What should my first rifle be?

OK, the man wants a general purpose rifle for hunting, plinking and self defense. The problem here is the conflict between the three catagories.
The 30.06, .270, .308 etc are all excellent hunting rounds. But in anything less than a ten pound semi-auto, I sure wouldn't plink much with them. And for self defense, any one of them would whistle straight through a BG plus several walls and probably exit the house.
The .22RF is the all time champ for plinking and small game, but comes up short for larger game and self defense.
For self defense you want something powerful enough to get the job done, but it needs to be easy to handle, reasonble fast and adaquate to the job.
The only rifle I can see to fill all three roles would be a lever action, preferable in Trapper length, chambered in either .357 or .44 Magnum. You can pick up reloaded ammo at many gunshops at good prices for practice plus use either .38 spl or .44 spl for plinking. The heavy loads will work for deer sized game out 75-100 yards. And mid-range loads out of 16" barrel would work very well in the self defense role. Also consider the wide range of loads avalible for whatever you want to do. Especially for the .38/357.
While it does have some limitations, the Pistol Caliber Carbine is the only rifle that can fill all three roles.
JMHO.
 
Cast my vote for the 1894 Marlin, chambered in .44.
Be sure and let us know what decide on. :)

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Gunslinger

We live in a time in which attitudes and deeds once respected as courageous and honorable are now scorned as being antiquated and subversive.
 
Due to the intentions of our current political class, I would hurry up and get a Mini-14, FAL, or VEPR.
Choose an easy to aquire Mil calibre and PRACTICE.
Failing that, a carbine in readilly available 9mm would be smart too.
 
Win or Marlin 30-30's are good rifles. Ammo is more expensive for "plinking."

Ruger, Rem, or Marlin .22's can't be beat, but .22's are really limited for power and range.

If you can find an FN/FAL variant at a reasonable price, get it. (They are still out there). Reliable, accurate, and lots of parts abound. .308 can be found cheap.

Rem, Win, or Ruger bolt gun in .223 or .308. Good quality and accuracy, but the added expense is a scope/rings. A good substitute may be one of the Enfields converted to .308 (Gibbs Rifle Co.), and you don't really need to scope it. I'm a lefty, but if I had to, I could work an Enfield bolt almost as fast as my LH Rem.

Practice, practice, practice!!! (up close to farther than you think you'll have to use it)

Good Luck-Dave Moon

[This message has been edited by DAVE MOON (edited March 26, 2000).]
 
You might seriously look at one of the Savage combination guns. You can get these in a few different combinations. I think they make a .308/12 guage. We had one of these in 30-30 / 12 guage. The 30-30 is a much better round when you don't have to rely on blunt, or flat nosed bullets and is a perfectly capable 200 yard cartridge. When you think about it, here is a rifle that would be capable of taking anything from the smallest, up to the largest game in North America (if you beleive in the power of 12 guage slugs). Also boxes of 12 guage trap shells aren't too expensive for a bit of relaxed trap shooting in camp, and they make effective rounds to collect small game and birds. In short I think these are damm good guns, well made, reasonable in price, and very versatile.
 
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