Heym makes a wonderfully accurate straight-pull rifle called the SR-30. I used one on a cull shoot for fallow deer in Ireland a few years ago. Most of the shooting was fairly long-range sniping, but once we stalked a bunch of deer that we found bedded down, and I had no problems slamming the bolt handle back and forth while doing some quick shooting.
However, when working a regular bolt I use a back-and-forth motion anyway, with the palm of my hand. The typical shooter who grabs the knob firmly with thumb and fingers, then goes through four separate motions to work the bolt, might have more trouble with the transition.
