Let’s say you’re what’s essentially a dog trainer to dinosaurs, and you double as a park ranger. What weapon would you choose to deal with dinosaurs?
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Obviously, some dinosaurs are too big to handle with anything less than a crew-served, but what about a general-purpose dinosaur defense rifle?
That seemed to be the question asked by the Jurassic World crew, and honestly, the answer wasn’t half bad.
In the film Jurassic World, we see Chris Pratt play park ranger/dinosaur tamer Owen Grady.
When things inevitably go south, he retrieves a Marlin 1895 SBL in .45-70. Government, and it’s not a half-bad choice.
Not all dinosaurs are T-Rex sized, and the Marlin 1895 SBL offers a lightweight, repeatable, and easy-handling rifle for dealing with most threats.
Sure, something like a .375 H&H Magnum would be more appropriate for a lot of big game, but those double rifles are big, heavy, and often don’t allow for a quick follow-up shot due to the massive recoil.
The Marlin lever gun works much better at moderate ranges and might not be the best dinosaur hunting rifle, but it’s a solid choice for dinosaur defense.
The Modern Lever Gun?
As the name implies, the Marlin 1895 SBL isn’t a high-tech lever gun, but believe it or not, it’s one that might have reached peak lever gun in 1895.
There is only so much technology can do to improve such an old-school design. Marlin has done a few things to modernize the SBL.
It features a stainless steel design with plenty of modern features. This includes an optic rail across the top, a ghost ring sight that maximizes sight radius, and even a threaded barrel. The big .45-70 would be great for suppressor use.
The movie doesn’t make use of a can, but it does come with a Leupold 2.5x28mm scope.
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It’s seemingly a smart choice for Grady, plus it’s a nice rifle that captures the audience’s eye.
Hero guns make the hero stand out, and that’s exactly what this gun does. All of the other Ingen commandos have modern rifles that are some shade of black, but Owen’s and his 1895 SBL stand out.
Hunting Dinos
You know that awesome Leupold scope?
Well, it’s a long eye relief design seemingly mounted fairly far rearward. There is enough scope rail to push it a little further forwards, but to be fair, Grady’s style of shooting seems to take advantage of the long eye relief optic.
He’s often seemingly right around that 9.3 inches of eye relief that the scope requires. Being that far from the optic has its advantages, one being a wide field of view and awesome peripheral vision.
Owen Grady did aim his rifle and handled it like he knows a thing or two.
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