Most reliable semi in .30-06?

[Northman999]

BAR is very good.

I think the Garand you already have is probably THE most reliable 30-06 semi you'll ever find. My Garand eats anything I feed it, including round nose ammunition, which most semi's don't like whatsoever.

 

[MauserMike]

Is there something wrong with the Garand?


Mark

For hunting? Its heavy as sin, isn't easily scoped, is priced at collector levels, is difficult to load/unload, breaks if you shoot too heavy/powerful bullets. Its a solid, reliable platform and bayonet/club meant for shooting/skewering/bludgeoning nazis, japs and communists...

Don't get me wrong I love the Garand but hunt with one? Certainly do-able but not my first choice by a long shot.

 

[sobo4303]

I hate to inform you, but in my opinion, your Garand IS the most reliable, as others have stated. That reliability comes at the price of being heavy and a b!tch to scope.

I have an M305 (tweaked, of course) and it cost me a total of about $800. It is a 308 (ya, lets here it now!) which is close to the 30-06 and very, very reliable. It was one of the considerations I made in selling my BAR in 30-06. It too is heavy, but a real treat to shoot in terms of balance, accuracy and performance. Looks very cool too!

 

[mmattockx]

For hunting? Its heavy as sin, isn't easily scoped, is priced at collector levels, is difficult to load/unload, breaks if you shoot too heavy/powerful bullets. Its a solid, reliable platform and bayonet/club meant for shooting/skewering/bludgeoning nazis, japs and communists...

Don't get me wrong I love the Garand but hunt with one? Certainly do-able but not my first choice by a long shot.

My Garand isn't much heavier than most of my hunting rifles. True, they are getting expensive and are hard to scope. It certainly doesn't break if you reload properly or use an adjustable gas plug. Loading is no worse than most other hunting rifles (unless you think that slapping in a clip and dropping the bolt is hard), but unloading is a bit of a process.

I hunt every year with mine and love every minute of it, it has accounted for 2 deer so far and I look forward to many more. OP asked for a quality, reliable semi. I think the Garand fits both of those quite handily, with an added dose of historical significance. If OP can stand using iron sights (superb ones, though) and carrying the weight there is nothing wrong with a Garand as a hunting rifle. Just my $0.02, of course.


Mark