Of Rifles and the Red Queen

I grew up a cowboy. My parents own and work the ranch that my mother’s parents owned and worked, and that my grandfathers parents homesteaded. All the trappings of the cowboy life, going back more than one hundred years, are all over this place and often used right along-side new, modern, gear. The saddles of my grandfathers are in the tack-room, next to mine less than 20 years old. Spurs my grandfather made in his forge, or ones he repaired that were older than him are still used regularly. Other horse tack he owned, made or repaired is used. We used the branding chute he'd engineered and built until only a few years ago.
And the guns - the guns of several generations sit side by side. My grandfather had a Colt .45 revolver that had been made before he was born. He had several lever-action Winchester rifles, two of which were about as old as the Colt (and that he died before he fully repaired). And he had a 1913 Erfurt Luger, which was his carry gun later in life.
The Luger stands out among the rest as the most modern design (although not manufacture, his personal Winchester .30.30 was made later than that), and most incongruous of the group. It is a modern semi-automatic pistol, firing the smaller, more modern, 9mm Parabellum and arguably a purposefully designed "fighting handgun". In my opinion, its one of the finest arms ever built. His is still in spectacular condition, and to hold it in your hand is to purely feel the gunmakers craft at its finest.
I don’t think my grandfather chose it as his carry gun because of its fighting prowess, higher rate of fire, or greater capacity over his Colt .45 - I just think he liked it. It was easier, lighter, and quicker and in better condition than his much worn .45, and probably just felt good to him. He was, by all accounts, a hell of a shot with both, and very capable with both. When the chips were down my grandfather had proven more than once he could hold his own with any weapon put into his hand, from his single action revolver to a Browning machine-gun.
I am personally a fan of the Luger for similar reasons. In my life its greater capacity, higher rate of fire and more generally modern design as a fighting arm become important. Its not one of my go-to guns, its a family keepsake not a work tool.
The .30.30 my grandfather favored is a work tool however. It’s my go to rifle for checking the pastures, and problems with cats and coyotes. Its also my go-to for a fighting rifle, should a problem with a two-legged predator ever arise here. Its great ammunition capacity and faster rate of fire make it superior to my bolt-guns, it’s also smaller and easier to handle in confined quarters or fast movement than the larger rifles. But it’s not perfect. It’s not the ideal "fighting rifle" anymore.
There are tools with higher capacity, even faster rates of fire, improved close-quarter handling, and better fighting accessory options. Tools that are in the hands of the criminals, as well as in the hands of law-abiding citizens.

Once upon a time, even fairly recently in this part of the world, a gun like a lever action Winchester was enough. Not just for protecting yourself/your family, from criminal assault. No. It was enough for everything. Hunting, protecting livestock, slaughtering stock or putting down injured animals – Everything.
Depending on your country (“country” is not the nation where you reside, it’s the type of terrain where your ranchito is), you might have a couple – a carbine length in a lighter caliber, and a full-sized rifle in a heavier caliber. But a lot of people just had one. Here the .30.30 can take down most things you’ll meet, game and predatory animals, and works well in this type of country.
I know men who grew up in the conditions that supported that. I have known men, I think they are all dead now, who lived lives that depended on one rifle, entire lives.
I love that idea of one rifle – one rifle that was good enough to put meat on the table, tend to your livestock (your welfare), and defend your family against attacks. One, simple, elegant, rifle that can do all that like the Model 94 Winchester.
But, that era has passed.
Its evolution, the area of evolution between predator and prey, particularly the “Red Queen” principle where-in rapid evolution within a species is prompted by an increase or evolution of the threats against it. As in the character in Lewis Carroll’s through the looking glass, the Red Queen, who has to keep running faster and faster just to remain standing still.
Evolutionarily, as one species evolves it develops an edge over other species in survival – both over the species it preys upon and the evolved defenses of that (or those) species, and also an edge over competing species that lack this new “edge”. To keep up, the other species (prey and competing predator alike) have to evolve, or “run faster”. This is the evolutionary equivalent of an arms race.
In predator/prey interaction entirely within the human species, this has become an arms race, literally.
No longer can you have one rifle. A battle rifle is not a rifle to pack on your saddle, and the rifle you pack on your saddle is not the one you really want when you pop around that corner at 3 AM to find four guys with pistols standing in your living room.
In some ways, I gladly accept the necessity of evolution.
In others, I long for the idea of that simpler world, simpler time.