battle rifle book 9

BATTLE RIFLE BOOK 9

BEST 30 CAL RIFLE

If you have decided that a full cartridge rifle is for you, you have a few choices.  Each one has both problems and advantages.  Just as with the carbines, each will have its own dedicated chapter to follow, but here you need to decide mainly by price point.  I no longer consider the Garand a viable option, it being nothing but overpriced junk to pick from now ( just like my beloved Enfield has sadly become ), and that leaves you the AR, the HK, the M-14, Galil  or FN-FAL.  Next, I discard the Galil due to uncertain pricing and availability and spare parts issues. 

*

Now, let me just get this out of the way.  The AR-10 is a piece of crap by most accounts.  It is also a VERY cheap piece of crap.  And if you use it in its proper role as a sniper rather than a spray and pray, it will probably-not guaranteed, but probably-work okay.  Not great, but okay.  You will find with thirty cal semi’s, you very closely get exactly what you pay for.  For $500, you can get an AR-10, and they are the worst.  For $1,000 you get one of the better G-3’s ( although you’ll find the rifle regardless of manufacture shares a very undesirable Achilles Heel ), and if you can’t quite swing that you can get them for $700, although you would be advised to either afford the $1k or do without.

*

You used to be able to get the Soviet sniper for a grand, but what is offered now is a civilian version which isn’t an option.  That is a shame.  It wasn’t all that accurate, but it was for a designated marksman rather than a sniper anyway.  They made snipers out of users of the Mosin-Nagant, so that tells you they at least have the capacity of trying to modify tactics to match to the less than perfect weapon.  So, at the lower end you get either a $500 rifle or one for a grand.  After that, you jump to $1500. 

*

Now you get to choose between accuracy or ruggedness, again just like the carbines.  The M-14 is the more accurate one although I’ve read it is a bit more delicate, a bit more needy of an armorers attention more often.  Less robust but a more accurate rifle-I see no issue with this trade off, just beware of this feature and be able to provide for it.  To me, accuracy with semi thirties is usually crap, no better than much cheaper options, so if a M-14 is as accurate as they claim this would be a very good thing indeed.  I don’t care for delicateness, but the other option is wasting ammunition.  It is a trade-off either way.

*

That leaves the FN-FAL, at about the same price as the M-14.  But which you get a much more rugged weapon which was battle proven far longer on a much wider scale than the M-14 ever was ( I can’t see the M-14 as a sniper rifle leaving much of a record, since they are given far more lavish attention than a grunts rifle anyway ).  The G-3 was used by many militaries but the FN-FAL saw a lot more combat.  And the troops seem to have universally loved it.  It is hard to tell if the M-14 was loved on its own merits or if it was just a far better alternative to the then Crappy Corporate Colt junk that was given to kill off the GI’s far quicker than the Viet Cong could manage ( Hump Colt.  I’ll never buy one of their guns, not even used ).

*

If it was my decision, I would use the following criteria.  Am I a good shot?  If not, I’d use the FN-FAL at much shorter ranges.  It should last longer with fewer problems.  If I was a marksman I’d go with the M-14 and have plans and parts in place for its more fickle nature.  Those are your two best rifles to pick from.  If I was hurting for money but not desperate, I might consider the $1,000 PTR-91.  I could then get a second clone for $700, the Century Arms version.  Even if I had to buy both in Century Arms, while they are not great they would work good enough IF I knew I always had the advantage of distance.  Close in, I’d worry about the G3’s and the AR-10’s because they simply are NOT reliable enough long term.  With distance, quality control is less of a worry.  This way I could get two rifles of middlin quality for the cost of one great one.

*

If I was just too damn dirt poor to pay attention, I would stick with the AR-10, as you can own two for the price of one middlin rifle.  So, you can own two great rifles for $3k, two middlin rifles for $1500 or two crappy rifles for $1k.  If I was even poorer than that, my only choice is to revert back to the carbines.  It would be a tight race but you could in theory own two AR-15’s for $500 if you made a lot of compromises.  But let’s return focus on the Battle Thirties.  As you can see, this is NOT a cheap option.  Your ammo costs double and your rifles cost two to three times as much.  A lot of this has to do with lack of popularity.

*

If you return to yesteryear, the last time thirties were affordable was almost twenty years ago.  You could say the same about houses or health care.  It sucks, because you had almost ninety years where there was always cheap war surplus rifles of one kind or another available to the poorest person.  That is completely over and done with now.  As the Industrial Oil Age sputters and dies, so does the benefits it allowed.  Such as affordable weapons of higher quality.  You can still get crap quality, more affordable than ever as companies desperately strive to avoid bankruptcy.

*

And THAT phase of the decline is almost over.  So you need to decide NOW, what can you afford in multiples and nut up and buy the damn things no matter how much it hurts.  Because the pain will just increase, until the supply decreases to the point they are no longer an option.  Act now, or you never will be able to act.  This applies double to affordable ammo.  If you can’t afford your weapon of choice, in multiples, AND all the ammunition you think you need, NOW, you are quickly going to run out of time and options.  If you can’t afford full power thirty caliber, go with carbines.  It is definitely better than what you will end up with which is nothing.

( .Y. )

( today's related link https://amzn.to/2x8GjgX )

*
note: free book.  Plague https://amzn.to/2xHAt5u .  
*

Please support Bison by buying through the Amazon ad graphics at the top of the page ( or from www.bisonbulk.blogspot.com ). Or PayPal www.paypal.me/jimd303 

*** Unless you are in extreme poverty, spend a buck a month here, by the above donation methods or mail me some cash/check/money order or buy a book. If you don't do Kindle books, send me the money and I'll e-mail it to you in a PDF file.  If you donated, you may request books no charge.  
*** My e-mail is: jimd303@reagan.com  My address is: James M Dakin, 181 W Bullion Rd #12, Elko NV 89801-4184 ***E-Mail me if you want your name added to the weekly e-newsletter subscriber list.

*** Pay your author-no one works for free.  I’m nice enough to publish for barely above Mere Book Money, so do your part.*** junk land under a grand *  Lord Bison* my bio & biblio*   my web site is www.bisonprepper.com *** Wal-Mart wheat***Amazon Author Page
* By the by, all my writing is copyrighted. For the obtuse out there