Indians For Guns

Guys, a question out of curiosity. Say the government brings a law whereby we are only ever allowed one rifle, and that includes any kind of rifle that fires a projectile, and there is no exception on the calibre or action. What would be your choice and why?

I personally would choose my SMLE 303 No. Mk3*. Simply because:
·It’s as accurate as I’ll ever be with it,
·I have used it on various targets from 100-1000yds and made hits,
·Very fast, slick bolt action; I know as I have used it to full effect on the ‘Mad minute’
·10-rnd mag, which can be replaced and is easy to load with chargers,
·The choice of iron sights and mounting a scope,
·Battle proven in 2 world wars and more around the world,
·Most importantly, it’s the rifle that I am most conversant with because I have literally fired hundreds of rounds through it and know the pros and cons of it

Fire away

Krish

Hear Hear! As it happens, this is the exact situation we are in anyways..

No need to make any postulations! For the common man it just might be as well that ownership of any kind of arms was simply banned. The prohibitive price and hassles of applying for an arms licence makes it almost impossible to own one.

Jonah

Krish,

I have moved this most excellent topic to the Rifles forum as I would hope to see more replies here.

Well, I have what would be my one use for all hunting rifle right now - a custom 8mm Mauser with flding leaf sights. Were I in India, I would most certainly choose a good 22 lr under the current regime because it would be the cheapest rifle to own and shoot regularly there and I would not have to worry about bore wear etc as I would with a larger bore one over the years. If a bigger bore were on the cards, any of the following calibres would be fine with me: 303, 30-06, 7x57, 8x57, 318 W-R etc A list would be too long because there are so many excellent medium bore calibres to choose from.

If an even bigger bore round were in contention, my choice would be for a 450-400 in a double rifle or a single shot and a 375 H&H in a bolt rifle. Personally, I would not go bigger than a 375 becaue that is a round that I shoot well despite not liking recoil. I don;t think I shall ever get to hunt in Africa and I have no need for anything bigger.

Cheers!

Mehul

Mehul,
You are a hunter at heart and born a few decades too late

I have some limited experience with a variety of 8mm Mausers in their original military format and found them hardly different from the .303 in the recoil department. However, I can't remember how they performed in the accuracy stakes as I was only shooting them for the 'feel' of it.

I would like to shoot the medium bore and even those exotic nitro elephant loads if possible one of these days. The heaviest loads I shoot are the 45-70 handloads that I shoot from my Sharps, but they are more a long distance target load than hunting loads.

Bisley banned the shooting of heavier magnum calibres since late 2005 and therefore the joy of shooting .338 is but a distant dream, unless I travel to other designated ranges.

Mehul, I would be enligtened to know what kind of sporting rifles you are shooting these calibres from.

Cheers,
Krish

Hi Krish,

I actually had to make this decision a couple of years back and settled for a rifle in .22lr for the following reasons:

1) Ammo is relatively easy to get.
2) The ammo in this calibre is the cheapest of the lot. Especially the subsidised ammo at the range.
3) I can shoot the ammo at the range without dipping into my paltry reserves (25 rounds at any one time and no more than 100 per year).

If ammo were not an issue I would opt for a bolt-action in 7mm, .270 Win or a .30-06.

Mack The Knife

Krish,
Man after my own heart...
303 in no 4 Peep sight-all of the reasons enumerated by you, so I wont add my 2 bits...however, , we should have a resonably good looking , field tested, 450/400Nitro WJ Jefferey in Bangalore in a few months.Be my guest-You'll love it.Best Confirm with Mack The Knife when he's going to do the plastic surgery...
best
Axx

You tell me, Asif.

I could start on the stock pretty soon because it looks like I have completed all the major drawing work for this year unless ofcourse another project comes along.

Stock could be ready before I leave for oop north on the 22nd.

Mack The Knife

450/400 Nitro That would be a treat to shoot. I honestly believe that India is one of the last places in the world where we can still find the old elephants guns still coming out of the wood work. I remember a tv documentary a couple of years back about tigers in India and one of the Indian guides/warden was armed with a superb looking double rifle- no doubt a period piece from the days of the raj. Well, please do leave me a bullet to spare as i would love to shoot one of these some day

Mack The Knife, were you talking about the 270Win or 270 Weatherby? I was seriously considering the 270 win a whilst back, but decided against it as I obviously had no use for it for my target applications.

Asif, the No.4 would be my second choice. for some strange reason - strictly personal leaning ofcourse- I prefer the SMLE over the No.4. They virtually do the same job ofcourse. Had one in 2004, but gave it up as I wanted to concentrate on my SMLE.

Keep me updated on the Jeffery. Would like to know how you guys fare with her.

Krish

Hi Krish,

Like it says in the post..... .270 Win.

Mack The Knife

1 gun only! Ack, I'm at a loss for words!

Toss up between a 22 magnum, 22 LR, and a 30-06.

Best thing IMHO is to put half the energy you'd give thinking about this question and work on some political reform.

Mark,

As one who is not constrained when it comes to making a choice and one who could use these rifles for more practical purposes, rather than just making holes in paper, can you give the reasoning behind your selection?

Any particular reason for the .22 WMR instead of a .22 Hornet?

Mack The Knife

Krish,
I fell inlove with the no.4 after the first time , 1 1/2" group-this from a rifle marked ER and crown-dont think it was an Ischapore make??!
The rest of my gang of 4 in the NCC all used no.3 and turned up comparable groups-I guess we were evenly matched that way.
Yeah Mark, interesting choice,Why 22WMR?
Axx

Krish, how about a .338-06 ? Not a magnum but can be used with big, heavy bullets if desired.
One rifle ? Would have to be a .243. Loaded with 80 gr bullets it makes an excellenter varminter. Loded with 100 gr bullets it`s a good deer calibre. Accurate and flat shooting. Quite an all-rounder.

Duh, Mack The Knife

Asif, ER=Edward Regina and crown. Therefore made during his reign (1901-1910). Don't forget the No.4 was a war time production. Because your rifle had an early action it could have been one of the British ROF No.1 rifles that was later modified as a No.4, either in the UK or maybe in Ishapore after the war. Hope you have a copy of Skennerton 'The Lee-Enfield Story'; a must for all Enfield fans.

Hello, Mark I know it's hard to decide on just one rifle, but hey, that's the fun. Makes you seriously think about the pros and cons of your collection.

Cheers,
Krish

Grumpy, am not sure about the 338-06, but I think it's to do with the velocity of the round. The story goes that the .338 mag rounds are leaving the NRA grounds and flying over the village green So, if your 338-06 is anywhere near as hot as the magnum then no wayI should think.

BTW, is the 338-06 a wildcat?