Why do snipers prefer bolt action rifles?

[CommanderCrazy]

Scope. :D

 

I have a 40, 80 & 120x zoom with illuminated crosshair. 17th bday gift.

[Vagrant0]

Its also kinda hard to jam a bolt action unless your ammo is in pretty sad shape.

This... It's not so much that the ammo is necessarily in bad shape, but scout snipers may often be called to dusty, wet, out of the way places to setup an ambush, and are often covering themselves with the terrain. A bolt action weapon is simply easier to take apart, keep clean and maintain as well as be less prone to failure due to rusting or debris. A well trained hand should have no trouble making up for any sort of displacement which might occur between firing, ejecting a cartridge, loading a new round, and firing. Having a weapon which behaves consistently is rather critical to all of this.

[crimsonedge11]

Bolt action is simply more accurate, for reasons people have already suggested. But snipers in areas where they won't need the 2500+ meter range, and only need about 500-1000, like inner city taking a position to fire at the other end of the block, they might trade accuracy for rate of fire and use a semi-auto rifle. In the future they will be making more accurate semi-auto rifles, and eventually everyone will be using semi-auto.

[Sync182]

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/7151/image006pq.jpg

[Vindekarr]

Well done Darkewolf, I think you've created the most viral topic in my time on the Nexus: it's exploding!

 

I'd probably use a BA but to be honest they're just overkill. I love the thought of something giant, like a .50 BMG or .338 but I doubt there's a range in Australia big enough to give one of those titans a workout, and even smaller, high end military style marksman weapons like the Zastava Black Arrow(/drooool, that gun is sexier than most women), AW50, M95, guns of that ilk, are simply too easy. Not to mention hard to get and Im not sure if they're even legal. And besides, who could afford to fire a Zastava regularly? that kind of calibre is insanely expensive.

 

I mean, I can hit the back of the range with my crossbow! a .50 BMG would probably hit the back of the range, keep gooing, and end up in Camchatka, let alone a .338.

 

Something for you folks to drool over: the two guns mentioned in my post, the Zastava Black Arrow and Accuracy International AW50. Two of the better large-bore bolt action sniper rifles a lot of money can buy. Zastava: black one, AW-50, green one with supressor, and the wood stocked beauty is a PGM Hecate II, a very fine French AMR http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee454/Vindekarr/800px-Sniper_Zastava_M93.jpg http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee454/Vindekarr/800px-PGM_Hecate_jpg.jpg

 

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee454/Vindekarr/Bundeswehr-Technik_02_RaBoe.jpg

[IndorilTheGreat]

Simple, it is accuracy........the bolt of a sniper rifle is hand machined to match as perfectly as possible the chamber itself and will lock into the exact same position every time; the belted cartridge will seat exactly as it should and give the proper sholder positioning and head space check that round required. , my personal favorite is a Remington 700 bdl heavy barrel. Chambered in 7mm Remington magnum, 125 grain teflon coated copper jacket....nice and flat trajectory and high muzzle velocity. In the right hands, deadly to 2500 meters..

 

Say, buddah, what exactly do you hunt in our colder-than-cold state, where you need to be 2500 meters away? I don't think we have wolverines in the northern part of the state... do we? :unsure:

[Aurielius]

Simple, it is accuracy........the bolt of a sniper rifle is hand machined to match as perfectly as possible the chamber itself and will lock into the exact same position every time; the belted cartridge will seat exactly as it should and give the proper sholder positioning and head space check that round required. , my personal favorite is a Remington 700 bdl heavy barrel. Chambered in 7mm Remington magnum, 125 grain teflon coated copper jacket....nice and flat trajectory and high muzzle velocity. In the right hands, deadly to 2500 meters..

 

Say, buddah, what exactly do you hunt in our colder-than-cold state, where you need to be 2500 meters away? I don't think we have wolverines in the northern part of the state... do we? :unsure:

I think he likes to stand in Minnesota and shoot into Ontario ( or possibly Wisconsin) for game..lol

Edited March 18, 2011 by Aurielius

[buddah]

I don't hunt anymore.....moral decision. But I still know how to shoot and hit what I am aiming at. Just takes a little longer to settle in on the shot.

 

Prairie dogs out in the Dakotas, some friends use 50 cal mounted in trucks....I prefer prone supported and fineness.

[Aurielius]

http://i897.photobucket.com/albums/ac177/Aurielius/6d8cd7c8-ec58-4498-b355-2eb0b2930fa6.jpg

 

Just saw this and it amused me.

[DarkeWolf]

Its also kinda hard to jam a bolt action unless your ammo is in pretty sad shape.

This... It's not so much that the ammo is necessarily in bad shape, but scout snipers may often be called to dusty, wet, out of the way places to setup an ambush, and are often covering themselves with the terrain. A bolt action weapon is simply easier to take apart, keep clean and maintain as well as be less prone to failure due to rusting or debris. A well trained hand should have no trouble making up for any sort of displacement which might occur between firing, ejecting a cartridge, loading a new round, and firing. Having a weapon which behaves consistently is rather critical to all of this.

Good point my friend. I should have waited to post til after I'd had some sleep, so I would have explained that better. :laugh:

semi-autos are a lot more affected by dirt, debris, and other gunk in them than bolt actions are. thats what I shoulda said. thanks much for the correction ;)

And tube feeders... geeze. Those things are prone to jams due to the alignment of the cartridges and screw up in the feeding system. Hunted with an old pump action 30-06 once on a deer hunting trip. It was a loaner from my dad, cause when he invited me over, he didnt say that we were gonna go hunting. Damned thing would jam every second shot.

 

Commander- yes... scopes are wonderful. And a VERY nice one that you got for your Bday, from the sounds of it.

tho right now, I'm just too dirt poor to go shooting, much less be able to afford a high power set of optics. :(

 

Sync- hahahaha I absolutely LOVED that comment about "Recoil" That made my morning! And that pic is now my desktop background! :D *kudos*

 

Vindekarr- Thanks! Yeah, Three staff members in a thread and not one single inappropriate comment worthy of a report, I'm loving it! :)

Dunno about australia, but here in the US, there's VERY few public ranges capable of handling one of the huge cal rifles. Most public ranges here can't even support the "hand cannon" rounds from the 50 AE, 454 casull, or that... ummm... that new one for the Taurus Raging Bull, I can't remember the size. Simply too much penetration. Heck, the 50 AE is reported to be capable of punching through a Level IIa armored vest! Dunno about the casull or the other one tho.

For the extreme bore rifles, you'd definitely need an outdoor range in the remotes, where you've got a hill nearby in the background to act as a barrier.

Very nice rifles that you posted pics of!

Tho, here in the US, federal law stipulates that anything over 50 cal. is considered to be a cannon, and requires a special permit to own. And can only be fired under supervision of law enforcement o_O

Tho I have had to wonder how they get around that for 60 cal black powder shooters.

 

Micky- yeah, same here. I've given up hunting (animals) for the most part. Moral decision as well. And after moving out to the city, I dont have nearly as many opportunities to go shooting as much as I did living in the country. I still make it out to the local ranges here and there at times, but... aside from bragging on groupings, paper targets leaves something to be desired....