The general purpose rifle

[Kaleb]

For years and years, I used my FN action .25-06 for everything. I had 70-grain varmint loads and 117-grain deer loads. I shot the barrel out on that rifle and I have since come to accept that I should use a “more efficient rifle” for varmints and plinking.

While I agree with more efficient rifles I can't help but wonder how much more efficient and simpler things could be if I just used one rifle for everything like you did with your 25-06. I'm very guilty of wanting another gun a new gun a different gun or better gun. I can't make myself do it but I could do everything I actually do with a 6cm and only have one rifle. I'd probably go gt because a guy lives about 5 miles from me chambers 6gt for his comp guns. I could even have 3 spun up and make things simple. A tiny one for walking around a mid weight for almost everything and a heavier one for longer range playing. I tried to do something similar years ago with 6.5-284. I ordered a sporter barrel and varmint barrel from Lilja and had the same smith chamber both barrels back to back. I used the same load in both. I hunted the sporter and played with the bigger. I used the same load in both. The wind blew and I just had to do something different. lol

 

[Loper]

As someone who was living in an RV full time for a year, space is a premium and I had choices to make. Thankfully I stored a bunch of my guns elsewhere, but I only had an AR and a pistol, and that was it. I didn’t consider anything else and if forced to do it again, it would be the same choice.

This is a great use case for a single general purpose rifle.

 

[UnckleBob]

Tikka T3x Lite 243 with 1-8 twist barrel
Factory Stock
Seekins Rings
Leupold VX-5HD 3-15X44 CDS

 

[Stinky Coyote]

Yup, sako 90 peak 308, quality lpvo with reticle solutions, shoots steel to 640 great, prolly hardly every go past Mpbr to fill tags but ready if needed. Add tube mount picatinny for a o-light/laser for camp/home defence duty, sheep to everything in between. Love it. Currently wearing a atacr 1-8 yet to be zeroed but has already tried and killed with Trijicon 1-6 German(whitetail), Leupold fx 2.5(antelope), bushnell 4-14(moose), nx8 1-8(coyote)’, prolly find a 1-6x Trijicon mil-dot to try one year, the 10 mil nf dmx would take me further than my applied ballistic lite will take me 875 but dmx takes it to 1000 exactly from 205 zero with its 10 mil grid if really wanted to play but not much I can’t do with this gp setup. 308 eldm Runs out of steam around 600 for big game but so do I and pretty much everyone else. I am definitely in the realistic gp do it all with one rig phase.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

I'm very streamlined on that front.... ugly stik all the way! Lol

Yup and just the dock runner! As a paddleboard boat guy you can do a lot with one of them 3’ masterpieces lol. Except sturgeon, need a bit more rod and reel for them buggers.

 

[Aussie Dan]

Theres no such thing as a "no compromise do all/GP" anything.

Ive always been a firm believer in having the right tool for the job and minimising the compromises that affect the job at hand.

Ive never really subscribed to the idea of trying to be a "jack of all trades"

 

[North River]

Yup, sako 90 peak 308, quality lpvo with reticle solutions, shoots steel to 640 great, prolly hardly every go past Mpbr to fill tags but ready if needed. Add tube mount picatinny for a o-light/laser for camp/home defence duty, sheep to everything in between. Love it. Currently wearing a atacr 1-8 yet to be zeroed but has already tried and killed with Trijicon 1-6 German(whitetail), Leupold fx 2.5(antelope), bushnell 4-14(moose), nx8 1-8(coyote)’, prolly find a 1-6x Trijicon mil-dot to try one year, the 10 mil nf dmx would take me further than my applied ballistic lite will take me 875 but dmx takes it to 1000 exactly from 205 zero with its 10 mil grid if really wanted to play but not much I can’t do with this gp setup. 308 eldm Runs out of steam around 600 for big game but so do I and pretty much everyone else. I am definitely in the realistic gp do it all with one rig phase.

What, no love for the el cheapo Ruger 6.5 Grendel any more?

 

[SwiftShot]

My do everything is a scout style 308. 16 inch barrel, it has a magazine. One mah is 5 the other is 10 rounds. It is still handy with a silencer on it. Not a true scout as Cooper would say as it is 7.5 lbs with the can on it. Still does just about everything. My other is a Marlin Lever action that is really small in 44 Rem. That is an amazing little rifle. It shoots Hornady Lever Revolution so well. Cabelas made a scope for it and that round. Hash marks out to 200 yards. I have dropped a nice doe with it at 200 and was stunned how hard it hit.

 

[8mille]

In this age of specialized rigs for every niche...does anyone out there still pursue the idea of a general purpose rifle? Something that's not perfect but will work for most of the hunting you do, or that you drag along as you go about your daily life. Jeff Cooper had his scout rifle concept which had some neat ideas, but I think eventually became too narrowly focused on specifics to be truly general purpose. I also think where people live has an affect on what features they want. For me personally...at this point I consider my rss my general purpose rifle. It's relatively short, light, handy and easy to pack around. The 6x swfa is simple and so far reliable. The .223 is cheap and easy to shoot, has long barrel life, and I've proven to myself that it works on game up to moose reliably. At this point the only thing I'd like to add would be a good set of back up iron sights and a wood rokstok lite if I can ever scrape up the cash....lol.

So... anyone else have a rifle they consider general purpose? If so... what features do you look for? We have members here scattered world wide... I'm genuinely curious what others consider general purpose, should make an interesting conversation!

In this age of specialized rigs for every niche...does anyone out there still pursue the idea of a general purpose rifle? Something that's not perfect but will work for most of the hunting you do, or that you drag along as you go about your daily life. Jeff Cooper had his scout rifle concept which had some neat ideas, but I think eventually became too narrowly focused on specifics to be truly general purpose. I also think where people live has an affect on what features they want. For me personally...at this point I consider my rss my general purpose rifle. It's relatively short, light, handy and easy to pack around. The 6x swfa is simple and so far reliable. The .223 is cheap and easy to shoot, has long barrel life, and I've proven to myself that it works on game up to moose reliably. At this point the only thing I'd like to add would be a good set of back up iron sights and a wood rokstok lite if I can ever scrape up the cash....lol.

So... anyone else have a rifle they consider general purpose? If so... what features do you look for? We have members here scattered world wide... I'm genuinely curious what others consider general purpose, should make an interesting conversation!

Years ago (decades) the average person likely had more of a general purpose rifle. Even nowadays I’d imagine. And iron sights make a rifle what it was intended to be ; which is a practical general purpose rifle.
In modern times we have better equipment and more specialized categories of shooting. Optics has enhanced long range shooting to where scopes are desired more. Throw in marketing to sell products and you get folks that are sold . How about the fact that people want more than one ? Once you own more than one your first becomes less and less general purpose. There’s the necessity factor that probably developed large bores as in dangerous game. Or at the other end of the spectrum where you have pests and then varmint. Personally, I love iron sights. I love the way they look and I prefer having them if your scope breaks. I make it a point to still shoot with them on occasion, just to stay in shape, even though my aging eyes would disagree- lol. I’ve always considered the shotgun to be the quintessential general purpose rifle barring longer ranges. When you get older many (not all )downsize back to the general purpose concept. One more thing about scopes, I’ve always figured rifle manufacturers encourage people to use them because rifles can be compensated better for their lack of refined production and performance . So there’s a few ways to look at it. It’s interesting you brought it up. Even though I will be getting a couple of more rifles for precision and will buy customs, I intend to get another iron sighted Deluxe (Likely a sako 90 Bavarian or Steyr Mannlicher SM12- or something) in 8x57 that has to have iron sights. I’m even considering not putting QD Rings and keep it as another purist rig. Glad you brought this up. Sorry I got so wordy about it.

 

[Loper]

I’ve always considered the shotgun to be the quintessential general purpose rifle barring longer ranges.

I 100% agree!

 

[Tobe_B]

Any rifle can be a general purpose rifle if you dedicate time to using just that one. For me personally I don’t like stock piling lots of different ammo. So I keep my rifle numbers low and cartridges similar.

My “do all” rifle is my 6mm ARC. It’s an AR-15 with a 14.5” barrel; with a pinned and welded muzzle device it meets the 16” minimum requirement for big game hunting in Colorado. I’ve got a Hyperion K dedicated to it, so the length suppressed is still shorter than most rifle barrels. An NX8 2.5-20 is plenty good magnification range for anything I could want to do close up or father away. Also plenty reliable to not worry about the abuse of riding in trucks, tractors, Side by Sides, ATVs, occasional horse rides.

It’s cheap enough that I don’t feel bad for shooting prairie dogs, plenty of reach for coyotes, and it’s more than adequate on anything I could decide to go hunting for. Magazine capacity can range anywhere from 5 to 30 rounds depending on what I want to load that day.

I carry it almost every daily and practice with it more than any other rifle. When the barrel dies it’s stupid easy to just throw a new barrel on it.

 

[drnls]

I had a 12.5" 6.5 grendel ar I'd consider all purpose but sold it. Now it's a Kimber Montana 6.5c with a Vortex pst II 3-15.

 

[Stinky Coyote]

What, no love for the el cheapo Ruger 6.5 Grendel any more?

Sako has hogged my love but I have resurrected the little pig with some fresh glass and it will be in action shortly here. Looking forward to it and miss shooting it, it’s been a great and reliable little killer. It will side chick the Sako on most hunts and others/kids can borrow etc.

 

[Chase4566]

My general purpose or “battle wagon” rifle is my gen1 Ruger American Predator in 308. Stock rifle other than I replaced the trigger spring with one out of a ballpoint pen. Nikon prostaff 3-9x50 on top.

Yes the bolt made noise when it was new. Yes the stock leaves some to be desired. No it doesn’t have the best trigger, but it’s pretty darn good and can go lighter than I prefer on a hunting rifle. No I have not had any issues with the rotary mag. Yes it will put 3 shots in a sub-MOA group if I do my part. Yes it will kill just about, if not everything in NA. No I’m not worried about it being in the elements, getting bumps and bruises. The thing just works, holds zero, is decently light… Jack of all trades master of none.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Have more rifles than I care to admit, but still always seem to use the same few guns.

Had a tikka 243 with a vxii 3-9 was always my to gun. Even had a 6x swfa in a box on the shelf for near a year for it. But I didnt want to trade out scopes and screw up a good thing It wears the 6x now, and if that was the only rifle I owned, I'd be just fine.

Also been dragging around a m77 hawkeye 223 since they first came out. Also had a vxii 3-9 on it up until this last batch of swfa 3-9's came out. Another gun that if it was the only rifle I owned, I'd be just fine.

16" AR with a swfa 3-9 is a damn handy thing to have laying around as well.

Think most my rifles fall into this category. The few rifles made for a specific purpose rarely get shot

 

[Pilsner]

The two rifles that I have with me most often no matter where I am are one of the following:

Mossberg Patriot in 6.5 creed cut to 16.5" wearing a can and with a red dot on it. It is officially the wife's rifle and she is cross eye dominate thus the red dot. Hornady 140 grain ELD-M ammo

The other started life as a PSA AR15 long ago but has a ton of upgrades on it, suppressed, SBR'd, and with an 1-8 LPVO on it along with a tac light. 77 grain TMK's

Both have accounted for uncountable numbers of hogs, coyotes, feral dogs, and dozens and dozens of whitetails. The 5.56 has taken black bear on problem critter duty and the 6.5 took a buffalo cow a few years back. Both make very good all around, utility rifles although if I was headed out west, I'd toss my 16" upper back on the AR because the SBR barrel does lower velocity and shortens the range at which I get bullet performance. The short barrel is awesome for riding around in the passenger seat of the truck though.

 

[Cherokeeguide]

In this age of specialized rigs for every niche...does anyone out there still pursue the idea of a general purpose rifle? Something that's not perfect but will work for most of the hunting you do, or that you drag along as you go about your daily life.

I'm basically living the idea of a general purpose rifle.

I'm an old geezer now. My hunting buddies were always older than I am. They're now too dead to hunt or shoot. When each one of them rotated off the Mortal Coil, their guns and gear instantly became unwanted, burdensome, useless junk to the loved ones they left behind. Watching that same thing play out dozens of times finally convinced me that I didn't want my wife to have the burden of liquidating my former embarrassingly large firearm collection. Operating under the principle that if you want something done right, your best option is to do it yourself, I liquidated my gun collection over a span of five years, with the ultimate end goal being to have ONE rifle, ONE shotgun, ONE recreational handgun, and ONE EDC / CCW pistol to see me through my twilight years to the end of my days.

I didn't have to burn up brain cells cogitating over what the ONE rifle HAD to be. It was obvious that it was going to be an AR-15 A4 type and it was equally obvious that "some assembly would be required" in order to get exactly what I wanted, which generally isn't what people who "train" and "do carbine courses" and "prep" want out of their AR-15 style rifle.

I don't shoot CMP matches, engage in recreational target shooting, or hunt at night, so I don't need to hang flashlights and other tacti-cool crap off my rifle and I don't like the feel of aluminum handguards at all. I also don't care for the adjustable length butt stocks that are all the rage in AR-15 World today. Another thing I absolutely didn't want was a chrome lined, hammer-forged barrel on a recreational rifle that will never see a combat zone. Another thing I can live without is "free floating." I don't shoot with anything close to the kind of sling pressure that high-experts at the National Matches use. The idea of "free floating" an AR-15 stems from a need to get the forward sling swivel off the barrel, I don't have that need because I don't sling up tight.

I started with a stripped Anderson lower. Aside from a Rock River Arms 2 stage National Match trigger and high-speed hammer, an oversized barrel extension from White Oak, and a titanium barrel nut, the parts that I assembled my rifle with all came from a PSA 20" Freedom Classic Nitride rifle kit.

A real "service rifle" weighs 13.5 pounds and groups .5 MOA. Mine weighs 7,5 pounds to comply with current CMP modern military rifle rules., so I can use it for MMR or "Service Rifle" matches and it isn't too heavy to still-hunt with all day. It won't win bench-rest matches, but it will shoot 10 shots in 60 seconds around 1 MOA. As it is, it is already more fun than the Springfield Armory M-1A National Match that I used to have was. That was a 1.5 MOA rifle with match ammo.

As a hunting rifle, I had no doubt about the rifle's 5.56 NATO chambering. From 1984 to 2016, I filled 22 consecutive California A-Zone deer tags with the .223 Remington. During that time period, when hunting inland zones and out of state for mule deer, and doing that on foot, rather than off a horse, I used the pipsqueak .250 Savage, filling 21 mule deer tags, 2 caribou tags, 3 pronghorn tags, and one bull elk tag with it, as well as more feral swine than I can keep track of. If we would have had Varget and 77 grain TMK's in 1984, I could have taken my California mule deer with the .223 back then, as there's not enough terminal ballistic difference twixt the twain for a game animal to notice.

Here's what my old 100 grain Nosler Partition load did out of my 20" barreled Ruger M-77 Ultralight (Distance / Velocity / Energy):

M / 2620 / 1524
100 / 2352 / 1229
200 / 2100 / 980
300 / 1865 / 772

Here's what my 77 grain TMK load does out of my AR-15 rifle's 20" barrel:

M / 2854 / 1393
100 / 2636 / 1188
200 / 2428 / 1008
300 / 2229 / 850


If you tell someone that your favorite deer / varmint cartridge is the .250 Savage, they generally don't feel compelled to play the role of Morality Police. Tell them that you use 5.56 NATO, however, and you'll get an earfull of ethics lessons. What the numbers above don't demonstrate is how much better my current 5.56 NATO load is compared to the 100 grain Nosler Partition .250 Savage load is, The terminal effect, twixt the twain, is more or less the same. The 5.56 load, however, has a higher starting velocity on a bullet with a much better G1 BC, making it a bit easier to use because it shoots flatter and has greater wind-drift resistance.

70 grain mono-metal loads from the 5.56 more exactly duplicate the wound channel volume of my old .250 Savage load. The 77 grain TMK load makes wound channels with volume more equal to the Hornady LeveRevolution 160 grain factory load or hand-loaded duplicate. That load looks like this on paper:

M / 2360 / 1979
100 / 2112 / 1586
200 / 1881 /1257
300 / 1667 / 988

In the real world, a killing shot is a killing shot out to 300 yards with any of these and, in the real world, there's no such thing as deader than dead.

If all I wanted was a "huntin' rifle," any of these three are plenty for mule deer, pronghorn, and feral pigs, but the other two and the rifles I shot them out of fall shot of the 5.56 for "range toy" and organized match competition use.

TMI, I suppose, but that's why I settled on a 20" AR-15 in 5.56 NATO as my "general purpose" rifle.


Your mileage may vary.

 

[North of 60]

As @Macintosh mentioned, it is not always as simple as one rifle unless you you hunt in only one type of terrain leaning toward one way or the other.

For short range woods/timber (under 200 yds) I'll probably continue to happily use my suppressed 16" SFAR.

For longer ranges the 6.5 PRC i'm currently percolating on, or the .300WM i inherited from my dad will be the way i roll.