TL;DR: what are some rifles that are good for hunting first, and home defense second?
With the prospect of unbounded inflation, expensive food (e.g., meat), and getting late into the game of saving for retirement (spent a long time in grad school), I want to hunt. If I bring home enough wild game for food, I'll have saved a lot of money (especially if the price of meat skyrockets).
Suggestions?
If I had only one gun it would be an AR-15
For hunting first and home defense second as OP wrote I'd go with AR10 in .308
Agree. Pretty damn affordable. Extremely customizable. Buy the best you can afford and then sights/optics too. Be aware that 5.56 is probably the most popular AR round. This can work for and against you because ammo is scarce. However, if things go south, I’d gladly hand you a mag to cover my 6. Others would too.
If you’re on a shoestring budget, a Ruger 10/22 would be awesome. You can do a lot with a .22LR if you really need to.