The best replacement for rifle is shotgun.

The best alternatives to rifle are rated as following:
★★★★★  shotgun
★★★★  carbine
★★  pistol
★★  tank
★  handgun
★  gun
★  riffle
★  musket
★  project x
★  dynamic gold
★  22 magnum
★  pistol fable 3
★  carbine buffer
★  assault rifle
★  bow dcuo
  shotgun approach
  shotgun shtf
  true temper
  crossbow
  carbine buffer spring
  remington 700
  pistol home defense
  bow
  shotgun difference
  savage axis
  pistol engineer gw2
  firearm
  .22
  machine gun
  .44 magnum rifle
  22 mag
  mini 14
  shotgun deer hunting
  shotgun scopes
  kbs
  shotgun recoil
  longbow warrior gw2
  long barrel
  rimfire
  rimfire rifle
  hunting rifle
  browning
  22
  remington
  savage arms scout rifle
  magnum
  30 06
  dmr
  shotgun for hunting

Your alternative for rifle is not listed? Suggest!
Speaking about rifle, one probably shouldn't forget about bayonet.

Other search terms related to rifle and their ratings are:
★★★★★ bayonet
★ my rifle
★ longest range
★ best accuracy
You have in mind a companion for rifle and it is not yet here? Propose!



Google Trends

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of rifle in all years. Click on graph for more.
rifle
shotgun
carbine