The concept of a practical rifle is nothing new, the concept came from the late Jeff Cooper scout rifle, which basically is a traditional bolt action hunting rifle that are lightweight and fitted with low power scopes. These practical rifle serves not just for hunting purpose but can be for personal defense as well. (Even as a truck gun.) So as you can see in this practical rifle rabbit hole the caliber and all sorts of prepping idea can come up as to what is the true practical rifle. Another thing to point out is that purchasing a bolt action rifle don’t get much attention as getting an AR which seems to portray a negative thing amongst the anti-gun people. Another plus side is that bolt action rifle is that they provide good accuracy, ruggedness and reliability at an affordable price.
What is your True Practical Rifle? So yeh, there are many rifles that can serve this purpose. The mindset for this rifle is sorta a unique challenge. What’s practical may be different from someone that lives in the suburb vs someone out on a ranch, even secluded out in the wilderness. So if you live in an area that have some separation between you and your neighbor. But with some decent spaces. Having a suppressed rifle is ideal so that it doesn’t alarm your neighbor. And, in your backyard you have a mini-garden filled with delicious veggies. Having a suppressed .22 bolt rifle will do. Because you’re just concerned with varmints getting to your garden.
Rancher – Where as someone who dwells on a ranch may need to have a bigger rifle that can reach out and touch any four legged predators that shouldn’t be on your ranch. Any bolt action .308 rifle with a medium power scope would be fine for the job. This rifle can be stored in your truck, hence the term “truck gun”. This truck gun is not the same as for someone who lives between a suburb and the country that’s packing a semi-auto AR rifle as part of their EDC (every day carry) that can be accessed quickly.
Versatile Practical Rifle – With that said, sometimes there folks that don’t have a bolt action rifle. Other rifles such as the popular Henry Lever Action works, so as the AR pistol with a 7 inch barrel from Rock River Arms, or how bout the Winchester Model 94 Short rifle chambering in a .30/30. Even a Ruger 10/22 Takedown (.22LR) would work for your garden of goodness backyard.How Skill are You?
In the past articles on pistol shooting, we had mentioned a quote from the “Tactical Professor” its not about the bow but the “indian” that matters. This is another x factor about practical rifle that many shooters overlook. Below is a video from Chris of Lucky Gunner Ammo of their becoming a practical rifleman (2016) series, highlighted some really good information on the practicality of the rifle the skills needed to be effective for hunting and personal defense.
There are many low to medium budget bolt action rifle that chambers the full power cartridges that can outperform most .223 semi-auto when in the hands of a skilled shooter. Chris talks about the incident in 1984 up in Alaska. The fugitive skills in marksmanship was above average. He was able to shoot 2 rounds in 2 seconds with a bolt action rifle at a moving helicopter.
