* * *
Because Homeland Equipment is going to close its doors, I had to move my all-terrain vehicle disk to another location.
I sure do hate to see those folks close their doors. They were always good to me, and I'll miss their camaraderie. I counted "Mark" and "Tom" as good friends and will miss seeing their friendly faces from time to time.
However, I will also miss being able to access their business as a service dealer for my Echo equipment, although I haven't had a lick of trouble with any of the Echo equipment I have purchased from their business. Hopefully someone else will pick up the dealership, and I'll be able to establish a rapport with them.
* * *
Lately I have been seeing ads for the Remington R15 and R25 rifles in some sporting magazines. For those not familiar with these arms, I will describe them briefly.
The R15 and R25 rifles are semi-automatic rifles with military lines, specifically with the AR type receivers, and operate the same way as the military version.
These rifles under the Remington name are camouflaged and are available with different calibers, with more calibers to be put on the market in the near future for deer and varmint hunting. They are offered with a four-shot magazine to conform with hunting parameters that limit shell capacity to five rounds.
As I have always liked rifles with a military look, they appealed to me, and they look sharp in the camouflage. These rifles, though, are heavy and expensive and will constitute a burden if you pack one all day. A good sling would be a must. The Remingtons being described are five-shot semi-automatics.
For those folks who are still not clear about fully automatic and semi-automatic, I will endeavor to explain it once again:
A fully automatic rifle, which the public is not allowed to own unless they apply for and qualify for a very strict government-regulated license, is a rifle that will expend all of the ammunition available to it when the trigger is depressed, by magazine in this case.
Many folks think the civilian version of the AK-47 is fully automatic, but it is not. It is a semi-automatic rifle with military lines. The appearance and the round capacity are the only real differences between these military rifles and some civilian rifles.
A semi-automatic rifle, which the public is allowed to own, can only be fired one round at a time with each pull of the trigger. The trigger must be pulled to expend each round, and there are several civilian hunting rifles that are semi-automatic.
Military lines not allowed
Rifles with military lines such as the AK-47 are not allowed to be owned by the civilian public unless they are limited to being semi-automatic. There is no selector switch on these rifles that will allow them to be fired fully automatic.
The calibers of these rifles also are suitable for deer hunting. However, according to Kentucky hunting regulations, magazines are limited to a total of 10 rounds, with one round in the chamber. You shouldn't be caught in the woods deer hunting with a 20-round magazine, as you would be subject to arrest.
Rifles with the military lines are developed to be rugged and to be able to withstand the abuse of combat situations and still function. The vast majority of deer rifles are bolt-actions, pump-actions and lever-actions, usually with a five-shot capacity. They are also lighter in weight and have very clean lines. Many have stocks of wood that are just beautiful to behold.
So some of the AR-style rifles are being chambered for specific deer cartridges. The rifles are functional and will make good deer rifles if you can carry the weight for an extended period of time.
I would prefer the .308 caliber rifle for my tastes. The .30-caliber round is a very good round for deer, and more and more of the military look semi-automatic "black rifles" are being converted to civilian use for deer and varmint hunting. We'll see if these firearms really catch on.
If one of these rifles is your cup o' tea, then go for it, and good luck next year when you venture afield for your deer hunt.
