Why the hell do people hunt with semi auto rifles??

Rambo Complex??... I know that is a Joke.. I could easily say that lever action hunters have a John Wayne Complex! Come to think of it I have... Many times!:D

Seriously Semis for hunting are extremely popular in the east... almost as popular as the other repeaters, levers and pumps. The reasons for it are quite obvious to anyone who hunts in Manitoba, Ontario or Quebec.
Whether the hunt is with dogs, drivers or standing the cover is close and even where there is agriculture the fields can be narrow and the action quick.
A reliable and well maintained Semi Auto is different than a Pump or a Lever or even a Bolt in only one significant way. They are less likely to fail due to USER ERROR... which is THE MOST COMMON cause of jams and short strokes and other failures in ALL REPEATING RIFLES when hunting! A good semi is not gonna let you jam that second round and with practice many of us can be more efficient hunters!
How about the ability to back yourself up if your shot does not instantly drop your animal.
I get a real kick out of the guys that think they don't ever need a second shot... or that they don't need it fast. I use semis for most of my Big Game Hunting and I also use Bolts and Levers and Pumps and Single shots.
I certainly don't have to ask why anyone else has a preference... it should be obvious.:cool:
 
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uphere said:
that may be true but a good rifle shouldn't have to be cleaned every 60 shots
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Really?
I bet your barrels last a while eh?
I know who not to buy guns off of on this site
 
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semis can be cool I saw a website with necked chicks posing with them once, they all had nice guns .......I think :D :D

I see the initial point here of a guy who has to work on them and clean them for people who dont look after them, I also see why you never see a semi auto at a BR shoot, but then you never see a bolt gun at a ar shoot either, I do not see many goat and sheep hunters packing them either but then it comes down to a weight thing, no matter how you put it when you compair the semi to the bolt you have to face reality, more moving parts = more potential problems, why I own bolt guns less CHANCE of something screwing up on me in a hunting camp 500 miles from a gunshop ;) :D
 
DarrylDB said:
Really?
I bet your barrels last a while eh?
I know who not to buy guns off of on this site
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well it's good you don't have you're hopes up you'll never see one up for sale

i don't know how long my barrels will last, none of them are old enough

i know a guy who didn't clean his 22-250 for about 3 years, it shot fine until it started throwing bullets sidways he than gave it a good cleaning and now it shoots just fine
 
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uphere said:
well it's good you don't have you're hopes up you'll never see one up for sale

i don't know how long my barrels will last, none of them are old enough

i know a guy who didn't clean his 22-250 for about 3 years, it shot fine until it started throwing bullets sidways he than gave it a good cleaning and now it shoots just fine
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Yes, you have 2 more years to wait before you can own guns... So those barrels havent been bought yet Im guessing?

I bet dad was pissed when he found out you didnt clean his gun for 3 yrs...
 
Re: barrel cleaning

Get a copy of the current issue of 'Handloader' magazine and see what John Barsness has to say on the topic.

I think a lot of good guns get ruined by improper or over zealous cleaning rather than not enough. Personally, I clean when function is impaired and/or accuracy drops off.

The other great myth guaranteed to generate controvery is the 'barrel break in' process. Again, many good barrels get ruined by over zealous and unnecessaRY scrubbing. I read that Gale McMillan used to void warranty on rifles that had been subjected to any elaborate 'break in' process, especially if they involved abrasive compounds of any kind.

Todd
 
Sharps '63 said:
Re: barrel cleaning

Get a copy of the current issue of 'Handloader' magazine and see what John Barsness has to say on the topic.

I think a lot of good guns get ruined by improper or over zealous cleaning rather than not enough. Personally, I clean when function is impaired and/or accuracy drops off.

The other great myth guaranteed to generate controvery is the 'barrel break in' process. Again, many good barrels get ruined by over zealous and unnecessaRY scrubbing. I read that Gale McMillan used to void warranty on rifles that had been subjected to any elaborate 'break in' process, especially if they involved abrasive compounds of any kind.

Todd
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The abraisive compounds are used for lapping bores, not cleaning rifles. They are much different than crud built up in a rifle. I can understand why MCMillan might have a problem with guys lapping bores as it was allready doont to a degree on they're custom rifle...
In the 90's you could buy kits to firelap bores... A good way to #### a barrel for the average joe blow that doesnt understand the process.
People lapped the rifling right out of they're rifles...


Re scrubbing bores Barness was right to a degree.
But you neglected to mention the reason...
Yeah, scrubbing the #### out of bores with oversize brushes and jags, no boreguide and a steel/aluminum rod...
This has destroyed more accurate rifles than shooting the barrel out, but mostly crown issues.

Clean your rifle properly, and you'll never run into that problem...
 
Sharps '63 said:
. Personally, I clean when function is impaired and/or accuracy drops off.


Todd
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Me too..

Unless worried about corrosion, there isn't mch need to clean a gun if it is working fine and shoots accuratley. I rarely (if ever) clean some guns, and others I clean from time to time, becuase they dont' liek to shoot well when fouled.

I have several guns that have digested well over 100 rounds since thier last cleaning, and they are shootiing fine.:)
 
If your shooting black powder, it's another story. But a rifle that shoots good, and hasn't been exposed to the elements doesn't have to be over cleaned. With that being said, I used to own a .270 that would shoot exactly 20 rounds awesome, including the first shot in a clean barrel. After 20, the groups would open up pretty good.
 
I suppose that everyone complaining about semi-auto hunters needing more than 1 shot per animal uses a blackpowder or Ruger #1?

I can think of a few reasons why someone might prefer a semi:
-Lower recoil
-More scope clearance compared to a bolt handle
-You can scope the animal immediately after shooting it, rather than having to rack up another round "just in case".
-Quick shot at a second animal that hasn't quite figured out what's going on.
 
Each is to there own, I hunt with Bolt rifles, however 65% of my deer camp hunts with autos, mostly remmeys!
Everyone shoots there share of deer mostly on the first or second shot, bolt or auto?
I can relate to some out there and have seen my share of extractor problems, and the old 742s just plane and simple wear out?
I have seen some remmey shoot very well out of the box with factory ammo
If we are so concerned about a follow up shot with a auto or bolt , ???
We do know auto ,bolt, lever, or single the first one always goes off!
The other note why gun nuts like us are so partial to bolts, is accuracy and the way we can build and load or ammo, and take care of business confident out at some longer distance! So are we maybe more partial to playing and loading and maximizing the guns performance vs a guy walking out of the store with a 7200 and a box of winchesters going to hunt whitetails?
Both work the same on deer sized game hit withing 3 inches in the boiler?
 
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adriel said:
I suppose that everyone complaining about semi-auto hunters needing more than 1 shot per animal uses a blackpowder or Ruger #1?

I can think of a few reasons why someone might prefer a semi:
-Lower recoil
-More scope clearance compared to a bolt handle
-You can scope the animal immediately after shooting it, rather than having to rack up another round "just in case".
-Quick shot at a second animal that hasn't quite figured out what's going on.
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Agreed, I like mine. Handy coyote rig :)

Remmy760-1.jpg
 
The idea that semi's are innacuarate is waaay exagerrated. Ever hear of Barret Model 82 .50 BMG? That's one of those big semi-automatic sniper rifles that can reliably do head shots at 1000 yards, or the M14 (and variants) that is, even today, considered an excellent sniper platform? I used an M-16 variant in the military and it shot hundreds of sub MOA groups for me, in all conditions, even -65 degrees in the Canadian arctic. I fired about ten thousand rounds and had one stoppage, due to a broken plastic mag lip. If some guys who have semi's totally abuse them and don't know how to aim, don't blame the gun. There are lots of reasons to use semi's, as some people already listed. I am mostly a hunter (as opposed to shooting holes in paper; which can be fun too) and so I run into this semi-auto bashing all the time. My reasons are simple:

Anybody who ever fired a second shot would have done it better with a semi
and
anything you can do with your bolt I can do with my semi
and
I just freakin like semi's!
 
I shoot a REM 750 Carbine in .35 Whelen. I keep it clean and it has NEVER jammed. I hunt THICK brush and when I shoot a deer or moose I often fire more than one time fast. I often hit the animal more than once. Semis have their place and they do the job well. The 7400 and 750 series are good just keep them clean. The old 742's were well respected but I have yet to see one that doesn't have chatter marks in the receiver. I don't know of a more natural pointer than the Remmy semi auto family. (that includes the mod 8, 81 series) ' nuff said....

cheers Darryl
 
303carbine said:
The M1 Garand is the only semi I would hunt with, the track record of the rifle is well known.
No rem jammers or chinese "stuff" for me..............:puke:
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I still want to know how you get powder burns on your targets when they are set up 100 yards away? :confused: :D

303carbine said:
Clay birdies can't chew on your ass when you wing'em......:evil:
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I only hunt during the season allowed for white men, so I guess the birdies must be more vicious the rest of the year. ;)
 
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