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

taliv, if I were going to pick a bolt, it would be for several reasons: they don't tend to beat up brass as much, so it will last longer; I've found it easier to make accurate loads for them; I like the way they feel and balance as hunting weapons; amount of accuracy per dollar spent seems to favor them.

But I voted AR, because of familiarity and capabilities they have that would be difficult to duplicate with a turnbolt.

taliv said:

[facts and experience here]

so why, if you could only have one, would you choose a bolt?

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I voted Bolt action (hunting as primary use), because I assumed (as many others did, and many others clearly did not) that if I were to pick an AR15, that it would be "cheating" (in regards to the poll) to have one lower, and two or four uppers. The OP didn't make that clear (Edit: yes, he did), and while having four different uppers isn't the same as having four completely different rifles, it's effectively the same end result.

It takes just a few seconds to swap an upper, and if each upper has a dedicated optic, it would be both physically easier and more practical to carry one AR15 lower and 2-3 uppers, than it would to carry 2-3 different bolt-action rifles. Because of all that, it didn't seem fair to vote for an AR15 and pretend I had multiple uppers. I cemented myself to the "one rifle" concept, literally and in essence. An AR15 in 5.56 just wouldn't cut it, for me. An AR lower and two uppers (5.56 and, say, 6.8 SPC) absolutely would.

Also, the truth is I have absolutely nowhere near your level of experience with rifles, and while I've used both bolt actions and the M16A2 (USAF) enough to feel very comfortable with both, I never would have guessed that this is true:

taliv said:

people have more malfunctions with bolt guns than they do with autoloaders. i know people will find that hard to believe, but despite their simplicity, they still break a lot, and there are user-induced feed malfunctions pretty much constantly.

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And either way, it certainly isn't true for me. But you do make an excellent point, and if I had your experience, I may well have voted for an AR15. Even if I hadn't, I definitely would have had a tougher time choosing.

ETA:

Obviously, I didn't read the OP, where Warp clearly said multiple uppers would be allowed.

Warp said:

Did you read the OP?

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You've cracked the case, Holmes. No, I just skimmed it quickly and didn't see that part. My bad.

Warp said:

It's frustrating, as a thread starter/OP/creator of the poll, when people say they voted based on an inaccurate assumption, and claim that the OP did not make something clear...because they didn't even read the OP before both voting and posting.

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I understand, and you're absolutely right. I apologize for not taking the time to read the whole thing clearly.

However, after reading the posts on the last several pages, it's perfectly clear there were others who also assumed multiple uppers weren't fair game, or at least were unsure.

TexAg said:

I could live with the AR as my only rifle. .223 isn't my favorite deer/pig round, but it'll work.

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Obviously this guy feels like he's limited to one upper.

henschman said:

It would be an AR in 5.56 for me.

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Same here.

Fiv3r said:

I could easily get by with just an AR in 5.56.
. . .
As for the cartridge itself, the 5.56 is just fine for my needs. Big enough for a man and could take a deer for food if need be. Might not be the best thing for bunnies and tree rats, but we are talking about a compromise here.

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Clearly the same.

Walkalong said:

Is the question only one rifle, period, no extra uppers etc? Where do the extras stop, whether it's an AR or something else?

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And here's Walkalong literally asking for clarification.

I'm not just trying to bring light to the fact that I wasn't the only one who didn't follow the directions, but also that if these four folks were unclear and still selected the AR15 (the first three definitely did), then it's likely many who voted for bolt guns also assumed multiple uppers were off limits, as I did.

Warp said:

Have you looked around recently? AR prices are back to being as low as, if not lower than, they were a year ago. Rock bottom (serious).

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I've been hearing this quite a bit lately, but when I look at the prices, I only see that they've gone back down to pre-panic levels, but not any lower than that. A DPMS Sporticle at Walmart was $617 prepanic. I believe it is now $629. Not much of an increase, but NOT a decrease.

It has to be a Lever gun, whether it's a big bore 45-70 or 357 mag trapper.

taliv said:

i don't get the bolt action preferences above.

in my experience (directing and participating in over 30 sniper/field matches in the past 30 months where 90%+ of competitors used bolt guns and formerly directing 3gun matches where 99% used semi) I would say under pressure people have more malfunctions with bolt guns than they do with autoloaders. i know people will find that hard to believe, but despite their simplicity, they still break a lot, and there are user-induced feed malfunctions pretty much constantly.

reliability aside, ARs are generally about as accurate and hold more ammo. they can be lighter weight too.

so why, if you could only have one, would you choose a bolt?

(don't get me wrong, i love shooting long range with my bolt guns)

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Funny. My very first 3-gun match was absolutely eye-opening in a similar way.

All of the crappy tier-3 AR-15s? Worked. Not a single stoppage of any kind. Not weapon-related. Not ammunition-related. Not shooter-related. No excuses. Every single rifle, no matter how bargain-basement, worked.

The shotguns? Wow. All of them for-really-reals Remington 870s. Just about all of them had some sort of problem. We all had excuses. Crappy wal-mart winchester shells with zinc (or whatever) case heads. Short stroking. "Oh I never tested that magazine extension". Whatever. It was a parade of absolute failures.

Hell of an introduction to the sport. I've since seen quality shotguns run and crap-build ARs tear rims off stuck cases while their owners struggle for minutes (sometimes on the clock, earning a mercy limited max time) to get their rifle working again. But manually operated anything (bolt, lever, pump) takes more dedication than the above-average guy reading this post and nodding his head has put in.

I do like my levers, but it's hard to ignore experience.

"Well, hopefully you wouldn't buy a DPMS then or now.

Perhaps they are the same as they were a year ago."


No, I haven't. I've been reading too many threads where too much bad is said about them. I actually still haven't bought an AR yet, but continue to want to. Someday......

"

Well, hopefully you wouldn't buy a DPMS then or now.

Perhaps they are the same as they were a year ago."


No, I haven't. I've been reading too many threads where too much bad is said about them. I actually still haven't bought an AR yet, but continue to want to. Someday......

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I own a DPMS Sportical though I didn't buy it a Walmart and it was less than $600 a couple of years ago. It is a low end AR not as "tight" as the Colt or the Diamondback. It shoots everything I feed it and I don't recall any time that it failed to go bang. I do have some issues with a fully loaded magazine and not wanting to feed that first round but, other than that, it is flawless. Probably close to 3k rounds through it now. All of the hype against DPMS must have been for a line of guns manufactured at a different time from mine. I recently scoped it and sighted it in at 200 yards with some Winchester 64 grain bullets and it was dead on. I am considering shooting some deer with it this year.

Yes, sir.

bolt gun

id have to say bolt, i like semi auto`s or any gun for that matter but imo a bolt gun is more reliable with less moving parts. however an ar can easily have parts interchanged /not so easy on a bolt. personally i would have a stainless syn small caliber rife with a good scope with the gun quipped with iron sights in case the scope fails. as far as caliber ,i would stick with a well known military cartridge . that being said , i recently bought a ruger mini chambered in a 223/5.56 for my shtf gun but i also have a bolt gun in the same caliber . if it came down to it and i had to ditch one of them i would ditch the auto. but thats my opinion.

I didn't expect to ruffle so many feathers. I was only going off the "your" in the thread title. My primary hunting is moose, brown bear and sheep. No a AR would not work for me.
Plinking? I shoot 1000's of cast bullets a year in my bolt 30-06's, at pennies a shot.
BTW the 30-06 was not a active military round in my lifetime, so that was not why I picked it. I admit I am a traditionalist in gun's and the reason I use the round is it's the most common chambering in the classic guns I own/buy. I just can't see a piece of plastic and aluminum replacing my pre war Winchester 70's.

Walkalong said:

I guess caliber adapters for bolt guns would be fair game as well.

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I was thinking along those lines for a .308 bolt gun, but it would be slow loading if firing more than one shot and the sights on the barrel might not be set for what's in the chamber adapter.

Still, it seems like something worth throwing in a bag to take along for really short range low powered shooting.

The changeable upper on an AR is superior to the chamber adapter, but the AR upper would require a larger bag.

But, if I can only have one gun, and an AR lower, with a .22 upper, a .223 upper, a 300 BLK upper, a 6.8 SPC, and a .458 Socom upper counts as one gun, I think the answer is pretty obvious.

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Of course I'm quite sure in this hypothetical world where people are allowed one reciever interchangable barrels and bolts would become common place.

I was thinking along those lines for a .308 bolt gun, but it would be slow loading if firing more than one shot and the sights on the barrel might not be set for what's in the chamber adapter.

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One thing these threads do is bring out the "necessaty is the mother of invention" thoughts.
no reason you couldn't have more than one chamber adapter or just load said 308 with trail boss and 30 carbine bullets. As for sights toss a scope with target knobs on it and just dial scope to desired ammo.
One nice thing a bolt or lever would work a lot better with sub powered ammo than an AR would.
A 35 rem or 45/70 lever would make for a versatile "only one" since you can shoot 410s out of a 45/70 and 357 pistol bullets can easily be loaded into 35 rem brass. A 130gr 38 special @ 1000 fps is real effective for small game without being distructive.

I'd have to go with a M14/M1A. The Garand-style action seems to be nigh-indestructible, those guns are all ultra-accurate, you've got the hard-hitting .308 cartridge, and if you go with a shorter model like the SOCOM it's still pretty quick-pointing closer in. Sounds like kind of the ultimate "one gun" to me.

I might cross some fans here, but I've never cared for the AR platform. It is extremely accurate, but between the placement of controls, light caliber (though there are versions in larger calibers), and the complex buffer system, I'd never consider it for a "one gun" scenario. I am in no way saying it's a bad gun, I just don't like the set up and would strongly prefer something else.

I have a Rock River A-4 Mid-Length in 6.8spc with an ARP barrel, I could get rid of the rest and happily rely on this as my one and only for everything.