I prefer coc, wasn’t a huge fan of it in my first rifle (7.7-06 Arisaka), but I’ve come around. I’ve owned 7 coc rifles (3 arisakas, 2 2A1, 1 1917, 1 1891 Mauser) and 12 coo rifles (2 98 style, 1 88/05/35, 1 Mosin, 6 carcanos, 2 vetterlis) that I can recall, and that’s not even getting into the various 22’s I can’t remember. The vetterlis get a pass because they’re stupidly smooth, but 90% of the time I’d rather have a coc because I regularly smack that bolt home hard, and the transition the spring provides feels nicer than the abrupt stop of a coo action.
