I just got real interested in the Ruger American Ranch bolt gun after that.
Cheap, simple, handy, fed from common detachable magazines, comes in useful rifle calibers.
I’m not sure I could run a lever faster than a bolt anyway. For me, it seems like all of the pluses of a lever action and then some.
Originally Posted by Edster
In this thread, I ultimately purchased a Ruger American in 6.5 Grendel. If one sees the need for a manually operated social rifle, I think a bolt gun makes more sense than a levergun. The feeding on my American hasn't been as smooth as I hoped, but either it is starting to brake-in, or my technique is getting better. The local hog population doesn't like it at all.
I had an ER nurse in a class. I noticed she kept taking all head shots. Her response when asked why, "'I've seen too many people who have been shot in the chest putting up a fight in the ER." Point taken.
Given generalities about Grendel feeding, I suspect it would run more smoothly in .223 or 7.62x39. But I have zero data, apart from various other guns ranging from ARs to Howa Minis having issues feeding Grendel.
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Not another dime.
From the blog post you linked in the thread you linked:
"I will digress here to mention that about that same time, my buddy, Erik Lund, told me about his adventures in hog hunting out west and taking hogs at distances up to 400 yards. I love it out west. I like shooting hogs. Therefore, I’d probably enjoy shooting hogs out west. One problem became readily apparent though in that I don’t currently (at the time of this writing) own a rifle suitable for taking wild sausage humanely at such distances.
All of this, of course, was a clear sign that I need a general purpose turn-bolt rifle."
You could of gotten a BLR or an 1895... Both can be had in proper calibers for pointy bullets, both are modern production rifles. Just saying.
Men freely believe that which they desire.
Julius Caesar
Here is where I am at on manually operated rifles as defensive tools. A magazine fed bolt action is probably superior to a lever action in most instances. Including the "I want a rifle and pistol in the same caliber" camp.
I've had the same Marlin 336 since I was 12 years old. And I've shot it a lot. For the most part, when run well and clean, it works. I've cut my fingers on the loading gate I don't know how many times, trying to load in a hurry. I hate trying to unload the damn thing. Which, given the laws regarding rifles and shotguns in most states, makes it kind of a pain in the ass overall. It gets hotter than two rats fornicating in a wool sock in the middle of a south Texas summer after firing a dozen rounds rapidly through it.
But if I'm grabbing something out of the safe that isn't an AR and isn't a 12-gauge, then it's the 336.
Which makes it a 3rd tier long gun. And frankly, I'm probably going to get a Ruger 77/357 next year, which I suspect with a 2 or 3x prism scope on top will make the 336 the 4th tier gun.
Having had a martini and put the kids to bed, I shall riposte:
Show me anything with Roy Weatherby’s name on it that is a weapon of war. For bonus points, explain how J.C Higgins was a thing.
Yeah, Weatherby rifles were originally built on Mauser actions. No possibility of a direct link there, right?
JC Higgins was an accountant for Sears and Roebuck who allowed the company to use his name. The brand started off with baseballs and eventually covered all the sporting goods sold by Sears until the Ted Williams name replaced it. I must be missing the relevance on that one...
Men freely believe that which they desire.
Julius Caesar
I actually considered both.From the blog post you linked in the thread you linked:
"I will digress here to mention that about that same time, my buddy, Erik Lund, told me about his adventures in hog hunting out west and taking hogs at distances up to 400 yards. I love it out west. I like shooting hogs. Therefore, I’d probably enjoy shooting hogs out west. One problem became readily apparent though in that I don’t currently (at the time of this writing) own a rifle suitable for taking wild sausage humanely at such distances.
All of this, of course, was a clear sign that I need a general purpose turn-bolt rifle."
You could of gotten a BLR or an 1895... Both can be had in proper calibers for pointy bullets, both are modern production rifles. Just saying.
I had an ER nurse in a class. I noticed she kept taking all head shots. Her response when asked why, "'I've seen too many people who have been shot in the chest putting up a fight in the ER." Point taken.
Did someone say Martini ?
I’m derailing the thread and I should stop, but my point was not that there’s no link, it’s that I think Weatherby is a good example of the evolution of the sporting rifle as a distinct product category in a way that’s very different. The point I was going for with JC Higgins is about commodification and catalogue sales, but maybe I’m over thinking this. My point is basically that there was a big window where the point of building guns was to sell guns rather than to make guns that were especially fit for any particular purpose.
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