The Rifle Thread

[Uncle Shags]

It’s kind of hard to map out exactly all the twists and turns I took in my decision process, but I’ll try. Once I settled on the 308 caliber I started off thinking I was going to get an AR15. There is lots of talk about really high levels of accuracy, even at very long ranges. I was thinking a DPMS or Armalite, which are in the $1k range. I figured I could get a long range rifle and an assault range style rifle all in one. And to a certain degree you definitely can. But, like everything else, you do sacrifice a little on both ends if you want to perform both roles. I went back and forth on all kinds of different semi-auto 308s (M1A1, AR10s, FNAR, FN FAL, Kel Tec RFB, Browning BAR, Belleti R1 and M1), trying to find the perfect one that could do both with no sacrifices. At some point I decided that gun doesn’t exist and that I should just get two guns. A kick ass long range sniper rifle that can nail tacks which I could use for hunting, and also, some day down the road when I can afford it and need it due to zombies or commies, a kick ass assault rifle.

That’s how I got to the bolt action decision. Accuracy. Oh, also, there was a small part of me that didn’t want to show up in my Uncle’s field when everyone is sighting in their hunting rifles at the beginning of the season and pull out a crazy looking assault rifle. I would have gotten endless amounts of shit. That’s kind of a lame excuse, but what can I say? Once I decided on bolt I got to the 700 decision pretty much the same as you. It’s got the best reputation with both hunters and snipers, and it’s relatively cheap.