't any lighter or much smaller than my 30-06. I was poking around on the web last night and I saw that they make some folding stocks for the SKS but I also saw the the legality of putting one on is pretty confusing.
Any suggestion on other rifles? I would say that I'm a fairly cheep individual, so the $150 SKS and a $50 stock are pretty appealing, but I do realize that I may have to spend a little more to stay within the law.
The whole time I was out there I was thinking that I'd really rather have a lighter, more easily carried rifle. It was a several mile hike out to the bedding areas, over some pretty steep terrain. The whole time, the nylon sling on my rifle was digging into my shoulder. I know I should just go out and buy a padded leather sling, but I should also by a 'javelina' rifle too.
Getting out to where we were going, my rifle barrel kept getting caught in the brush that we kept having to crawl through. I was thinking that it would be nice to have a little rifle that I could either fold up or somehow easily disassembleand stick in my pack (my pack is fairly large) or tie onto the back in a way that it wouldn't stick out too much. With the terrain out here, hands-free hiking is pretty much a must. My buddy carried his SKS in his hands and had a hard time keeping his balance on the steep slopes out here.
I like my buddies SKS a lot, it has a nice feel and it's plenty accurate for javelina. But, it isn't any lighter or much smaller than my 30-06. I was poking around on the web last night and I saw that they make some folding stocks for the SKS but I also saw the the legality of putting one on is pretty confusing.
Any suggestion on other rifles? I would say that I'm a fairly cheep individual, so the $150 SKS and a $50 stock are pretty appealing, but I do realize that I may have to spend a little more to stay within the law.