kBob
Member
Three decades ago when folks first started making a real fuss about Semi autos one of the Gun Writers in one of the Annuals did an article about a 760 or 7600 he had fitted with a then available after market ten round mag. He felt like the pump action gave him repeated fast shots (Just like a pump shotgun) for up close and and the .308 caliber gave him range when it was needed.
Put the "issue" four round mag in it and it is just a hunting rifle. Put in the ten rounder and you almost have one of them-there A Salt rifles. Just not sure who makes a reliable ten rounder these days.
The .223 model that takes AR magazines is a heavy little brick for .223 and I have not shot one but would seem to be useful if you can find one.
As for home defense I might pick up a handgun before I reached for a bolt action. When I need hauling capacity I drive my F-150, when I am just scooting around town even The Boy's little Nissan works fine and the same applies to rifles. Since you mentioned 400 yards You have to have something that can realisticaly reach out there IF YOU DO YOUR PART. Having a .308 or .30-06 does not magically make you a 400 yard shooter. The shooting to 400 yard/meters means YOU are going to have to practice often and well.
For shooting at 400 meters a scope would be prefered by most folks.... but a scope good for 400 yard shooting sucks at across the room distance and multiple up close targets.
I suggest that you get a rifle for shooting further than you can with your home defense handgun and work on extending your range with the handgun anyway.
IF you just gotta have a rifle in your home defense battery that can shoot 400 meters then you should try to shoot a bolt action high powered rifle at multiple seven yard targets and time yourself. You wont like it or the results. Erwin Rommel figured out in August of 1914 that a bolt gun up close and with multiple targets is not optimal.
Pump or lever action would be faster up close.
The issue with a .30-30 is 400 yards is a stretch. Sure there are folks that can do it. I watched a guy on a military range with a Scoped Marlin 336 drop every kneeling man target they popped up for him at 300. He was also an Expert Marksman with his service rifle and when state side handloaded and shot his Marlin a lot to that range and knew the exact range to that target. Think about it, the typical .30-30 150 grain hunting bullets has dropped about 26 inches if fired horizontally at 300 yards, but by the time it gets to 400 yards that drop is 64 inches! Yes Virginia the .30-30 bullet dropped MORE in those last 100 yards than in the previous 300!. And it takes 7/10 of a second to get there while the wind blows and the "target" moves.
For what you want you need TWO rifles. Say a decent "full caliber" bolt gun for your 100 to 400 yard shooting and a nice pistol caliber lever gun for in the house out to 100 yards. Something that has the character of a Winchester 92 (handy lever action with a few rounds in it) in a caliber like .357, .44, or .45 shoot maybe even a .327! (Clue .357 in normal times is the easiest ammo to find and some .357 lever guns also cheerfully munch on .38 Special)
Figure out what you like and what other members of your family might be able to work.
-kBob
Put the "issue" four round mag in it and it is just a hunting rifle. Put in the ten rounder and you almost have one of them-there A Salt rifles. Just not sure who makes a reliable ten rounder these days.
The .223 model that takes AR magazines is a heavy little brick for .223 and I have not shot one but would seem to be useful if you can find one.
As for home defense I might pick up a handgun before I reached for a bolt action. When I need hauling capacity I drive my F-150, when I am just scooting around town even The Boy's little Nissan works fine and the same applies to rifles. Since you mentioned 400 yards You have to have something that can realisticaly reach out there IF YOU DO YOUR PART. Having a .308 or .30-06 does not magically make you a 400 yard shooter. The shooting to 400 yard/meters means YOU are going to have to practice often and well.
For shooting at 400 meters a scope would be prefered by most folks.... but a scope good for 400 yard shooting sucks at across the room distance and multiple up close targets.
I suggest that you get a rifle for shooting further than you can with your home defense handgun and work on extending your range with the handgun anyway.
IF you just gotta have a rifle in your home defense battery that can shoot 400 meters then you should try to shoot a bolt action high powered rifle at multiple seven yard targets and time yourself. You wont like it or the results. Erwin Rommel figured out in August of 1914 that a bolt gun up close and with multiple targets is not optimal.
Pump or lever action would be faster up close.
The issue with a .30-30 is 400 yards is a stretch. Sure there are folks that can do it. I watched a guy on a military range with a Scoped Marlin 336 drop every kneeling man target they popped up for him at 300. He was also an Expert Marksman with his service rifle and when state side handloaded and shot his Marlin a lot to that range and knew the exact range to that target. Think about it, the typical .30-30 150 grain hunting bullets has dropped about 26 inches if fired horizontally at 300 yards, but by the time it gets to 400 yards that drop is 64 inches! Yes Virginia the .30-30 bullet dropped MORE in those last 100 yards than in the previous 300!. And it takes 7/10 of a second to get there while the wind blows and the "target" moves.
For what you want you need TWO rifles. Say a decent "full caliber" bolt gun for your 100 to 400 yard shooting and a nice pistol caliber lever gun for in the house out to 100 yards. Something that has the character of a Winchester 92 (handy lever action with a few rounds in it) in a caliber like .357, .44, or .45 shoot maybe even a .327! (Clue .357 in normal times is the easiest ammo to find and some .357 lever guns also cheerfully munch on .38 Special)
Figure out what you like and what other members of your family might be able to work.
-kBob
