Thread: Which lever / semi / pump rifle, and why?

Thanks fellas for the ideas so far.

csmiffy - the Remmy pump is only available in .30-06 as a carbine. Listening to Viper’s comments about noise though kinda puts me off though, exactly the kind of advice I was looking for thanks.

Hadn’t considered the Savage or Rossi so will look into them. I see the Rossi is available most places. That’s part of the problem, not such a great choice for these types of guns here.

Walker - Should have said this in the first post, but I’m not gonna go for a 30/30, I want something with a bit more thump. That’s also why I’m shying away from the pistol cartridges in the lever guns like the .44 Mag. If its shooting a 200gr, its gotta ideally be travelling at .30-06 velocity, 2500fps. I had a look at the numbers for the 30/30 and .44 Mag and agree they’re proven alright and bloody good at what they do, but they don’t quite give me the oommppff I want if I don’t smack the animal spot on.

There’s merit in the 7mm Rem Mag suggestion thanks Viper, the problem Ikve seen with super high velocity in the woods at close range is bullet construction, gotta use hell of a tough bullet to get it to hang together. I haven’t listed any of the magnums for that reason - too fast for my application? Not 100% sure on that one.

Yeah Beavis, MSSA not really my scene, I did look at the AR10 though just to understand the numbers, don’t know anything about the Valmet. .243 defo too light for this application though.

Looking for real authority with this rifle, the .308 is on the list in the BAR cos I know I can use 180gr Partitions with a hot load, but to be honest its right at the bottom of the list power wise for what I want this time out.

I know that sounds bloody daft, not enough power out of a 180gr Partition????But most of us will have seen runners hit with .30cals eh, that’s what I’m trying to eliminate, or reduce the risk to as low as possible without using a .50 BMG. Maybe wishful thinking!

Interesting that no one has gone into bat for the .45-70 yet, still a bit early, maybe they’re lurking. Funny cos they seem readily available here. I’ve got a ways to go to get comfortable with one of them though, man they kick like a camel in a modern Marlin 1895 that can handle high pressure loads. Far out. But the reason I’m still interested in them is cos of how they clean bowl a 220kg sambar stag! Like Dennis Lillee in a really bad mood.