.458

Another reason for me to consider a AR.

Get a .458 upper and you have a fine and dandy deer gun. AND moose gun. Probably grizzly, too. I hadn't considered that possibility before, but plenty of people before me have. I love the info flow on the internet. How did people get all this info before? The local hunt club, gun periodicals, and your gun store isn't enough. For instance: Tam made a comment, "I'm pretty sure that the safety in the 1903, like most JMB designs, blocks the sear." How in hell did people pick up that little bit of information pre-internet? You'd have to hang with a gunsmith a good while or read a LOT of gunsmith books to retain that tidbit. You don't pick that detail up just social shuckin and jivin in your local gunstore. But because Tam did hang with the right people, and read the right books, she knew it. Because of the internet, now I and all my readers know it.


Anyway.

The dang things are SO modular. I'm talking about AR pattern rifles. You can get one up for Social Uses, and now you can get that .458 thumper for your hunting needs, and a .22 conversion for cheap practice and small game. With a shotgun and a major caliber pistol, you'd be done on your gun acquisitions. Now all you'd have to do would be to get good at shooting them.

I'm wondering what Colonel Cooper would think of the .458. That man was VERY particular about his big rifle rounds. He'd be fine with the projectile, but I don't know if he'd be happy with the fps velocity. But 2000 fps (with some loads) is close to what I think he'd like, though I may remember him saying 2500 is preferrable... The thought of the Colonel hunting Cape Buffalo with a red-dot scoped AR that shot something comparable to the .45-70 is entertaining. It might be just dandy for the Professional Hunter's backup gun to support his paying customer. 9 of those .458s in a 30 round magazine and semi-auto... Plenty of gun for emergencies when the lion is almost in the party, or the buff is charging.