My solution to my "woods" (read bear) gun

[JAG2955]

So before as I was talking about bringing a rifle up to my remote property for defense against [strike]bears[/strike] critters, I lamented the fact that I didn't have a suitable weapon for the job. I have a variety of .308s, but none that I wanted to carry around the woods. The FALs were too long, the Argentine FN49 too valuable, and my SAGE SOCOM EBR was...a giant hunk of metal.

A year or two ago, I bought two surplus M14 stocks. They were something like $20 a piece, condition unknown, but assumed to be bad. They sat above my gun safe collecting dust. I broke down and bought the $30 in metal parts I needed to put my SOCOM M1A into the surplus stock.

Success!

It's light, handy, has a tritium Big Dot front sight post. Nearly as fast as a red dot. A 10 round magazine gives it some nice clean lines, but is hard to remove quickly. I may have to find a 15 rounder to strike a medium between the size of the 10 and the grippability of the 20.

I still may buy an Ultimak front rail and mount an Aimpoint Micro on it. Maybe I'll trade the SAGE stock and LaRue mount for that combo. I was never quite in love with the EBR the way I am with some other rifles. Especially after doing an accurized M14 for my wife (thanks, Monster Hunter), the Springfield just felt like trash compared to the way her LRB felt. I might be a little sad to see the stock go, but I am very rifle-heavy and optic-light in my gun safe.

I'd add pictures, but it's just the same as every other Springfield SOCOM in a wood stock.

Really, it's like a tanker Garand without the blasphemy.

[First Shirt]

Really, it's like a tanker Garand without the blasphemy.

Easy, now!

I still want one (or two) of Tim Shufflin's Mini-G Garands in .308 Part of the hold-up (aside from money) is finding a sacrificial Garand or two.

[skb12172]

Glad it worked out for you. Help me understand your thought processes. Did you have to have semi-auto? How long was "too long" and why?

[Aesop]

Welcome to the club.
I trundled a Socom II around at the border for near half a dozen years' time, because I wanted something with reach-out-and-touch-someone range where visibility is measured in miles, and something unlike 5.56 that wouldn't just bounce off a smuggler-mobile for when they do crash and run drug forays. It's actually shorter than my issue M16A2 was, which made it much handier to tote around heavy brush (which is pretty much everything from San Diego to Brownsville, inclusive). All the same things you're looking for in a woods/bear gun.
I only had/have two gripes: half the ammo for the same carry weight, and the wrath of Freya and Odin be called down on every maker of total-shite aftermarket nonfunctional mags (I have their names, and someday, when they think their sins have missed them, across a room our eyes will meet, and the whoopass will commence). You learn to love the Winchester W and the SA crossed cannons, or you get strong pounding bum magazines into flattened biscuits with an 8# sledge.
(If they made me the Commandant for 5 minutes, one squad in 3 would be the base of fire squad, with an M240 and SOCOMs, and the other 2 would continue on with M4s/M249s. The machinegunners should not be the only ones in a company who can turn cover into concealment.)

[blackeagle603]

That short a barrel on a .308 must really bark.

Hard to think of a comparable "carbine-ish" .308 though. Same length barrel AR10 feels chunky and large.

[JAG2955]

Glad it worked out for you. Help me understand your thought processes. Did you have to have semi-auto? How long was "too long" and why?

I'm not really being a smartass, but...

Go to your gun safe. Look at your selection. Decide which one you want to carry up and down this slope all day.

Steep.jpg

The thing that surprised me, the woods out there in Idaho aren't nearly as thick as the eastern woodlands. It's easy to walk around, even when you're off a trail. The only thing with thorns on my property are rose hips, and compared to the greenbriar here in NC, or the brambles and raspberries in PA, it's like a walk in the park. I wanted to avoid lots of "snaggy" items, like tall front sight posts, protruding magazines, pistol grips, etc. I would have been willing to compromise on a lever or pump action, or even a straight-pull bolt, but I really did want a semi-auto to level the playing field if my quarry is two-legged. The SOCOM 16 in a wood stock is about the same length as a 16" AR-15. I'll probably get a Vickers sling and mount in on an M16A4 stock adapter in the rear, and either add a side sling loop or attach a rail with a sling mount on the side. I'll save the rail space for a Surefire for low-light defense.

[Netpackrat]

That short a barrel on a .308 must really bark.

Hard to think of a comparable "carbine-ish" .308 though. Same length barrel AR10 feels chunky and large.

My 16" Saiga .308 would fit the bill if I removed the 3x9 scope, stuck with irons or a micro red dot, and switched out the Werewolf stock for a Wolverine. It's already a folder.



Since the picture, I had the barrel lathe threaded and installed a YHM Phantom flash hider.

[blackeagle603]

yeah but, .308.

[arctictom]

Really another bear thread, so any way I carry a 45-70 in a scabord on my back works very well , 12 gage works well , 06 works well , a 338 works very etc etc. Dont like 308s for big critters , just my preferance .
Imho the best big game stoppers are big (over 400gr ) bullets.

[Netpackrat]

yeah but, .308.

Huh? That is a .308.