Would an AR be your only rifle? (what rifle type would an only rifle be?)

One rifle...it would be:

  • AR (hunting as primary use)

    Votes: 27 12.4%

  • AR (primary use anything but hunting)

    Votes: 53 24.4%

  • Bolt action (hunting as primary use)

    Votes: 55 25.3%

  • Bolt action (primary use anything but hunting)

    Votes: 12 5.5%

  • Other semi auto (hunting as primary use)

    Votes: 10 4.6%

  • Other semi auto (primary use anything but hunting)

    Votes: 24 11.1%

  • Lever action (hunting as primary use)

    Votes: 17 7.8%

  • Lever action (primary use anything but hunting)

    Votes: 8 3.7%

  • Everything else, to include a break open multi barrel/multi cartridge firearm, single shot, etc

    Votes: 11 5.1%
  • Total voters
    217
  • Poll closed .
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Warp

Warp

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Yes, this is one of those "if you could only have X" threads. If you don't want to play, don't play. ;)

Some of us enjoy discussing hypotheticals about guns because we like talking about guns, some of us like to force ourselves to prioritize, and consider how much consolidation we could, some of us might be in a financial or living situation where multiple rifles are not feasible, etc.

If you could only have one rifle, would it be an AR type?

We'll see that, for purposes of this poll/thread/discussion, you could have an alternate upper allowing for a couple of different cartridges. (a .22lr bolt in a 5.56 upper would not count towards the two cartridges). That would still count as one rifle (and if you would select a non AR, you could do the same, if applicable to that rifle)

This is not a SHTF thread, necessarily. This is not a deserted in the wilderness survival situation thread, necessarily.

What this is, is take your life, in its entirety, as you know it at this moment in time and what you expect for the future...select ONE rifle for the remainder of your life. What would it be?

There are sub categories/questions in the poll responses.
 
Yeah, I don't hunt anymore. The AR would serve me fine. I would miss long range with my bolt actions, but I would sacrifice that to keep the AR as a HD rifle(don't get me wrong the shotgun is my first choice for HD). The AR can fill so many rolls, that is the most important to me. One gun to do the most that I will ever need done.

Good poll Warp, I like the choices.
 
As much as I think a black AR is not as fine looking as a nice bolt gun, or nice lever gun . . .

The older I get, the AR seems to have everything I would want for the coming decades.

- Good accuracy
- Light recoil
- Fairly inexpensive ammo (in 5.56)
- Adaptability of different hardware or optics (when you change your mind)
- Standard capacity mags
- Semi-auto (future arthritis may make working a lever or bolt a pain)
- It's already a .22 (a fast one) and everyone needs one of those
- Can be kept light
- Easy to get parts and work on myself (so far)

I could see myself shooting an AR 'til I'm 90 years old. A .308 bolt gun? Not so much.

Hmmm. When I'm 90 the AR will be nearly 100. By then, we may look at the AR the way we look at lever guns now. ;)
 
Making the assumption I can still have my shotguns and handguns I’d go with the Encore I currently own as an only rifle – not counting my rimfires.

I can cover HD/SD with the handguns and clays/bird hunting with the shotguns. I use the Encore for the limited big game hunting I do. If I could have separate rimfire rifles, great, otherwise I guess I just get some for more barrels for the Encore.
 
I would have to pick the trusty "turdy turdy" in a lever action. It works for hunting and for HD if called up on to do so.
 
I hunt, but I've never hunted outside of Texas as much as I'd like to. Given that, I could live with the AR as my only rifle. .223 isn't my favorite deer/pig round, but it'll work. Home defense, predator control, shooting games and range fun; it fills more categories than any other.
 
id get an ar and just swap uppers :) ill be the only person when SHTF that has one lower and 10 uppers LOL from .22lr up to .50bmg


.......... i can dream cant i?
 
ARs have been the only rifles that have stuck with me. I rarely if ever hunt, so I can leave that criteria off. Right now a couple of 5.56 ARs and a dedicated .22 LR upper cover all my needs & wants from HD to plinking. If I need more oomph than Mk 262 Mod 1, then a .300 blackout upper is an easy swap to light .30-30 ballistics. Ammo can be hand loaded with light 30 caliber bullets, properly resized .223 / 5.56 brass, and a new set of dies as the only requirements to switch from loading 5.56 ammo.

So, would an AR be my only rifle? A couple of them already are.
 
If I never hunted anything larger than deer an AR would be just about perfect. But while deer are the primary large game I hunt, black bear are a very real possibility. Elk are on my bucket list too so a lightweight, accurate 308 bolt rifle would be the one I'd keep if forced to only have 1 centerfire.
 
No, I have a few rifles but I have to admit my 1981 Marlin 336 30/30, just might be the rifle I could not part with if I could only have one for protection as well as for food. It's all around real world simplicity, length, weight, accuracy and durability makes it such a winner in my book. If my life had to depend on a rifle I think I'd want to keep it as simple as possible.
Assorted Rifles 009.jpg
 
If I could only own 1 gun, it would be a German K98 with a pile of ammo. There is literally nothing you cannot do with it (that guns are used for) and it will work in the worst environments on this planet. Need to hunt small game such as squirrels? Make traps.
 
A lever action rifle in 30-30, for many purposes. I'd have to pass on really long shots, but I do that pretty much anyway.

I don't currently own such a rifle, but that's because I'm not limited to just one.
 
opps... I voted before reading post :banghead: and I voted semi auto, thinking of cal , I would have picked one of my 44mags "Deerfield" or "Ruger Carbine" because I have 44mag wheel guns to match , now I'm thinking AR15 with a few uppers , anyone making a 44mag upper yet :eek:
 
If I was forced to buy only one rifle and it had to be an AR, I'd be ok with that. I would even use it for hunting if necessary

Although It would have to be chambered in .308, and will be between Knights Armament or LMT only.
 
I love my Encore. Its a varmint rifle, an elk rifle, a deer rifle, a bear rifle, and a prarie dog rifle. And it shoots as good or better than any other rifle I own. The only down side is slower reloads.
 
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