Alright...here, for your viewing, are the first of the commercial versions.

They are: BAR LongTrac...BAR LWT Stalker...BAR Safari...Benelli R1...HK SL8...HK SLB2000.

Next we have: Remington 81a...Remington 7400...Ruger Carbine 40s&w...Ruger Mini 30...Ruger Ranch...Valmet M88

So...the same qualities or characteristics apply: accuracy, efficiency, sights, weight, handling characteristics, ease of use, etc.

Is there a difference?

One last thing...when you are considering the different semi-automatic rifles please do not let money come into the equation.  We are judging these firearms on their merits and their application to the game fields by hunters who are motivated by rational thought rather than emotional fantasy.

What is wanted overall is your mature judgement more than anything else.

My personal feelings towards the ones listed above are basically like the semi-autos in the prev. 2 posts.....with 2 exceptions. I kinda like the classic look & feel of the BAR & the Remington rifles.
I know, not much difference in them & the others, I guess I'm just geared towards more classic looks....I love my oldies!

I DO think the rifles listed above are more manufactured with the sportsman/hunter in mind, with calibers, wood stocks, a higher degree of tolerance with accuracy in mind from the start.

Rockin'

I pretty much agree with rockingbar I like thw classic lines I guess I carried an M16A1 too many miles to think of it as a hunting weapon

Of all the commercial semi-automatics, the rifle that is the most striking appears to be the Benelli R1.  I'm not interested in owning it but I sure would like to hold it and see how it 'feels' and 'mounts'.

Quote from: rockinbbarMy personal feelings towards the ones listed above are basically like the semi-autos in the prev. 2 posts.....with 2 exceptions. I kinda like the classic look & feel of the BAR & the Remington rifles.
I know, not much difference in them & the others, I guess I'm just geared towards more classic looks....I love my oldies!
 
I DO think the rifles listed above are more manufactured with the sportsman/hunter in mind, with calibers, wood stocks, a higher degree of tolerance with accuracy in mind from the start.
 
Rockin'

I am also with rockinbbar on his choices. I don't do anything here in the shop on semi-autos except for refinishing stocks or cleaning. My continuing disagreement with semi-autos is their lack of acceptable accuracy to ME! If it won't hold a 1.5" group for 3-shots @ 100 yards, then accuracy is unacceptable! Perhaps I am being unfair in requiring semi-autos to the same standards as bolt-rifles but thats just the way it is.
 
Ol' John..

Jay, I was lucky enough to handle a Benelli R1 at my local store. If felt (to me) like a slimmer semi-automatic shotgun. Rather well balanced and pointable. Then I saw the price...gasped...and set it gently on the counter....Kidding, it wasn't all that expensive...In the league of a BAR I would say.

About the accuracy of semi autos, while I am familiar with the 7600, I have fired a 7400 only once and have never fired a BAR...but it sounds like they are innacurate...Most bolt guns, it seems to me, need some tuning before they can consistenly break 1.5 moa. There are gems and lemons, but thats been my experience. I figured "sporting" semis would do just as well.

I know those are sporting rifles, but compared to my Garand...heck it shoots 1.5 inch 5 shot groups with no sweat, and its 60 years old...been through who knows what, and brand new would cost the same as a Browning BAR...whats up with that? I guess it was built by a Rosie the Riveter who knew that a brother or son or husband was "over there: and she did a good job on her rifles. But companies like Browning and Remington need to pick up the slack!

Maybe I'm looking at this wrong.  I often hunt with a Remington 742, my wife with a 7400 and Dad used to hunt regularly with a 740.  Perhaps my expectations are too low or perhaps more realistic than some folks, but all of them shot quite well enough to hunt with.  In fact, probably as accurately as the shooters invovled under fast paced hunting conditions.  

 
I really do not undrstand why commercial semi-autos have such a bad rap for accuracy.  My 742 in 30-06 has taken three whitetail deer this year, every one with one shot.  How much more accuracy do we need???
 
By the way, I do not consider them the only option.  We have so many hunting rifles between us right now, that I cannot even quote the number.  Many of them are bolt action, single shots, etc.  
 
The point being: if the semi-auto does the job in the hands of the individual using it I see no reason not to do so....

I would like to shoot the HK SL8.  I currently have a Oly Arms PCR-16 AR-15 with a 16 inch Bull Barrel.  I tell you that when I get serious and shoot the darn thing (heavy trigger).  I can rub bullet holes at 100 yards with factory ammo.  We all grew up shooting a Remington 7400 30-06 since it was the kids' gun.  That gun killed more elk and deer than I can count.  However, I believe I developed poor shooting habits because it was semi-auto.  So many bullets, so little time.  I wouldn't call it an accurate rifle.  It seemed to jump and our groups would be off hi-lo.  Our MIni-14 ranch rifle did the trick for coyotes, but I doubt it could do the groups I get with my AR-15 out of the box.  Sometimes good enough is............good enough.

I think it would be kinda hard for a commercial semi from the big makers to lack the accuracy a deer hunter needs. The posts coming in now kinda support what I thought. It' not a sendero, and neither is the average lever or bolt gun. A little discipline will keep a shooter from popping off all his shots just because he can.

Also I believe the average SKS will group as well as the average Mini14...3 moa.

AR-15 type rifles have great potential for accuracy too, as someone has said.  Everyone I know who owns one talks of cloverleafing groups. DPMS, Bushmaster, Oly, etc are all accurate rifles. The match or varmint types are even more accurate. My friends in the military shoot 500-600 M with their scoped standard infantry C-7s, the Canadian version of the M-16A2.

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum and just had to comment on this thread as I own a Browning BAR in 30-06 that averages 3/4" - 1" CTC groups using 180 Grn Sierra Game Kings, 165 Grn Nosler Partitions and 180 Grn Nosler Partitions, all handloads on top of IMR4831.
 
Dark squares are 1/2" and light squares are 1/4". The shoot-N-C target is 5 1/2"
 
180 Sierra Game Kings - 3 Shot Group

 
165 Nosler Partitions - 3 Shot Group

 
180 Grn Nosler Ballistic Tips - 3 Shot Group

 
I just bought this gun this past spring and the only thing I've done to it is have the trigger worked on. It now has a clean, crisp 2 1/2Lb pull.

I can't speak for other semi-auto's, including other BAR's, as this is the only one I've ever owned or shot, but I would think that you would have to agree that "this BAR at least can hold it's own with any production bolt gun out there.
 
firstshot

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make your first shot count!

Nice shooting!
 
Looks like the BAR is worth what you pay for it and then some, I never got the chance to see how one would shoot.
 
Does more than hang with the average bolt gun.

firstshot,
 
There are always exceptions to any rule!  Your particular rifle is very definitley an "exceptional" firearm.
 
The family should expect the freezer to be filled at the end of the season.
 
Ol' John

Quote from: firstshotI just bought this gun this past spring and the only thing I've done to it is have the trigger worked on. It now has a clean, crisp 2 1/2Lb pull.[/color][/size]

I can't speak for other semi-auto's, including other BAR's, as this is the only one I've ever owned or shot, but I would think that you would have to agree that "this BAR at least can hold it's own with any production bolt gun out there.

firstshot

[/color][/size]

Boy...the point is pretty well made with accuracy like that (and shooting like that). You've got a real firearm there firstshot.

One item I wish you would record and report back on...the first shot out of a cold barrel...where it prints with regard to the rest of the groups.