Bolt Action vs Semi Auto?

One malfunction doesn't mean a thing....it's the same as a one shot group. I've had a bolt action malfunction in cold weather but instead of selling all my bolt guns I looked into why it malfunctioned and corrected the problem (excessive use of gun oil). I still hunt with and enjoy both types of actions.
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One fail to feed is more than I have experienced while hunting with a bolt action. The rifle was properly maintained, but the action just could not deal with the weather conditions. A sub standard trigger was tolerable on it's own, but when combined with reliability issues, I was not going to tolerate both.
 
Did not read the whole thread but it is my opinion that new hunters should not start out with a semi. In my experience having that quick follow-up results in deer that require 4-5 shots to put down as the user subconsciously knows they have more shots at the ready.

I always recommend that new hunters start with anything but a semi so that they are trained to make the first shot count. After you have put a few animals on the ground then upgrade to a semi if you want. I can shoot well placed shots with my bolt as fast or faster than many of my semi-shooting buddies. YMMV.
 
To add to all the above, I find a bolt action quieter and easier to load a first round into the chamber in the field. In the morning I set out before legal hunting hours to make it to my stand or hunting spot, then load at the appropriate time, and I don't appreciate the loud clang of a semi's bolt slamming home the first round.
 
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Most complaints about semi's are either total BS or so exaggerated as to be meaningless.

From "dangerous" (so is a sharp stick if you give it to a moron), to "innacurate" (I've shot so many groups with semi's that cannot be differentiated from goups fired with bolts, it would make the semi-haters cringe), to "unreliable" (just do your darn rifle maintenance, and also don't forget that all actions fail occaisionally), to "expensive" (really...$300 for a used 742 or $650 for a new one is expensive...???), and on and on we go.

Semi's are so crazy, terrible, useless, that....every police, paramilitary, and military organization on the planet uses them. They must all be idiots, one would think, judging by the comments of some.

If someone just doesn't like a semi as a matter of personal choice, then hey, that's a perfectly good reason not to get one, but all the commonly tossed about reasons to hate semi's are just bogus.
 
Tytalus said:
As the OP, why do you feel that way?
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Safety. The rookie hunter gets excited, fires on game and a new round is chambered and ready to go. In all the excitment it's easy to forget you've got one in the pipe ready to go.

Also it is easier to see from a distance that a bolt action is not in battery and a bolt action is more often easier to unload and make safe.

As mentioned previously, a bolt-action requires some deliberation for the first shot and a shooter, new or otherwise, is less likely to take a marginal shot. Start with a bolt, get some field experience and then determine if you want to switch to a semi.
 
stubblejumper said:
One fail to feed is more than I have experienced while hunting with a bolt action. The rifle was properly maintained, but the action just could not deal with the weather conditions. A sub standard trigger was tolerable on it's own, but when combined with reliability issues, I was not going to tolerate both.
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I'm not saying that your experience with your BAR not feeding couldn't have happend, but I will dispute its a design flaw inherent to that action. I've owned a Browning BAR (300wm) since the mid 80's and with it, hunted all over Alberta and BC in every possible weather condition (from hot and sunny to heavy rain and snow) and as yet to date, have never (not even once) had a feeding failure.
I live just a bit inland from the north coast in BC, heavy rain, freezing rain, snow and high winds are often normal in the coarse of an afternoon's hunt.... convincing me that the Brown BAR is unreliable will be difficult.
 
Many examples of very reliable semi rifles, my coyotes hunting rifle is a MR-1 and with the range, the sand pit and the hunting, it has gone tru 5000+ rounds with only one failure du to a bad primer... JP.
 
Northman999 said:
Semi's are so crazy, terrible, useless, that....every police, paramilitary, and military organization on the planet uses them. They must all be idiots, one would think, judging by the comments of some.
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The idiots are the ones that can't separate civilian hunting criteria from military/police.

And even in police/military applications you will see bolts fulfilling some tasks almost exclusively.
 
Dukester said:
The idiots are the ones that can't separate civilian hunting criteria from military/police.

And even in police/military applications you will see bolts fulfilling some tasks almost exclusively.
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Like sniping, for example.

For me, hunting is far more like being a sniper than like being a swat team member clearing a building. Bolt guns make the best snipers.
 
I'm not saying that your experience with your BAR not feeding couldn't have happend, but I will dispute its a design flaw inherent to that action. I've owned a Browning BAR (300wm) since the mid 80's and with it, hunted all over Alberta and BC in every possible weather condition (from hot and sunny to heavy rain and snow) and as yet to date, have never (not even once) had a feeding failure.
I live just a bit inland from the north coast in BC, heavy rain, freezing rain, snow and high winds are often normal in the coarse of an afternoon's hunt.... convincing me that the Brown BAR is unreliable will be difficult.
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I could care less what you believe, I had a BAR that malfunctioned, I no longer trusted it, so I sold it. The person that I sold it to, sold it to someone else, for the same reason that I did.
 
Started deer & bear hunting in the 60's and havent missed a year yet. And yes, hunted moose in most of those years as well.
I started out deer hunting with a 44/40 Winchester Model '92 lever gun (and took a nice little buck the first day of the season) and susequently hunted with .44 Magnum, .270, .30-06, 45-70, 450 Alaskan, .308, .35 Whelen, .264 Win Mag, .257 Roberts and a 25-06.

Guns have included lever actions, semi-automatics, single shots, pumps and bolt actions.

For a new shooter, looking for a first rifle, I would recommend either a bolt action or a pump action.

Here in south-central Ontario, the "bush" tends to be a little thick, most shots are somewhat under
75 yards, and calibers suitable for deer, black bear and moose certainly include the .270 and .30-06.
The Remington 7600 pump is relatively inexpensive, easy to mount a low-powered scope on, comes with
reasonably good iron sights and is relatively simple to load and unload with it's detachable magazine.
I find they need a good recoil pad & sling swivels installed, as well as a "trigger job" by a good gunsmith.
They are available either as an 18" carbine or 22" rifle and are also, surprisingly accurate.

There are any number of good bolt action guns available in both .270 and .30-06, but if in your area of BC,
if you also intend to hunt elk and are in grizzly country, I think I would choose something a little heavier.
I think a .300 or better still .338 Win Mag would be on my list. A little more difficult to shoot with additional recoil,
but not at all uncomfortable for a hunting rifle that has a good recoil pad and fits well.

Buy the best quality you can afford. Inexpensive "package" guns migh seem attractive, but most will
have the scopes replaced within a year or two. I could care less whether or not the gun has a magazine or
a floor plate ... but if there's a choice, I like the floor plate model. I also prefer nice checkered walnut and
blue, however if stainless steel & synthetic floats your boat ... then by all means.

A Remington 700 or Winchester Model 70 as examples are decent quality that should last you many years.
I prefer lower magnification mid-priced scopes like the Leupold VX-II series in either 1-4x or 2-7x, but other
comparable brands may suit you better.

Just my 2 cents worth, from experiance.
 
I bought a Remington 742 auto in 1974 and used it about for about 10 years until I bought a bolt action win m70. The auto sat in the cabinet for about 28 yrs until the registry was cancelled and I sold it. I now have 5 bolt action rifles and I can"t for the life of me remember why I wanted an autoloader. It worked ok if I fed it Remington ammo but if I used other brand it was about 95% reliable.
If a grizzly was charging me I would still want the bolt gun because I know it will fire if I work the bolt, something I cannot always say will always happen with the SA.
 
as for the safety aspect of a semi versus a bolt gun if the new hunter is properly schooled to treat his gun as always loaded i see no real difference . if you think your manually operated gun is unloaded because you have fired it you are setting yourself up for an accidental discharge .new hunters get very excited and a bolt or pump gun can have its action worked without the hunters mind realizing what has been done .i have seen new hunters think they were shooting at a deer when in reality they were pumping unfired slugs out on the ground, so it is possible to have a live round chambered and think you have fired it . treat it as a loaded gun untill you have proven it regardless of action type .
 
stubblejumper said:
I could care less what you believe, I had a BAR that malfunctioned, I no longer trusted it, so I sold it. The person that I sold it to, sold it to someone else, for the same reason that I did.
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Contrary to the over whelming consensus in the hunting world and internet wide as the Browning Bar being both accurate and reliable, I find it entertaining (but not surprising) that you would state otherwise.
Arms Tech Ltd uses it (the Browning BAR) as the basis for a very expensive sniper rifle (SMIR) they sell to the US military. They evaluated the available commercial actions and the Browning BAR was the only one that had enough durability to serve as the foundation for their rifle.
Happy hunting!
 
mooncoon said:
I think it is more of a question of philosophy; the logic behind a semi auto is in part that you can get off a quick second and / or third shot. I personally think a person's philosophy should be one of waiting for one good shot

cheers mooncoon
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^Most intelligent words on this thread IMHO.
Used a semi-auto rifle once, deer dead with one shot.
Used a lever 30-30 for deer once, deer dead with one shot.
Used bolt action rifles many times with the same results, and a compound bow also the same.
Used a pump action shotgun with a slug expended to take a wild boar once.
Plan on using a muzzleloading rifle next year just for a change of pace.
I'm not really a spray & pray type of person.

Cheers!
 
Contrary to the over whelming consensus in the hunting world and internet wide as the Browning Bar being both accurate and reliable,
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Accurate and reliable as compared to other semi autos perhaps, but an online search will come up with many reports of BARs having jammed in the field. How many guides for dangerous game have you seen that use BARs for their work?


Arms Tech Ltd uses it (the Browning BAR) as the basis for a very expensive sniper rifle (SMIR) they sell to the US military. They evaluated the available commercial actions and the Browning BAR was the only one that had enough durability to serve as the foundation for their rifle.
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And despite being extensively modified, to improve accuracy, and reliability, it never really caught on, leaving bolt actions the primary sniper rifles for the US armed forces.
 
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Forgive me if many posters sound like antis to me. Semi
means spray and pray???? Pardon me sir, why do you
require a vehicle that is capable of exceeding the posted
speed limit etc???? Perhaps a semi may not be the best
choice for a first hunting rifle, but it doesn't turn one into
a reckless and irresponsible shooter either.
 
Forgive me if many posters sound like antis to me. Semi
means spray and pray????
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Of course not everyone that hunts with a semi auto fits the spray and pray mentality, but many of the people that I know, or who have met in the field, that hunt with semi autos, certainly do.That includes both big game and bird hunting with shotguns. As for the people that show up at the local range with the AR or SKS type firearms, it is rare to see one of those people that doesn't at some point, empty a few magazines as fast as they can.
 
Grizzlypeg said:
To add to all the above, I find a bolt action quieter and easier to load a first round into the chamber in the field. In the morning I set out before legal hunting hours to make it to my stand or hunting spot, then load at the appropriate time, and I don't appreciate the loud clang of a semi's bolt slamming home the first round.
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Agreed...
The first round noise factor is one of the disadvantages of semi's and one of the main causes of FTF from what I've witnessed. So many people I speak to and hunted with about semi's failing to fire the first round almost always are a result of the person's hunting and trying to load the first shot by cycling the bolt back and forward by hand to reduce noise in the woods. The bolts do not lock closed unless the bolt is pulled all the way back and let go allowing the bolt to slam closed under the springs pressure.
 
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