Occasionally there are posts in this forum about which hunting firearm would make a good "tactical" firearm. To me, the tactical adjective indicates a situation where one must use the firearm to defend one's person until escape from the situation is possible or the threat is neutralized by arriving authorities or direct use of the tactical weapon at hand.
Most likely, this is not a "home defense" scenario, but rather a situation where the attack could easily be somewhere other than the home front, at a point where familiarity with your surroundings and the ability to call for help easily are not present.
With all the government warnings about terrorist attacks my thoughts go to "what if" scenarios where I am caught in a survivable situation under a random terrorist attack. My only interest is to escape and evade. I am not there to act as a supressive force against the terrorists, such is the responsibility of government. I would not arm myself if there are government authorities on site. However, if our government authorities are neutralized or absent I would arm myself with a weapon to aid in surviving my escape and evade attempt.
Certainly no single opponent will successfully counter the efforts of multiple terrorists armed with automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades. However, in escaping and evading, a weapon may be needed to counter the threat posed by a pair of terrorists (or a single one if you are lucky) standing between one and successful escape. This is where the weapon needs to be one that the user is familiar with and capable of shooting well on close point targets at ranges of 100 and under yards.
Why 100 yards? If I have that kind of distance or greater between me and an armed threat I can hide and evade or run and dodge in an all out effort to leave the threat behind me. In all likelihood they can shoot and miss all day at such range. In all reality, at that range you will be out of the mission interest of terrorists, as they will be focusing on completing their defined "satement" mission.
So, what do I pick? I want a firearm that is chambered for a cartridge requiring a single hit to disable a determined terrorist. The terrorist is not someone who will succumb easily, they appear to be quite willing to fight and die standing (as long as possible) for their cause. I therefore choose the .308 because of its power and my ability to recover quickly from its recoil in my chosen rifle. Obviously, any cartridge in this range of power will suffice. Close in, the large pistol calibers (like the .44 Mag) are quite adequate.
My choice of firearm is a semi-auto or pump. Levers and bolts are slower than these two actions. I want quick shot recovery and the ability to get onto target with a second or third shot quickly. I view this somewhat like a bear attack. You get two shots if lucky, with a third being a finisher as needed. Otherwise, you get space in the obits. The hunting rifles have been designed to cycle soft point ammo, the military style rifle for FMJ, another consideration. I have chosen my Browning BAR Lightweight Stalker in .308.
I would not use one of the military style weapons I own because of the caliber (5.56x45) or their slowness to point shooting relative to the BAR, usually due to the size and weight of the "battle" rifle (as with the FAL) or its configuration (I shoot faster with a conventional stock than I do with a pistol grip). Remember, this is not prolonged combat, but escape and evade. The handling qualities of the BAR for hunting make it a great choice for this purpose. I would also choose a Remington 7600 if I owned one. For me, this particular pump rifle points very well and has very fast shot recovery time. I have a low power (2.5x) scope on the BAR, ideal for the woodland hunting I do as well as for this type of application. I also use hunting ammunition, as it hits and expands; good for target neutralization as well as a safety factor in not hitting an innocent.
So, even though a little off the topic of this forum, I consider the semi-auto and pump hunting rifles capable of serving both as fine hunting and tactical mission choices for the situations I may experience.
Some additional observations after shooting and handling the BAR.
The BAR magazine is very well designed, hats off to Browning on this. For a scope I chose the Leupold VariX-I 1-4x 22mm; it is light, small and presents an excellent target picture up to 300 meters when set on 2x (my favorite setting). The following observations can be made after handling and practicing with the rifle/sight system:
1] Accuracy is good enough that 300 meter offhand shooting is meaningful. As the barrel heats from repetitive shots, rifle does not change the POI enough to destroy accuracy at this range.
2] The magazine is easy to top off and reload completely; it readily accepts and holds 4 cartridges, functioning properly.
3] The rifle can easily have a round in the chamber and a fully loaded magazine in place and function properly. Thus, 5 shots are easily maintained.
4] The iron sights are accurate and presented well by the firearm as it is shouldered.
5] The rifle is well balanced; the addition of the scope does not impact the center of gravity or the quick handling characteristics of the system.
6] After almost 200 shots nothing has loosened and there is no need to retighten any screws to maintain accuracy.
So, in summary; the BAR represents a firearm that meets my requirements as outlined above. There is no detachable magazine to loose, 5 shots are easily kept available and accuracy is good.
As pointed out by others, there are plenty of viable alternatives. This is my selection based on wanting a semi-automatic action and accepting 5 shots as my maximum needed reserve.
