Practical Rifle?

M

Model12Win

Moderator
Lets see your practical rifles. I don't know much about the term other than people use a shooting sling with them often and they're usually a bolt.

Anyone have one or have more information on the practical rifle?
 
I have slings on all my bolt guns and I have 2 lever rifles that I have slings on.

They work and I have been shooting with slings since maybe 1965.

Not sure of what you are asking with "practical" rifle.
 
must say I'm not familiar with the term. all of my rifles are practical... most have slings, or will by the time I'm done with them.
 
I think the OP is trying to describe the trend of having a lighter weight, more compact type of tactical or target rifle. Something like this, Tikka's Compact Tactical Rifle, or CTR.

http://www.tikka.fi/en-us/rifles/tikka-t3x/t3x-compact-tactical-rifle

If so I have one of the Tikka's in 308. It is a compromise between a hunting rifle and a full blown target rifle. Mine is about 8 1/2 lbs scoped and with the 20" barrel is fairly compact. It is about a pound heavier than my normal hunting rifle yet it delivers accuracy pretty close to what you'd get from a 10-12 lb target rifle with a heavy 24-26" barrel. The shorter barrel would be a handicap only at extreme ranges.
 
The most practical rifle I own is a M70 Pre 64 FW in 308. This is the no frills
some call the carbine model, no Monte Carlo stock. I bought it new in the box
when I was 14. I have used it with reciever sights in thick stuff and with a
K10x for varmits. When I got older and had a bigger selection of rifles it has
a 6x scope on it. The short stiff barrel makes it a tack driver, literly at 100yds.
My dad would shoot nothing else in the rifle turkey shots and we had 25 rifles
to pick from. I also had a 721 Rem in 30/06 that was in this class. I never
had a scope on it, reciver sights did the job. It put down a lot of meat.
 
Is that just another way to describe a Col. Cooper defined ‘Scout Rifle’? 16” barrel, bolt action, magazine fed, 30 Cal, forward mounted long eye relief scope, sling, 6.5 lbs.


Andrew - Lancaster, CA
NRA Life Member, Calguns.net contributor, CGF / SAF / CRPA / FPC / USCCA member
 
practical rifle?

Not sure what the OP is considering a "Practicle Rifle". Sounds more like General Purpose of heaven forbid, Scout Rifle, to me.

"Practical Rifle" is a phrase sometimes applied to a competitive shooting sport that in some degree resembles a cross between a carbine 3-Gun stage and IDPA, all with a long gun. These matches are typically shot with a mag fed semiauto like the AR. Some of these matches appear on Youtube.

I have sense that this is NOT the type of rifle the OP inquiring about, as bolt rifles do not appear to be commonly used, and if slings are present, they are more tac-slings like a 1 or 3 point that secure the rifle while negotiating a barricade or prop.

To me, a "shooting sling" is an aid to shooting, and not just a carry strap. The US 1907 sling is a vintage example. More recently, shooting slings have evolved into models known as Ching slings, CW slings, Safari slings, and likely others. The recent shooting slings feature a 3rd, middle attachment point which allow "looping up" without all the fuss of a 1907. These sling types are often attached to what is referred to as Scout rifles (which will undoubtedly stir up the Cooper/Scout bashers), their most controversial feature being a low powered 'scope mounted forward of the reciever in "scout" fashion (intermediate eye relief, IER).

I see any short, light, portable rifle in a versatile caliber from about .243 up to '06 , with moderately powered scope as a general purpose rifle (GP rifle) no matter how the 'scope is mounted. One of our members, jmr40, frequently posts pics of a very useful appearing Ruger American Predator .308 w/ a conventionally mounted 1-4x, that seems very good. I own an early Savage Scout,without all the doo-dads they now attach to recent models, that wears either a Leupold 2.75x or Burris 2-7x IER scope.
I also have a Savage Hog in .308 with a fixed 6x that is tad heavy but very practical as well. My shooting sling for these rigs is homemade copy of a Ching sling made from 1" nylon webbing.
 
In the same vein of thought as Bamaranger, mine is a Ruger American 7mm-08 with a 4x Leupold and no-frills Butler Creek sling. I'm 6'8", so I keep the sling at max length and I can use it taught around my left elbow to brace the rifle. If I could only keep one rifle, that'd probably be it.
 
Practically speaking the two most practical rifles everyone hunter should own are a 30-30 and a 30-06. There is no such thing as a practical match grade rifle since they cost big bucks and you're always trying to improve them. If you're just looking to plink on the cheap then just about any 22LR will do the trick.

My practical hunting rifles are a pre-64 Model 94 in 30-30 and a Model 70 featherweight in 30-06.

My not so practical hunting rifles are:
1. Thompson/Center Encore with .308, 7mm Rem Mag and .500 SW Magnum barrels.
2. McMillan G30 Dynasty 270 WSM
3. Browning Hells Canyon Speed 300 WSM

As a side note, I'm still looking for that perfect hunting rifle, may not ever find it but the 270 WSM is pretty darn close.

My match grade rifle is a .223 Wylde AR-15 with a custom JP rifles match grade barrel and Schmidt & Bender PMII scope. It's tricked out with all the goodies and my probably not final cost was 6,200.00
 
Last edited:
All rifles are "practical". Just like all rifles are "tactical".
These are the IPSC rifle rules. Note that it's mainly mag capacity, but no optics on a semi-auto.
http://www.ipsc.org/rules/divlistR.php
"...should own are a 30-30..." Nope. Far too much felt recoil for the power of the cartridge. Caused by the weight of the rifles.
 
T. O'Heir said:
All rifles are "practical". Just like all rifles are "tactical".
These are the IPSC rifle rules. Note that it's mainly mag capacity, but no optics on a semi-auto.
http://www.ipsc.org/rules/divlistR.php
"...should own are a 30-30..." Nope. Far too much felt recoil for the power of the cartridge. Caused by the weight of the rifles.
Click to expand...
Interesting feelings about the 30-30. I dont see it that way at all. Have you shot it with the Hornady Leverevolution bullets yet? It makes it a totally different rifle. A 30-06 typically has a 20 foot pound recoil while the 30-30 is a very manageable 15 ft lbs. As for what's practical, in situations that they are best suited for, yes, all guns can be practical but in that analysis so can a knife.
 
I don't need a 30 caliber to be practical.
Not too much i can't hunt/shoot with my 257 Roberts.
For younger, more inexperienced shooters my Stevens 200 in 250 Savage is practical.
If i need anythingmore powerfull than the Roberts then the 280 Rem, or the 7mm Rem Mag get the nod.
 
Beaucoup cartridges fit the label "practical". IMO we need for Model12Win to tell us more about what he thinks a "practical" rifle would be. :)
 
My "practical rifle" is a Tikka T-3 Lite, .243 Win. It's fairly short, quite light, very accurate and can kill deer out to 250 yards, or so. I carry it when going outback to the blueberry fields, to take care of coyotes and other critters. It's light and carries a Leupold 3-9X.

It shoots half-MOA at 100 yards consistently and carries like a dream. It's also taken several deer for my grand-kids and me. I normally don't carry it for deer, but had to carry a portable blind a mile or so up a hill and didn't want to burden myself with the heavier .270 Win.

The buck I shot with it at about 200 yards just stood in a woods road while I installed the pop-up blind for my S-I-L, who was going to hunt in the rain there the next day. Just as I was tying it down, I saw the buck, fetched the rifle from where it was leaning on a tree, and from behind the blind and resting my left pinkie on the blind's rib, dropped the buck with one shot through the lungs. The GMX handload did the deed!
 
Jeff Cooper was a blow hard. He acted like he discovered the concept of the
carbine & long eye relief scopes. He was the driving force to get companies
interested in producing Scout Rifle models. Hunters been using carbines since
the advent of rifled barrels.
 
I once had a rifle, most tactical,
Many folks thought is was practical.
With my 3 point sling tread
I could really fling lead
But Rangers thought it was just craptical.
 
I thought this rifle was very practical ... for a mil-issue bolt gun - the Danish-made Madsen M47, this one in 30-06.

Here's the link. Background narration and description go to about the 2:25 mark, at which time the reviewer runs the M47 thru some Move-n-Shoot, using 5-rd Swedish stripper clips to reload.

Madsen M47
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JdgScf9OVZk

Couple of take-aways ...

For supposedly being the "Last Mil-Issued" bolt gun, I liked the bolt and receiver configuration (rear locking lugs), the smoothness of the cocking action, the rear peep sight, the barrel-integrated brake, the stock ergonomics (including the factory recoil pad in lieu of the typical shoulder-bruising steel buttplate), and the fact that, at least among other bolt-action battle rifles, it's a "light(er)-weight" specimen of the breed.

The reviewer states there were other chamberings for this rifle, but keeping 'practicality' in mind, it's hard to have a more practical chambering than 30-06, certainly within the borders of the U.S.

And while you can have overlap in mil-spec ball ammo as between the .06 and, say, .308 for defensive use or even just casual plinking & practice, when it comes to hunting considerations the versatility of the 06 is hard to beat. In this rifle, my 'Alaskan load' would be five rounds of 220gn jacketed slugs (@ 2450fps).

All that said, ... I'm not sure this rifle is more practical for the typical ranges I hunt at than my semi-auto Mini-G '06 Scout running a 2.75x Burris, nor for defensive scenarios than my iron-sighted Garands, whether '06 or 7.62/.308 and whether in full-size, 18" "Tanker," or 16" Mini-G configuration - all of them fed by and firing off 8-rd clips.

If you watch the 'action' segment of the video where he's shootin'-n-scootin', you'll see a lot of finger-fumbling with those stripper clips trying to reload the rifle.

It's an object lesson in why the M1 was such a superior weapons-system in its day.
 
Last edited:
Seem's to me that years ago there was a competitive class called practical rifle. Don't know much at all about it but think it would be a rifle suitable to carry around hunting. Isn't there a hunter class competition rifle class now? What ever the OP is looking for I would guess it's a hunter class rifle!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top