Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What makes a "loaner" rifle???

Guys on here use the terms "loaner" and "truck" rifles a lot...I personally don't own any rifles that I wouldn't be perfectly fine using myself, as far as loaning them out...that depends on who is using them(also has a pretty big influence on how LONG I'll let them use them).

As far as "truck" guns go I'm not sure...never had to shoot a truck before, probably have to go with the .300 Win Mag on that one(heaviest hitter in the safe right now).

Loaner, a rifle built strong and well used, in a caliber most can handle.
Truck gun is a short, handy, mid 20's caliber rifle.

For a truck gun the 45/70 works really well. It will penetrate the engine block which is important for quick kills.


Shod

I think the 'loaner' rifle would be one I know will get beat up and mistreated, so I would loan a gun I don't care about.

A 'truck gun' in my thinking is one that is also well used and beat up that I can keep behind the seat of a truck, ok, maybe a lever action in 30-30.

However, I could be wrong.

loaner:
ok to get beat up--synthetic or cheap wood
light kick caliber for beginning hunters
trigger not too light but decent
scope w plenty of FOV and eye relief, not too expensive
i loan my re my 788 in 243 w a trigger job, 3-4 friends have bagged their 1st deer w it, no regrets

I agree with 358Dog I have a marlin lever in 35 Remington.......

Loaner, one that can get a mark put on it and I dont care. Or one that was cheap enough that if someone screws it up, I can say "Let me take the scope off and it is yours for $200"

My Truck Rifle:

A loaner rifle is one of known reliability & accuracy, but also sufficient heartiness that it can be banged around a little.

For me they've often been rifles I've yet to "bond" with, but which I know I likely will some day.

Of my 3 favorite rifles two were bloodied by newer hunters before I ever collected a head of game with them.

I live in a crappy Yankee state where one cannot have a truck gun so I am not qualified to speak on that topic. If I did have one it'd likely be my win 94 in 30-30.

Out of the guns I actually regularly hunt with, I wouldn't have a problem letting a bud borrow any of them. They are only guns.

MOF, I gave my AR-15 to a bud not long ago. He has never owned an AR. But I did let him shoot it before. He managed to take aim at a buck, pull trigger, and hear it go "click".

It helps to be familiar with the user manual first......

I keep a loaner handy which is a simple Mauser 8x57 with a receiver sight and replacement stock. Good thing, too, because that rifle has garnered more dents and scratches than what's on all of my "good" rifles combined, thanks to my ham handed buddies who have borrowed it. No sweat, as that is why it's there.

The concept of a "truck gun" is ludicrous around here. It would be a sure way for John Law to throw you in Stoney Lonesome for quite a spell. Besides, I can't think of a single occasion when I would have needed a rifle at hand while driving around.

Don't know anyone I trust enough to loan a gun to, except my sons, who are going to end up with my guns anyway.

No truck, no barn, and few places around here you can carry a long gun "just in case" without trouble.

My loaner/truck gun (truck guns are fine in TX ) is an RAR in 243.

I only have a few rifles so,my "loaner" rifle is whatever I'm not holding that day. My "truck" rifle the last few years has been my only synthetic stocked rifle (30-06).

And in the Peoples Republic of Maryland, a loaded magazine in the same "space" as a gun is the same as a loaded gun.

A truck gun and a loaner are one and the same to me. Something that shoots good but is cheap enough that it ain't gonna hurt too much if it gets beat up or stolen.

Truck guns are fine in rural upstate NY too, so long as they're not loaded and don't fall under the SAFE act definition of "assault rifle".

All my pards own rifles so there is no need to have a 'loaner'. I don't have friends that don't own rifles.

I don't keep a specific 'loaner' rifle around. The last time I needed one for this purpose I went a different route. I talked a casual hunter friend who didn't own a centerfire rifle into accompanying me on a western hunt. He was a shotgun and bowhunter and his family budget didn't allow the purchase of a bunch of new equipment for a hunt he may not repeat for many years. I picked a rifle that was lower in recoil but very consistently accurate and reliable. The last thing I wanted was for him to go to the time and effort of this trip and then not have a great chance of success when it came time to pull the trigger. It wasn't a beater by any means, in fact it was one of the newer rifles in my safe at that time. I asked him to be careful about dropping it but not to worry about babying it. If it came home with a few honest scratches that was just fine.

The above post is the reason for two different types of loaner rifles. There is the kind that works pretty well but nothing special and the other type not so well on all counts...

Truck gun, AR or an AK is usually aboard.