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Old October 28, 2018, 08:35 AM   #21
shurshot
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Join Date: August 25, 2006
Posts: 1,819
My Grandfather used a Remington 721 bolt action .270 as his hunting and primary home defense weapon well into his golden years, passing in 1979. He served in the National Guard in the 20's and had been trained to use a bolt action 1903 Springfield for battle. He could have used a shotgun or handgun in retirement as a home defense weapon, but he gave his other guns away, keeping the Remington. He preferred the power of his trusty rifle and familiarity of the bolt action. The .270 is an awesome cartridge.
He shot a ton of game with the gun, deer, bear, wild hogs, woodchucks, fox, etc. There are clips on Youtube of WW1 and WW2 fighting men using bolt actions rapid fire. It comes down to training and familiarity. I own the 721 now and can say from experience, that bolt can be worked VERY fast in the field and the damage a high powered hunting round inflicts on large game is... well, devastating to say the least. My son just shot a whitetail doe yesterday with my bolt action Remington BDL 700 .270... one shot. Massive impact and trauma... almost like it was struck by lightning. Handgun cartridges are not in the same class, in my opinion (and I have hunted with both), compared to the tissue damage that a high powered deer rifle bullet inflicts. If over penetration isn't a concern, train with your rifle and use it. If it's new, oil and work the bolt repeatedly to smooth it out. A metal buttplate is handy on a battle rifle (Gramp's old Remington 721 has a metal butt plate), as butt strokes were a last ditch, close range tactic. At least they were in WW1 and WW2. Are there better home defense systems? Sure. The current market offers some truly outstanding home defense weapons based around shotgun shells. But I wouldn't feel at a disadvantage with a good bolt action high powered rifle (.243, .30-06, .308, .270, 7MM Magnum, etc.), when dealing with things that go bump in the night.

Last edited by shurshot; October 28, 2018 at 09:35 AM.
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