Bolt Action/Semi Automatic Comparsion

[Gr360ry]

So, in most games, (not sure if it goes with real life) bolt action rifles are usually more accurate, and more deadly then their semi auto counterparts. I was wondering if this is true generally to real life now days, as well as back in WW2, or if this is something gaming made up. Also if anyone could comment on the mechanics of the semi and bolt action rifle as swell as the pros and cons of each it would be appreciated.




(I did search, I personally didn't see anything)

[Anderson29]

well in real life a bullet is a bullet. it is true bolt actions are more accurate but semi's are closing the gap.
i would guess that in game bolt actions are more deadly cuz the take longer to fire and it levels the playing field.

[[R-DEV]ZZEZ]

Bolt action rifles are inherently more reliable then semi automatic because you take out 1 of the jamming possibilities - the magazine.
Lethality..umm..its the bullet & the barrel not the mechanism that cooks the weapon after each shot.

[SgtFailure]

Well AFAIK, bolt-action rifles are more accurate as they have less moving parts unlike the semi-auto variants. Thus, its not being made up, its true in game and in real life

As for the pros and cons, i'm not really a sniper expert. so i'm gonna leave it to someone with more expertise. but one thing is for sure, bolt-action sacrificed rapid fire for accuracy and semi-auto sacrificed accuracy for rapid fire. So in the end its still a balanced kind of thing, sorry i didnt help much though.

Regards
SgtFailure

[[R-DEV]OkitaMakoto]

Kind of referred to in the posts above, but in a bolt action rifle, the gun isnt cycling a round with each shot, thats left for you to do, so in that respect, some of the extra "recoil" is left for when YOU theshooter chose. But thats not me saying they have less recoil or anything, just meaning, as said above, less moving parts...

You dont get the AK47 shaka shaka with a bolt action rifle, more of a shaka.....cycle new round shaka.

[Tirak]

Sources or infractions people.

Regards,
[R-MOD]Tirak

[Gr360ry]

Thanks for the responses, didn't expect them so quickly since I'm in Australia and its 12:30am.

[gazzthompson]

if you want a accurate response, PM this guy as he is a sniper, but he will probably post here soon anyways.

[[R-DEV]OkitaMakoto]

The key advantage is consistency of chambering the live cartridge into the bolt action. The bolt action involves the operator to hand operate the bolt, pushing the bolt forward, thus pushing the cartridge into the chamber, and rotating the bolt lever/head to lock the bolt into place for firing.

A semi-automatic on the other hand relies on the operator to manually feed the first round. Then all subsequent rounds are chambered by the rifle itself during the gas or blowback operation of the action. How consistent the chambering of each round by the action comes into play.

Also, since the bolt action rifle is operated manually for feeding each and every round, tolerances for the bolt will be a lot tighter, thus increasing consistency in the action. Whereas semi-autos will need some 'looseness' in the tolerance in order to achieve reliability (ie: AK-47 family has very loose tolerances for maximized reliability, M16 family has tighter tolerances for more accuracy).

Not to say you can't have a semi-auto rifle with great accuracy. The H&K PSG1 supposedly has sub-MOA accuracy if you read all the literature on it (and play enough Rainbow 6 video games...).

Bolt action vs. Semi Auto - THR
quoted from a Rifle Forum, cant assure accuracy but will continue looking. But its what I said earlier...



http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles...l_accurate.htm
This is strictly about barrels, but continues about the accuracy of a semi and bolt. Bolt is tighter so bullets tend to be more centered, whereas semi auto/auto are looser to allow more consistent feeding automatically[AK-47]

[SuperTimo]

also you could say that with a bolt action rifle, the user is more likely to take aim and care over each shot, due to the time between each. Where as with a semi auto rifle, you don't need to do this as you can put many rounds down range, increasing your chance of hitting the target. Therefore in video games its generally assumed (and most likely rightly so) that blot action rifles are better at range whilst semi auto is vice versa. Also bolt action rifles can tend to have a greater caliber, increasing ranged abilities.