hardcastonly

how many of you gentlemen have used a semi auto military style rifle, like an M1A1 or SKS, or GARAND, or M1 CARBINE
to hunt deer/elk/hogs?
about 20 years ago I went looking for a ruger 44 mag semi auto carbine ,

but I could not find one in decent condition for anything near what I thought was a reasonable price.
I eventually found, purchased and used an SKS with a modified 4 round magazine loaded with hand loaded soft point ammo in the past to hunt Florida deer in the palmetto thickets


it worked so well for the close range hog hunting that one of my friends who could not find one offered me three times what I paid for it, I jumped at that deal figuring I could very easily buy two for the cash I was paid....only to find the price had tripled....
so I added about $70 more to the pot and bought one of these , milled receiver sporting rifle ,
AK sporters, like this are surprisingly well made and accurate provided you find ammo it likes, and BTW they require the .311 diameter projectile (at least in my rifle) as the .308 is like throwing rocks for accuracy, RL7 and IMR 3031 powder seems to work well, and I found a 5 round AK mag that worked in that rifle, as florida law limits semi auto rifles to 5 round mags
which was even better for the 50-70 yard thicket hogs.
properly loaded with 150 grain soft point bullets they are about similar to a typical 30/30 in effective range and accuracy , these are handy little carbines for close range hunting.
at least here in south Florida an SKS or AK based sporter is far easier to find under $600 than a ruger 44 mag carbine
https://www.speer-ammo.com/bullets/r...50-sptz-bullet




https://loaddata.com/Article/BenchTo...the-762x39/101

http://handloads.com/loaddata/defaul...Powder&Source=
Ive used a 357 mag revolver a single shot 10 ga, and even a spear on one successful hog hunt ,
the weapon is not critical as long as the person using it is willing to get in close and use it effectively, but if you choose a spear Id suggest you also use dogs to help you get in close
typical palmetto thickets where 20 -40 yard shots are the normal range,
keep in mind that just because its a semi-auto there,s no reason too adopt a
"SPRAY AND PRAY" philosophy , the rifles are extremely dependable, reasonably accurate and a well placed first shot is still the goal.
the fact that your second shot is easily accessed is not a flaw, its just a rarely used advantage in my opinion.

Oldtimr

I have fired a lot of rounds out of the MI Garand and the MI carbine, I have fired fully auto AKs and BARs and grease guns and Thompson sub machine guns semi and full auto. I never hunted with them, never felt the need to use a semi auto to hunt.

flags

I guess it depends on how you look at it. I've used an M-4 in 5.56mm to hunt what I would say is the most dangerous animal on the planet.

buffybr

In my day we used the M-16s.


I now have an M-1 carbine that I inherited from my Grandfather, and a Rock River AR that I inherited from my BIL. They are both fun to shoot. I put a Leupold VX-1 4-12x40 on the Rock River and have fun shooting the various steel gongs at our range with it.


I shot my first black bear with my gov't model 1911, and when I worked for the US Forest Service I shot a problem black bear with an AR-15 that our LEO lent me, but other than that I have never considered using an auto loader for big game hunting.


I prefer to hunt with bolt action rifles, but if I was in Texas with your hog problems, I could see my RR AR seeing some action.

Champlain Islander

Shot an M16 in basic training (only in semi auto) and the only thing I killed with it was a snake on the range. The DI said kill it so we all shot at it. There wasn't much left to look at.

MudderChuck

I think a semi auto has it's place, either for an apex predator or Wild Boar, when a quick second shot is prudent.

I started out hunting larger game with a Garand, mostly because mine was really accurate. Then when I started out Hog hunting in brush lands (Chaparral) I picked up a model 8 in 35 REM. My 12 gauge slug gun is a semi auto.

People tend to think large capacity mags and a semi auto rifles are something new, best guess is mine is around 78 years old. I have a short magazine I use for hunting and a long one just because. I keep an extra firing pin & spring and extractor & spring behind my butt plate, the only parts that have ever failed.

When you have 300+ pounds of whatever coming straight at you at 30-40 MPH, having a quick second or third shot available is reassuring.

I was always taught by my Drill Instructor you are only in serious trouble when you run out of options or ammo.

flags

Not a semi auto but the following was taken with a Mannlicher Schoenaur Model 1903 in 6.5x54MS. The Mannlicher Schoenaur was a military rifle for Greece.



This bull elk fell to a Springfield Model 1898 in 30-40 Krag and that was a military rifle for the USA. The Krag is what Teddy Roosevelt's men carried at San Juan Hill.



Not all military weapons are semi auto. Bolt actions were designed as military weapons and then converted to sporting use.

Ridge Runner

couple shots of my 458 socom



my 25WSSM

have a few other semi's I use for med. game and varmints
RR

homers brother

I've used ARs rather extensively on prairie dogs and coyotes.

I shoot an M1 Garand and an M1A but prefer my lighter bolt guns in .30-06 and .308 to carrying them. And as has already been mentioned, I too never felt the need to hunt big game with a semi-auto. I'd probably take my 03-A3 to the field long before I'd drag the Garand or M1A along.

Though they were common on the racks of the gun stores when I was a kid, a .44 Mag Ruger carbine in decent shape today usually commands a pretty high price.

SilverbulletM70

Only semi-auto I've ever taken hunting was an SKS for some close range whitetail action. The 154gr soft points worked very well inside 100 yards.

Also taken a 1903 -06 on several hunts but of course that's a bolt...