Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What Is Your Opinion???

Having been reading here daily for the past 6 mos. or so and purchasing various firearms I seem to see that the old opinion that bolt action rifles tend to be more accurate is pretty much wrong. I have rifles in all but auto versions and they all put 3 rounds at an inch or so. The lever and pump rifles are doing this with factory ammo.

So what has your experience reveal to you???

Rich,

Same thoughts here. The bolt actions rep are over rated, esp when Marlins are in the lever action mix. Over 150, then there is a difference. But for 90% of the shots needed on whatever, a lever action gets the job done...no problemo. Most hunters know this.

I think on avarage this is a true statement. Now I wouldn't have any problem with someone saying a lever, automatic or pump gun was accurate enough.

I've always' wanted an 1895 Winchester in a .30-06. Every year my eye's get a little worse and using irns gets a little harder.

Terry

For me it seems the trigger on bolt actions are easier to get a crisp clean trigger pull which makes it easier to shoot accurately. After owning many bolts, a few autos, and a couple of lever actions- I just can't tolerate the sloppy triggers with the auto, pumps or levers.

While there may be some anomalies, you can never EXPECT a gun with two stocks to shoot as well as a gun with one. It;s just science.

It's the nut behind the trigger that counts the mostest.......

Hmmmm.. Have you gone to any shooting events (like Camp Perry) and noticed how many firearms OTHER than bolt actions are on the line? Just to clarify, I haven't been to one of these, but I seem to recall a ton of pictures in various gun rags that show the winners all clinging to bolts...

JM02

When you think about it, most folks don't have a safe full of rifles. They may have a shotgun, a .22 and a deer rifle. They will buy their deer rifle one of two ways. Someone will tell them that they need this certain rifle because their Fathers, fathers Father used the same gun, and it was the Hammer of Thor. Or, they will give in to the relentless persistant adveritising the magazines, television shows or other celeberty types push on them. How many times do you hear folks call a scoped hunting rifle a 'sniper rifle'? New shooters want just that, a sniper rifle like in the movies. Single shots and levers have the potential to be accurate, and what is paper accurate and hunting accurate is two different things as well. In the end, the bolt action is what is flooding the market. TV shows don't show the stars hunting with a pump or lever, and the consensious is that means they are better. True or not, it's just not as much fun owning only bolts.

If 1 inch accuracy is your benchmark, then I suppose a lever or pump might exist that can crack that barrier, but bolt actions do it all the time. As a matter of fact,some people get irate when their bolt wont shoot much better than that. I have never heard of anyone who said that they wished their .308 shot as well as their .30-30, or a .444 Marlin. Two-piece stocks, rimmed cartridges, barrels with attachments like tube magazines held on by barrel bands, or pump forearms, will never ever be as accurate as a bolt action. The only range that they could possibly compare is at the muzzle. There isnt one single Benchrest record held by a lever or pump. Thats not an opinion, thats a fact.

I've tried for years to cut wood at "an inch or so" and have failed every time. Help me out... What exactly is "an inch or so"?

I`ve seen a M99 in 243 win that would shoot with the best of them, and my brother has a BLR 308 that is quite accurate. Those two aren`t "most" levers though, and I feel overall the average bolt will outshoot levers and semi-autos. Single shots are another story, Ive seen a lot of good shooting singles shots and might concure they can give a bolt a run for its money.
This is concidering factory rifles only, no modifications.

I have been amazed by two different Browning autoloaders shooting small groups at the range. But then I have also heard horror stories about autoloaders not working properly in extreme weather?

My old Savage 99 in 308 and a Marlin 1895SS will shoot into 1" when I do my part. The Marlin wears Ashley Outdoors (now XS Express) sights. Most of my bolts, except for the over rated Weatherby, do almost as well!!

The most accurate rifles in the world are benchrest, and the further you stray from that configuration, in theory, the less accurate rifle you will have. What do they look like? Well, they have short, fat, match grade floated barrels that shoot the short ,fat,6PPC cartridge. They have heavy custom actions, and are literally glued in mostly synthetic stocks with wide forends.
They have 36X scopes and shoot <.5MOA all day.


Does your woods,plains, or mountain rifle look like that? Probably not. So, be very happy with any rifle that will shoot around 1 MOA that is commonly referred to as a "hunting" rifle.

Lever guns have probably killed more deer than any other action type, but that is not the question. So you know my answer, but BTW I love levers and own 4...never had one out shoot a bolt.

art

My nephews shoot at head size targets at 200yds with AR's and open sights. I do not think that any open sighted bolt rifle will pull and snap shoot more accurately than a good auto/pump/lever. Maybe a CZ FS 550. One of my favorite carry rifles was a Rem Mod 7 in .308 with a 2x7 scope. That small, whippy, scoped barrel wouldn't shoot with my open sighted Sav/Marlin levers.

George

I knew I should have been more specific! This thread was to apply to "hunting" rifles only!


Understand that this is from my own personal experience. If you've had bad experiences from any action other than a bolt then you would not share the same opinion as I!

I like my rifles to shoot into a dime at 100 yds. I put a lot of effort into making that happen. (Whether I can use that accuracy out in the field is another matter..)

While I like lever actions, and know they have their place out in the field - say a short range brush gun, I have yet to see one match that accuracy.

There probably are some out there that can, but I'm not going to put all my bolt guns in the classified because of it.

I have a lot of practice ahead of me to get to the point where Ican get consistant dime size groups out of my guns..........I wish I were that good!!!

Stop making sense..... there's a pissin' match to be started and had here......

While I have not yet had a lever rifle that would CONSISTANTLY outshoot my best bolt rifles, I have had a couple damn good lever guns, if good=accurate that is. A Guide Gun I had, and my current BLR come to mind.

I have owned a semi-auto that more than once stacked 10 shots into less than .8" at 100 yards... with ME driving it!! I don't even know what that means... probably that the rifle is capable of 10-shot groups in the .3 or .4" range with a real shooter behind the wheel.

I just sold that rifle. Uh... why did I do that again? DPMS 308LR.

Anyway, Rich, my take is this... I want the function of the rifle to match the "pattern" of the rifle. The ergonomics of a bolt rifle make them easy to shoot prone and to sandbag, and the strength, rigidity, and simplicity of the action make them more likely to be accurate than something with more moving parts.

I like the possibility of a fast followup with a lever or pump or semiauto, without breaking my shooting position on the rifle (which I do with bolts, my bad).

A good BLR will kind of mess with your head as you get all the benefits of bolt gun cartridges, they often SHOOT, and they handle pretty well too.


-jeff