Gentlemen, no less than Jeff Cooper was a fan of the 30-30 Win. for a defensive rifle. Those are a little off the wall but, the theory is sound.
First - That thing is an abomination in every way imaginable. The person who came up with that will sit in a lonely spot in Hell reserved just for those involved in the producing and marketing of that rifle.
Second - Jeff Cooper is patently WRONG on the use of a lever action rifle as a defensive rifle, UNLESS you can guarantee your opposition doesn't have semi-autos.
In force on force training, we actually played out this scenario. To make a long story short, we did 1 on 1 and the lever action guy lost most every time. We did 2 on 1 (two guys with lever rifles, one with semi-auto) and the single guy with semi-auto won 3 out of 5 times. We did 3 on 1 and the lever rifle guy won 3 out of 5 times. Here's how it played out most every time.
Semi-auto guy jumped up and pumped very rapid, well aimed shots at the lever rifle guy and suppressed him and forced him to run for cover. At which point he was either hit on the move, or the first time he poked his head out of cover.
Now in places where they don't allow semi-auto's, you bet; lever action is a great option. But then again, I've found that a pump action is considerably faster action than a lever. The only problem is, unless it's one of the really old Remington's (Model 14?), I don't know of any centerfire pump guns I'd trust as a defensive rifle. The later manufacture Remington's are really good (model 7600 IIRC) until the round count get high, then they start falling apart...on and they're far more accurate than you'd ever give them credit for. Always wanted a 7600 in .35 Whelan.
mg:
