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OT: What non-AR semiauto rifles are available?


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If the pending initiative in Washington State is passed, there will be several restrictions on the purchase of "semiautomatic assault rifles". The initiative defines "semiautomatic assault rifles" to include all semiautomatic rifles (I have read the initiative myself to confirm this). Thus, the Ruger 10/22 will be included, as one example. 

I just picked up one of those in anticipation of the passage of this measure (since it's billed as a "safe storage" measure, in our deeply-blue state it has a significant chance of passage), and am shopping for a semi-auto, wood-stocked, non-AR hunting rifle. (I have no personal interest in ARs.) So far, all I've seen in a couple of places is the Browning BAR (not, of course, the legendary military one). This seems a fine rifle. Remington apparently no longer makes a "traditional" semi-auto rifle; there are none shown on their website.

 

Are there other manufacturers? At least in a relatively ordinary price range.....

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You pointed out the two I was going to suggest.  You can find the Remingtons on the used gun racks and gun shows pretty much everyday.  Another fun one is the old Ruger .44 carbine.  They have been discontinued for a number of years now and are getting pricey on the used market.  A .44 mag is a handy round for close up work but not much good for reliability past 100 yards, IMHO.

I've not had a Remington semi auto but have heard stories about them.  Ones that are shot frequently, the metal in the actions start to stretch or something and they won't cycle properly after a while.  That may take a good bit of shooting.  I don't know, just a rumor I've heard.  The Brownings look to be a work of art and seem to be priced accordingly. I don't own one of these either.  I've not heard much about them good or bad.  Aren't both of them sister companies under the same holding company?  If I were looking for a BAR, I'd get one that is 10 years old back when Browning was Browning.  I migrate towards used equipment anyway.

Come to think of it, the only semi auto non AR platform rifles I am familiar with are .22s and the Ruger 44 carbine.  I may have to change that.

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Don't forget the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine and M1A.

 

The WA initiative doesn't ban semi-auto rifles but it will make purchasing new ones a huge pain in the @$$, with a mandatory waiting period, additional background checks, age limit (21+) and required training class. The last requirement is the most ridiculous, because the idea that I need training to operate guns I've owned and shot for 35+ years would be laughable if only it was actually funny.

.

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Mini 14, Socom 16 to name a couple.

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Remington 740 / 74 / 742 are good hunting rifles IMO. We have a plain vanilla 74 Sportsman that has taken as much legal big game as some people have ever seen in their time. They are sub elk of POI out to 400 yards, at least that's the furthest I personally have used it to take elk. 

I DO own each of the above, and your not going to stretch any receivers on guns that the bolt locks up to the barrel.

They remain a solid reliable rifle. Just my .02 ;)

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Problem is, the gun shops around here stock nothing but AR-type rifles. The last time I even saw a Mini-14 for sale was at Walmart, before they got rid of all their centerfire semi-autos in the wake of the Parkland shooting. If you want a non-AR, such as a bolt or lever-action you usually need to go to Cabelas or some other chain store.

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Howdy,

AR is the MAIN format and making them illegal is denying state of the art to

many hunters and shooters.

might be time to fight, pard.

Best

CR

 

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1 hour ago, Chili Ron said:

Howdy,

AR is the MAIN format and making them illegal is denying state of the art to

many hunters and shooters.

might be time to fight, pard.

Best

CR

 

 

Chilli Ron...  Gun owners in Wa have been and are continuing to fight. Not a single anti-gun initiative has made it through the state legislature. The problem is that the anti-gun billionaires put up the funds to get those same initiatives on the general ballot. They pass because 85% of the population of WA state lives in 5 counties and 4 of those touch Interstate 5.

They are clones of the idiots in the PRoK when it comes to electing A$$hats to run their local governments and voting on asinine laws and initiatives that are destroying the rest of the state.

Back when I was stationed at NAS Whidbey Island Seattle was a nice place. You could go down town to the market and other shops and have a great time with your family. Now I wouldn't go there on a dare. between the homeless encampments, discarded drug paraphernalia, human waste, and garbage it is no longer a safe place to take your family.

 

The only hope for gun owners in these cesspools of leftists fanaticism is for SCOTUS to finally get off its collective derrieres and uphold the 1st and 2nd Amendments.

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Yes, I am in the fight, but in terms of my own personal preference for ownership, I don't like ARs. I'm not against them. I like cowboy guns, why, who knows? I like non-AR hunting rifles, why, who knows?

 

I'm buying the guns as a statement, as well as the fact that I'll use them. I'm talking up the absurdity of this initiative to anybody who will listen, and using my purchases to illustrate it.

 

Here, Big 5 has mini-14s as do many other dealers. That particular gun doesn't appeal to me like a Browning or Remington semi-auto rifle does. I've looked at a few now and expect I'll buy a Browning, in either .308 or 30.06.

 

Despite its very liberal politics, Washington has always had very good gun laws. We have been a "shall issue" state for concealed-carry licenses since 1959. We have  strong state constitutional protection. We have state pre-emption of any local firearms restrictions. We have a legislature which has refused to pass gun control legislation, even "liberal" members.

 

What is happening is cyber/hyper millionaires/billionaires are financing the initiative process, because the "legislature won't act". The emphasis of their campaign is on "safe storage" (i.e. criminalizing "unsafe" storage). The lumping of all semi-auto rifles as "semiautomatic assault rifles" is very cynical, but it is also a weakness if the point can be gotten across.

 

I've put my money where my mouth is in several ways.

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I have owned a Remington 742 for 35 plus years with no issues. My father has owned one for over 50 years with no issues.

 

They are good dependable firearms. Only complaint would be they have a rather stiff trigger but just about every semi-auto hunting rifle made that is not a modern sporting rifle clone suffers from the lack of an adjustable trigger pull. A competent gun smith can make the trigger pull a lot better by changing out a couple of springs. DO NOT file down the sear in an attempt to reduce trigger pull.

 

You might also look at the Model 760 Remington rifle. Lots of parts in common with the 742 except it is a pump action. My dad's best friend owned one and never had any issues with it.

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Red Gauntlet,

I found this article that mentions the Benelli R1. Perhaps it’s worth a look. I have no experience or opinion on them. Just did a search out of curiosity. 

 

https://www.thoughtco.com/semi-automatic-big-game-hunting-rifles-1927668

 

https://www.benelliusa.com/r1-big-game-rifle

 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Chili Ron said:

Howdy,

AR is the MAIN format and making them illegal is denying state of the art to

many hunters and shooters.

might be time to fight, pard.

Best

CR

 

Like I said earlier, the initiative will NOT make them illegal per se. Instead they're throwing out a bunch of new conditions that have to be met before you can purchase one. The worst part about this law is that for the first time ALL semi-automatic rifles are being treated the same, regardless of whether it's a Marlin Model 60 .22 or a Chinese-made AK-47 clone.

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Found this review https://www.gun-tests.com/issues/19_5/features/Semiauto-Hunting-Rifles-5419-1.html?st=GUNREPORTS&s=GRDetail#.W7WSWRRRc3o

 

Not mentioned above but on another forum was the location of the R-1 safety.  It is fwd of the trigger guard and can be a stretch to reach.

 

Looks like the last version of a traditional semi-auto rifle from Remington was the 750.  All the reviews I have read state they are well made rifles.

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Sorry for the rant. Don't know a good answer to your question other than an old Remington or a Browning. Sorry for the different fonts, I keep touching the touch pad on this confuser and it does weird things, and can't be turned off.

JHC

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Thanks for the good ideas and links, Pards. Too bad Remington has discontinued the classical semi-auto. Really too bad that Ruger has discontinued its .44 mag semiauto rifles. I assume the AR platform must have made real inroads on those guns.

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The BAR & Benelli R1 are in the same price class $1100.  The M1A is $600 more.  If you want a John Browning design you could look for a Remington  model 8 in 300 Savage a cartridge that has similar ballistics as a 308.  Missed owning one when an elderly uncle of the misses was liquidating his hunting rifle collection consisting of a Savage take down model 99 & Remington model 8 both in 300 Savage.  Rather than asking relatives if they wanted to purchase them he put them on consignment at a LGS.  The word got to my father in-law & he mentioned it to his daughter that two rifles that had at on time been her grandfather's were a a LGS in Santa Rosa.  By the time Saturday rolled around when we drove the 90 miles to the LGS the Remington had been sold.

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Howdy,

I had one of those early ruger 44 carbines.

When it jammed it was a lot of work to get it working again.

And they didn't warn folks that it was NOT to be used with lead bullets.

The lead would clog the action and was a pain to clean out.

Does the English language have a word for something that looks great

and turns out to be an infuriating piece of *******?

Why anyone would want that ruger 44 carbine when the 1892 winchester

design works so well is beyond me.

YMMV

Best

CR

 

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Howdy,

The latest version of the mini 14 is really nice.

A couple  problems with older ones 1- they vary in rifling twist

so what shoots great in one is not so great in others.

2-rapid fire cause barrels to heat and shift point of impact

3- some aftermarket bull barrel setups had narrowed points which ruined accuracy.

4-Hi cap aftermarket mags worked in some not in others.

5- 20 round factory mags were hard to find for many years.

6- bullet weight had to match the rifling twist pretty close.

I haven't shot the newest ones myself but close friend says "terrific".

Best

CR

 

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I first tried a Mini-14 30 years ago. It was piss-poor inaccurate. Acceptable for combat use I guess, but with 4"+ groups at 50 yards it was extremely boring to shoot. After I sold it I began thinking that maybe I just got a bad one, so I bought another. Nope, it was just as bad as the first. Then I tried a 20" AR-15 HBAR, got sub-1" groups at that range and I never looked back. Both Rugers were of course the earlier ones with the thin barrel. I keep hearing that the newer ones with the thicker barrel are much better, but I have yet to try one out or set aside the funds to get one.

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