[BenjiEDF]

I'm interested in what everyone would pick up. Let's say for the sake of the discussion you had 4 empty slots in a gun safe and wanted 4 rifles to cover the basics. I don't want to color the discussion too much but if you were starting fresh, or recommending to others what 4 rifles would you buy?

as an example: 10/22, AR-15, 30-06 hunting rifle, Mosin Nagant (these are just an example, not my four).

What 4 rifles would you consider essential for a minimalist gun owner? (while covering some essential intended purposes: target/varmint shooting, hunting, defense, or any other use).

Respond as minimally as which make/model or as detailed as to why. I'm curious as to what other folks consider the basic necessities of rifles. Price does matter, not your 4 dream rifles... but 4 you would consider ideal to own. Why 4? no reason, it's a simple affordable number.

[mixflip]

I think I fall into the "minimalist" group? I am not a collector.

I felt I must have a...

Glock 26 9mm subcompact for EDC/CCW/around the house (sorry its not a rifle but its a part of my minimalist setup)

A Mossberg 500 plane jane pump shotgun for shoulder fired close to intermediate work and general purpose 1 shot stop versatility. (a Remington would fit here too.)

AR15 (I have a Colt 6920) for its accuracy at longer ranges than the Glock and shotgun. Its a 1 inch to 100 yard fighting gun in my eyes. Hi capacity, reliable, fast to reload, light, accurate and of course ridiculously modular if you are a hopeless tinkerer. (an AK seems to be the new AR nowadays as far as popularity goes so I'd go with one of those too)

M1A/M14 for 7.62 hard hitting power. Less deflection when you need to punch through a windshield, engines, brick wall, 2x4's, small trees etc etc. There are better 7.62 rifles but I just like the look and feel of a sexy M1A/M14.

You gotta have abolt gun. Im working on getting a good bolt gun myself. A cheap $100 Mosin Nagant fills that void until I get a budget Savage or spend a bit more for a tried & true Remington 700. With decent glass of course.

I have several 10/22's which in my personal opinion is a great trainer and a great survival gun especially with the new break down version. I can carry 1000 rounds easily. It can get small game and even be a self defense gun when loaded with high quality "velocitor" ammo.

Thats my "BASIC" gun list. Everything after that is a luxury for me. I try to think about ammo availability and logistics with my basic minimalist setup. Sure fancy whiz-bang ninjafied techno rounds are cool but can you get them when times are tough?

[Batesmotel]

Heavy barrel .22LR bolt action. Remington 541T or Anschutz.

Remington 700 .308.

AR15

Savage .223

[countrygun]

Now here is a much more well thought out question than the usual "if you could only have...blah blah woof woof"

I am going to try to give a reasoned answer based on experience and having thought the same question through myself, many times and changed my answer to myself dozens of times.

the question is one of those that reminds me of the saying "You can pick your friends but you can't pick your friend's nose"

I will give my goals/reasoning first and then the conclusion at least it will be until I consider the question again and I will not cheat and suggest, say, a Savage 24 to sneak a free shotgun in.

In my poor college days my "battery" of shoulder guns numbered 3. A Marlin 60 .22, an M-1 carbine, and an M-1 Garand. I was pretty well set up, with a 5 rd clip for the Garand I could hunt almost any game animals in Oregon. additionally in the close quarters of the coast range, the small blacktai deer were available to the carbine with a 5rd mag and the Soft tip hollowpoints the gun loved.

One thing in my favor was similar stocks and handling characteristics. This is one reason, while I have had an AR and still have AKs and other guns with vertical pistol grips I wouldn't list one as an answer to the question. The 'KISS" principle comes in to play to me.

For the .22, which I consider essential in a 4 gun battery it really is the "fun gun" and I can't say that manychoices would be wrong, but, for certain reasons I would currently go with one of the nice Savage bolts with the "accu-trigger" Savages are very accurate and despite the fact that you will probably hear "Ruger 10/22 ten times for every other .22 mentioned, I was taught to bear in mind that anything you point a .22 at, you had better be able to kill with one shot. Hence the closer a .22 can come to making one hole at 50yds out of the box, the better I like it. (I actually don't have one, but I have the same gun in .17 MachII and a truck load of other .22s)

Moving up I have told myself to stick to guns in production so I will ease my burden and eliminate a couple of favorites. I think that a "carbine" of some sort is fairly important, in lieu of a shot shotgun they are a great way to control your immediate surroundings. with that in mind I would have to go to the Mini-14, .223 in tactical guise. It can also pinch hit for varmints and, if carefully employed, game up to deer.

I couldn't do without a Garand or an M-14 of some type. for me it would mean my SOCOM16 but if I were buying I would go with the scout model.

for the last I want distance capability and that means a bolt and, specifically because, my rimfire is a Savage I would go with one of their very acccurate bolt guns in 30-06. This works in conjunction with the rimfire because serious practice with it transfers nicely to this rifle.

All of my choices are based on a general "ne size fits all" concept and personal preferences knock it into a cocked hat anyway.

You are going to get a lot of answers and I will bet that none of them are "wrong" at all, we have such a wide variety of rfles available it is hard to find any of them "wrong" and since we aren't walking in the other guys moccasins, it is hard to come up with any wrong answers there are just different preferences.

[RockyMtnG20]

1. Ruger 10/22 with a Bushnell 3-9x40mm scope.
or Ruger 77/17 .17HMR with 7-21x40mm scope.

2. S&W M&P 15T (AR-15)
or FNH SCAR17S (.308 WIN)

3. Winchester SXP 12Ga Camp Combo (comes w/ 18.5" & 28" barrels)
Or: Winchester SX3 12Ga autoloader 28"
(FNH owns Winchester Arms & Browning Arms Co.. these guns are FNH actions at Winchester prices!)

4. Browning X-Bolt in .300 Win Mag or .308 Win
or Weatherby Vanguard Series 2 Stianless/synthetic.
or 7mm Rem Mag for long shots

Originally Posted by BenjiEDF

I'm interested in what everyone would pick up. Let's say for the sake of the discussion you had 4 empty slots in a gun safe and wanted 4 rifles to cover the basics. I don't want to color the discussion too much but if you were starting fresh, or recommending to others what 4 rifles would you buy?

as an example: 10/22, AR-15, 30-06 hunting rifle, Mosin Nagant (these are just an example, not my four).

What 4 rifles would you consider essential for a minimalist gun owner? (while covering some essential intended purposes: target/varmint shooting, hunting, defense, or any other use).

Respond as minimally as which make/model or as detailed as to why. I'm curious as to what other folks consider the basic necessities of rifles. Price does matter, not your 4 dream rifles... but 4 you would consider ideal to own. Why 4? no reason, it's a simple affordable number.

[Metal Angel]

Ruger 10/22, because, well, everyone should have a .22 and I like the 10/22.

Colt 6920, because I want one.

Arsenal SGL21, because I want one.

Remington 700 in .308, because I would want a bolt gun and kinda like the 700. Although this might rather be a Ruger gunsight scout.

If I could have five, I would add a lever gun in .357magnum... But I don't know enough about them to say which, I have just always wanted one.

[id1otbox]

1. savage model 24 or the newer model 42. either in 22lr or 22 wmr over .410 combo (~$400 at most new) if i could pick one gun ever for wilderness survival shed be it
- small game
2. ruger mini 14 in .223 (~$600 new) fun and i love the action
- humans
3. savage axis in 30.06 (~$250) cheap and surprisingly accurate
- larger game, sniping
4. benelli super nova 3.5in chamber 12g (~$450) eats anything and is reliable
- hunting, self defense, slugs for big game defense

This would be my minimalist selection if I were to pack a horse with 4 guns and some ammo and set out onto the world.

I feel like most bases would be covered. All guns running readily available ammo. Total cost under 2 grand. (Yes the price quotes are based off my experience from places I have been and it may be different for you for better or for worse...)

[byf43]

Four rifles:


Ruger 10/22 or Remington 541-T.
Everyone needs a .22 lr. Period.

AR15 in 5.56x45mm. (16" hvy barrel - 1:7 or 1:8 twist)
Capable of very good accuracy - Great for up-close or out to 400+ yards.

Remington 700 SPS in .308 or Remington 700 BDL in .30-'06, or M1A Scout/Squad (7.62x51mm)
Any of these for hunting or other long range 'work'.

Marlin 1895G (.45-70 "Gummint") or Marlin 1894CB (.44 Magnum). (Pre-Remlin/Marlington!)
Everyone should have a levergun.

[vafish]

Bolt action .22 lr, probably an anschutz.

Ar15 in 5.56

Bolt action .30-06

Bolt action .375 h+h

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine

[ctfireman]

10/22, AR, rem 700 in .308, & a nice garand.

[GlocknSpiehl]

Hmmm, since you specified "rifles" only, if I was starting from scratch without what I already own:
1. Ruger 10/.22
2. M1 Garand
3. AK-47
4. Mauser 98K

[Bob Hafler]

M1 Garand
30/30 lever action
Mini 14
10/22.

Honorable mention
SKS (love the yugo's)
Mosin Nagant

[fnfalman]

Ruger 10/22 - are there other .22 rifles? Sure, but the 10/22 is cheap AND good.

SKS - pick your flavor. It's cheap, reliable and accurate with ammo that is also cheap and plentiful. I'd recommend an AK but good AKs are hard to come by nowadays.

A bolt action .223 varmint gun of some sort - probably a Tikka T3 Varmint.

A bolt action .300 Winchester Magnum of some sort to take the heaviest game in North American continent - a Sako M85 stainless synthetic.

[Bro KV]

10/22
AR15
Garand
Large Caliber bolt gun

[ithaca_deerslayer]

1. Bolt-action .22lr with a 4x scope.
target and plinking and woods small game

2. Lever-action .22mag with a 3x9 scope. Love my Ruger 96.
field small and medium game

3. Bolt-action .308 Remington model 7 with a 3x9 scope
big game

4. AR-15 (or AK-47)
homeland defense

Would love to add a heavy barrel .308 bolt gun to that mix, for long distance precision shooting

[paulbow]

4 AK-47s

[FireForged]

Enfield 303
Winchester pump 12ga
Marlin 22
AR-15

[mixflip]

four AR 15's

[TalkToTheGlock]

Ak47, Colt AR, R700, any variety of .22lr

[pennlineman]

Originally Posted by vafish

Bolt action .22 lr, probably an anschutz.

Ar15 in 5.56

Bolt action .30-06

Bolt action .375 h+h

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine

Same here, except my .22 would probably be a CZ.

[Haldor]

Breakdown .22LR, either a Ruger 10/22 take apart or a Marlin Papoose. Prefer it to be integrally suppressed. The AR7 is not even in the running for this role.

AR15. The optimal anti-people rifle around for both close range and distance shooting. I like my Preban Colt a lot, but one from any of the top tier vendors is fine.

Semi-auto in .308/30-06. My preference is an FAL or L1A1, but an M1A is also a nice choice (even though it costs double what a comparable FAL costs). Never know when you are going to need to mow down a herd of elephants (an FAL is the African poachers weapon of choice).

Long range boom stick. Bolt action in 338 Mag or bigger with a decent scope.

[Reswob]

unlimited budget?

Arsenal SLR-107CR

Fulton Armory M21 action in an M14E2 SAW stock

Accuracy International AWSM .338

Armalite AR-180 C

[Dyerbill]

For me.............

#1 Ruger 10/22
# 2 Ruger mini-14 .223
#3 Mosin Nagant 91/30
#4 Marlin 1894c .357


....now if the budget allows a fun but cheap rifle............I have a blast with my Rossi 62sa pump........oh yeah.

[AK_Stick]

a 22 bolt gun, learn to shoot, plenty of fun to shoot/compete with, cheap to practice with.

a 30-06 bolt gun, best all around caliber for America. While not perfect for big animals, it'll do any size you find in America.

a AR-15 for home defense, best all around self defense weapon.

a Big bore(because I live in AK), should I live in the lower 48, I might choose a small bore, flat shooting round for antelope.

[hogship]

I saw this thread yesterday, and just can't pin it down to four specific rifles.......

A 22LR would be on the list. Magazine fed bolt rifle or semi-auto.

A semi-automatic rifle in 223, or 7.62x39.

A center fire lever rifle.

A black powder rifle......?

ooc