I use my darker-colored rifles for police patrol, SD, and HD. I am NOT going to call them evil. They are not evil, anyway, because a tool is wielded by a man, and is not inherently evil on its own. Moreover, I am not nearly anonymous enough on this forum to post anything negative about a weapon I may one day use, and then have to justify as reasonable. My defensive weapons are a reasonable choice for a task.
That being said, my idea of a perfect reasonable black rifle (RBR, anyone?) is an FN FAL, or a high-quality derivative such as those made by DSA. Someday, I may end up with two of them, one full-sized, and one Para version.
Honorable mention goes to the M14. I may well go with a Para FAL, for its quality while being compact and foldable, and a full-length M14, to get the best of both. I did not say "M1A" because that denotes one company's term for an M14, and there are some other really good makers out there.
My present reasonable black rifle is an AR15, specifically an S&W M&P15 lower, and two uppers, a Colt HBAR for target shooting, and a BCM lightweight middy upper for social work. I can't really say I prefer the AR15 platform, but it does a job, and is the only rifle platform I can presently carry at work, by the rules, on police patrol.
My Mini-14 rifles are not black.
It is also possible that the only dark-colored rifle I acquire in the future, of larger than .223/5.56, is a precision manual turnbolt rifle. A big part of me prefers this option, coupled with a lighter autoloader for close-range emergencies. Probably custom or semi-custom, I would like it to have a flash hider, perhaps a suppressor if I decide to deal with the legal stuff. If I go custom, to my specs from the ground up, it will be built on a left-hand action. My first choice above, FAL, may be the one best choice for a general-purpose rifle, but sometimes it is best to spread the work around a bit, and let two rifles cover the range of possibilities.
That being said, my idea of a perfect reasonable black rifle (RBR, anyone?) is an FN FAL, or a high-quality derivative such as those made by DSA. Someday, I may end up with two of them, one full-sized, and one Para version.
Honorable mention goes to the M14. I may well go with a Para FAL, for its quality while being compact and foldable, and a full-length M14, to get the best of both. I did not say "M1A" because that denotes one company's term for an M14, and there are some other really good makers out there.
My present reasonable black rifle is an AR15, specifically an S&W M&P15 lower, and two uppers, a Colt HBAR for target shooting, and a BCM lightweight middy upper for social work. I can't really say I prefer the AR15 platform, but it does a job, and is the only rifle platform I can presently carry at work, by the rules, on police patrol.
My Mini-14 rifles are not black.
It is also possible that the only dark-colored rifle I acquire in the future, of larger than .223/5.56, is a precision manual turnbolt rifle. A big part of me prefers this option, coupled with a lighter autoloader for close-range emergencies. Probably custom or semi-custom, I would like it to have a flash hider, perhaps a suppressor if I decide to deal with the legal stuff. If I go custom, to my specs from the ground up, it will be built on a left-hand action. My first choice above, FAL, may be the one best choice for a general-purpose rifle, but sometimes it is best to spread the work around a bit, and let two rifles cover the range of possibilities.
