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Normally I would wink and make finger guns at you as a way of saying 'hey thanks!'...
But that seems like a bad idea right now.
Lol, yeah I'm getting cautious how I word things to avoid misinterpretation all of a sudden too
I have updated my original comment with more of my best attempt at an analysis, now that there is apparently an image of the actual rifle.
Rem 700 is a good guess, my thought was Ruger American - it doesn't match the current model of either perfectly but as you say a 20 or 30 year old model will often be different, and yes no piccatinny rail in that pic.
Based on the exit wound shown in the video I doubt it's 30-06 to be honest - I think your guess of a .270, or maybe .243 would be my guess, particularly given how popular those two were 30 years ago for hunting. I guess could be .308 but as per other post in the thread the sort of damage I'd see on a pig or deer just doesn't line up with what I'd expect a 30-06 to do and still light even for 308.
Appreciate the extra detail.
I myself have a ... moderate amount of range time / time in the field, probably, by the standards of most actual hunters...
I've never actually shot a living creature, just like to go to the range occasionally to pop at targets, get that whole breathing zen thing going on.
But I do have a probably uncommon amount of gun related autism in terms of trying to accurately model and simulate and represent firearms in mods for video games and such, the engineering, the history of em, the wierd little nuances of shooting as a human experience that most video games dramatically oversimplify.
Anyway... yeah, glad you agree that is probably not an 'older Mauser', and I'm gonna go with you probably know better an estimate of the actual caliber, and yeah, could be a Ruger American from about 20 to 30 years ago too.
FYI the reddit thread seems to think it's a mauser 98 in an aftermarket polymer stock. The potato quality photo makes it too hard for me to work it - dunno if they've found a better photo
... Wha?
Based on what?
The stock/grip housing is not Kar98k style, it has a bit of a pistol grip -ish form factor, like more modern, basic, out of the box US hunting rifles...
I guess that doesn't disprove it could be a completely rehoused K98k, but it doesn't prove it either...
And... the likelihood it is some kind of completely rehoused K98k is really low, in comparison to it just being the shooter's dad's Remington or Ruger or something like that.
Can you link me this?
Do they actually have some specifc, unique detail that would be an unfalseifiable indicator of it being a K98k?
This is the reddit gun community here, I am guessing they are mostly try hard wehraboos, you know, Nazi enthusiasts, very rational and clearheaded, unbiased thinkers.
... fuck.
Not the fash end of reddit I avoid that - this thread
https://www.reddit.com/r/liberalgunowners/comments/1nez6z9/the_rifle_aledgedlies/
They're basing it on the tail end safety mechanism I think (I can't see it well enough to be sure), although honestly I suspect they're just taking the media report of mauser at face value and retrofitting what they see to that
Maybe what I should have more said is just that reddit is primarily dunning krueger sophomoric idiots who only understand things from the context of video games and purely abstract theoretical research, and have a tendency toward being hyperbolic and overconfident.
Very little practical, real world experience, very lot of e dick waving bluster.
That and... uh, maybe half of these are AI chat bots, who knows at this point?
Anyway... here is the single comment I've found so far that isn't either useless or bullshit.
from 'deLanglade1975':
This is the kind of seasoned hunter FUDD I was hoping would appear.
...
He seems quite confident that yes this specifically is a Mauser type of action.
I don't know how or why he can be that specific... but I am inclined to distrust my own relative lack of knowledge and experience specifically regarding this, over a more experienced rifleman who seems like he's got more experience with Mausers than myself.
...
He seems quite confident it is a Mauser that has been rebarelled, but disagrees with us, who think its likely a smaller caliber than 30.06, he think's it is likely 30.06.... he notes the profile is all wrong for a Mauser... when, to me, that could also well indicate it just is not a Mauser.
We also do not know if he has actually seen the footage of the shot impact, seems like the both of us have.
...
Looks like we all agree its some kind of older two piece scope mount than a Pic rail, with a fairly modern scope... but he thinks this 'hints' at being a sporterized Mauser, whereas I would think that would just hint at being any ole hunting rifle from Pic rails took off.
...
We also all agree it is an obviously synthetic stock, likely from the 80s 90s 00s timeframe.
He believes it has a common stock from the era that a bunch of these older milsurp type things were being sporterized.
...
But he also believes that the bolt handle itself is not the right shape for an actual Mauser style bolt handle, that the bolt handle of what was originally a Mauser type was heattreated and reformed into a significantly different shape.
I find that ... remarkably unlikely... to the extent that I would think it more likely it just never was a Mauser style bolt handle.
...
Fucking I dunno man.
Would be great if we had better quality images, and from different angles / lighting conditions.
Maybe the mismatch between the seemingly unblued barrel and the blued action could be helpful in narrowing things down, if investigated further?
Broadly agree with everything you said, and well spotted to pick this one - it certainly has the "sound" of authenticity, the level of detail def gives a bit of confidence.
I'd note that he said "With a new barrel, the rifle could be chambered in anything from .218 to .458. The claim of .30.06 is possible and likely correct." so he's just accepting the 30-06 because that's what's reported (which in the absence of evidence to the contrary is not unreasonable).
Then again, the other question is whether it actually was the weapon used - we can't trust this administration as far as they can be thrown.
The bolt handle being changed is entirely plausible, I could see my father pulling out the oxy-acetelene and bending a handle he wasn't happy without into a better shape. So the sort of guy comfortable doing a barrel swap and furniture replacement wouldn't be too bothered doing that.
What can I say, eyes of a marksman =P
Ahaha, ok, ok, enough jerking myself off.
Ok, so you find a bolt handle heat treat mod plausible.
I mean, I also find it plausible, but seemingly less likely than... not having that as an explanation.
I guess I am looking for some kind of... unfalseifiable, notable quirk of a specific model of something.
But... Yeah I guess the image is just too shitty for that... Unless maybe you could confirm or deny whatever he is saying about it specifically being a Mauser style action?
It could be a reworked Mauser as he describes.
That is not impossible, that's certainly possible.
I guess I am just also trying to factor a ... vague sense of how many of those are floating around, vs how many just... basic US hunting rifles approximately 25 yo.
But uh anyway, this may all become moot soon.
I just found a Forbes live update stating the shooter has turned himself in, posted it to a few larger News communities.