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**44 AMP** · May 9, 2012, 11:43 PM

8 rounds of .30-06, and a reload in a couple seconds? Seems to me that ought to be enough for anything short of unsupported combat.

As an "ordinary" citizen, the popular fiction of laying down cover fire is trained into us by our entertainment media. It good for soldiers in combat, and police in certain situations, but for a mere citizen defending themselves? Hardly.

One can only legally shoot in "gravest extreme", and while there are situations where a high power rifle is not a mistake, spraying the countryside to keep the other guy's heads down is not something the law is going to look kindly on. And that is the only real world advantage to a larger magazine capacity.

Remember too that we are personally liable for each and every round we fire. And what they hit. It is a completely different situation from combat.

All the chest thumping and "mine has more than yours" doesn't change the fact that combat and personal defense are two different things.

I'd say the Garand and some spare clips would handle any likely situation, and most that are highly unlikely as well. Of course, that assumes that YOU do your part right, too.

May 9, 2012, 11:43 PM	#74
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,820	8 rounds of .30-06, and a reload in a couple seconds? Seems to me that ought to be enough for anything short of unsupported combat. As an "ordinary" citizen, the popular fiction of laying down cover fire is trained into us by our entertainment media. It good for soldiers in combat, and police in certain situations, but for a mere citizen defending themselves? Hardly. One can only legally shoot in "gravest extreme", and while there are situations where a high power rifle is not a mistake, spraying the countryside to keep the other guy's heads down is not something the law is going to look kindly on. And that is the only real world advantage to a larger magazine capacity. Remember too that we are personally liable for each and every round we fire. And what they hit. It is a completely different situation from combat. All the chest thumping and "mine has more than yours" doesn't change the fact that combat and personal defense are two different things. I'd say the Garand and some spare clips would handle any likely situation, and most that are highly unlikely as well. Of course, that assumes that YOU do your part right, too. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.