Would an AR be your only rifle?

[Kayaker 1960]

AR as only rifle?

When I'm hunting I prefer a bolt rifle. I guess I'm getting old and stuck in my old fashioned ways. I've fired a couple AR's, they don't float my boat.

 

[PedalBiker]

When I'm hunting I prefer a bolt rifle. I guess I'm getting old and stuck in my old fashioned ways. I've fired a couple AR's, they don't float my boat.

+1 Bolts are my favorite. I do have a 10/22 that's a bit of fun, though.

 

[CountGlockulla]

No but a short handy bolt action .308 could

 

[Agsalaska]

What do you mean/why is that?

I guess I was beign a little sarcastic. For some reason using the word Platform to refer to a gun just seems funny to me. It wasnt the Mauser Platform, it was the Mauser action.

Anyway I just do not like anything about AR15's. They do not appeal to me in any way. I dont like polymer and I dont like composite. I like steel and wood. And bolts. And levers. And cylinders, and single actions. And powerful scopes. And odd calibers. I have no interest in putting mulitple shots down range at a piece of paper. Give me a nice Mark V any day over an AR15. Its not even close.

 

[Legionnaire]

Nope. I'd want a .30 caliber bolt action if I could only have one.

 

[chicharrones]

If for some strange reason a government told me I could only have one rifle serial number assigned to me and that's it, and that government still allowed me to have something like an AR . . .

Well then, I guess I'd get an AR and a collection of upper/barrel assemblies. It sure wouldn't be some single-shot swap-barrel job taking my only rifle serial number. Maybe just maybe, I'd entertain the idea of a swap-barrel centerfire manually operated repeater rifle. I just don't know of one.

Thank God, this isn't an issue right now.

 

[Malamute]

I've had several in the past, and shot them a fair bit, but dont care for them much as field guns. They were more plinklers than anything practical for me. I guess my answer would be "I sure hope not", and my next thought would be "Can I trade it for a couple guns I'd actually use and like?" if stuck with one.

Yes, '06 bolt gun in a classic format, sporterized '03 or commercial Mauser for me, with perhaps a lever a close second.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

As the only rifle, the answer would be no. I would rather have a bolt or lever action as the only one as they are more suited to the shooting stuff I enjoy doing.

 

[Steve CT]

This is not a "would" for me, AR in .223 IS my only rifle. I'm a handgunner, and I am OK with my AR being my only long gun. If I get a second rifle, it will be a .22 lr most likely a Ruger 10-22

 

[rikman]

No way

 

[Water-Man]

No. I will always have bolt and lever guns as well.

 

[Warp]

I guess I was beign a little sarcastic. For some reason using the word Platform to refer to a gun just seems funny to me. It wasnt the Mauser Platform, it was the Mauser action.

Anyway I just do not like anything about AR15's. They do not appeal to me in any way. I dont like polymer and I dont like composite. I like steel and wood. And bolts. And levers. And cylinders, and single actions. And powerful scopes. And odd calibers. I have no interest in putting mulitple shots down range at a piece of paper. Give me a nice Mark V any day over an AR15. Its not even close.

I guess the AR is just that much more versatile and modular. There are dozens of cartridges an AR can be chambered in with all kinds of barrel lengths and types and all kinds of other ways to set them up, and fairly easily at that.

I don't think that applies to a Mauser.

BTW: Putting shots downrange at a piece of paper is all in how you choose to use a firearm. That has pretty much nothing to do with the firearm itself.

 

[On An Island]

Would it be my only rifle? No, not if I had a choice. Could it be? Yes, it could as the 5.56 is fairly versatile and can be quite accurate.

 

[OldWolf]

I find the AR boring to shoot. I like to work a gun action manually and enjoy all the sounds, motions and reactions that their manual mechanisms have. I haven't shot my AR in many years now that I think of it.

 

[bannockburn]

I could see having just an AR as my only rifle, provided I could have as many different upper assemblies as I wanted.

 

[tnelson31]

Hey all!
I ask if the AR15 "Could" be your only rifle because I'm thinking of making it my only center fire rifle.

Due to cost and storage space

This is my situation (space more than cost) and I like the AR platform for being able to be broken down and put back together, maintaining zero, at a low cost.

The multi-caliber is key for me, I have 22lr and 6.8 barrels and bolts and carriers, but a shared upper, float tube, lower and stock. I can add another caliber without much space cost.

 

[apachedave]

Yes, it's no brainer. It does many things at last satisfactorily, and ammo is "relatively" abundant and cheap. Sure, I could ask for .300 AAC Blackout, but I give up range and more importantly, availability of ammo. Plus, magazine are out there for sale as well as in the hands of many, so that is not an issue.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

It certainly could be. It would be sufficient for all local game given good ammo and likely ranges. It certainly meets all of my recreational needs. I shoot my ARs about 100 times more often than my other rifles. I would be OK with an AR as my one rifle.

 

[mtrmn]

Yes, an AR makes a good all around choice if I was FORCED to have only 1 rifle to do everything with.

 

[jmorris]

if you are out and about for whatever reason and it's not feasible to carry your entire rifle collection with you, what are the pros and cons of the various compromises in action types and calibers.

Well I guess I use my .223 AR's for pretty limited uses. The calibers suited for the hunting I do like the 308 or 458 socom are on the the other end of the spectrum from a small game round like a .22. Throw in all the shots you might like to take on flying things and I would start to miss my shotguns.

Yeah, if I had to have just one and I didn't know what I might use it for, I would pick one of my Savage 24's. Much more versatile.

 

[MTMilitiaman]

An AR could never be my only rifle. In fact, the AR is about the only rifle I have no desire to ever own.

You ever see one of these gang bangers walking through the mall with their pants halfway down their rear and their underwear showing? Or the ones that wear their caps with the bills straight at tilted off to the side? Just have to shake your head and accept that there are some fads or styles or whatever that you will just never understand or agree with? That is the AR for me. The one reason I don't actually suscribe to any gun rags is because 80% of all gun rags is nothing but ARs any more, so I'd be wasting 80% of my time and $$ on something I have no interest in owning, shooting, looking at, reading about, or hearing about. I'm tired of ARs. If the last gun on earth was an AR and I could choose to roam the radioactive smoldering post apocalyptic earth with it or a pointed stick, I would roll with the pointed stick.

 

[DM~]

NO way, but i could go through the rest of my life with my "go to gun" as my only firearm,



BUT, i wouldn't want to have to do that either...

DM

 

[HoosierQ]

I for one wish such a thing could be. But when we start talking about swapping different uppers I think we are defeating the purpose of the idea. One man and his rifle...like Hawkeye in the Last of the Mohicans. The AR-15 could fit that role in today's world where seldom would (or even could) a man live by his rifle...a world where "his one and only" rifle needed to suffice for protection, recreation, and let's say pest control (let's face it, even if you don't hunt per se, sometime you need to shoot a critter or two). For that and AR-15 would suffice.

However, in today's political climate (and political climates likely to come our way), I think putting all of one's eggs in that basket unwise. I am not the typical member here who thinks the current administration is the worst possible RKBA scenario. I believe far from it. However, what we've got coming at us in 2016...that's the real McCoy. Folks are going to wish they had the current occupant of 1600 Penn back here I think...in the gun control context anyway.

So for that reason, I would not want to count on an AR-15 for my only rifle. And I don't.

 

[Warp]

I for one wish such a thing could be. But when we start talking about swapping different uppers I think we are defeating the purpose of the idea. One man and his rifle...like Hawkeye in the Last of the Mohicans. The AR-15 could fit that role in today's world where seldom would (or even could) a man live by his rifle...a world where "his one and only" rifle needed to suffice for protection, recreation, and let's say pest control (let's face it, even if you don't hunt per se, sometime you need to shoot a critter or two). For that and AR-15 would suffice.

However, in today's political climate (and political climates likely to come our way), I think putting all of one's eggs in that basket unwise. I am not the typical member here who thinks the current administration is the worst possible RKBA scenario. I believe far from it. However, what we've got coming at us in 2016...that's the real McCoy. Folks are going to wish they had the current occupant of 1600 Penn back here I think...in the gun control context anyway.

So for that reason, I would not want to count on an AR-15 for my only rifle. And I don't.

You seem to forget that the legislature is the limiting factor at this point in time regarding new legislation.

 

[Casefull]

I have several ARs in different calibers and they definitely have their potential uses. I need a less clunky, lighter, more powerful rifle. If you have to make quick accurate shots on running game or long distance precision shots it is hard to beat a bolt rifle. I would have to go with a bolt gun. If I had to fight my way out of a group of monsters then one of my ARs would be best.