What's your favorite class of rifles - semi auto, bolt, lever action, single shot

[wlewisiii]

To me there is nothing finer than one of the many babies of Paul Mauser. A mauser derived bolt action is what a rifle is, for me.

 

[P.B.Walsh]

Bolts 4 life!!

 

[CraigC]

I love a good rifle of any type but leverguns are my hands-down favorite. I do, however, have a distinct need for a classic old boltgun like a Mauser sporter or Mannlicher-Shoenauer. More "modern" boltguns don't do much for me.

 

[RugerMcMarlin]

OK I'd like to state up front I have no REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE with one But Ive' Always had a chub for a ......275 Rigby!

 

[hirundo82]

Isn't this like picking your favorite child?

They each have their place and the things they are best at, but I guess if I had to choose the one I like best I'd go with lever.

 

[Carter]

I like bolt guns, but my favorite is semi-auto's. They're just so much fun. However, I haven't shot a lever action before. Thinking about getting one though.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

I'm lefthanded/left eye dominant, so my viewpoint will be different. The sad fact of life is that lefthanded shooters don't have nearly the options that righthanders enjoy.
Most of your favorite models and calibers are not available to us. So, many years ago when I was young, I pretty much settled on lever-action rifles out of necessity. I would have loved to own a lefthanded bolt-action .22 rifle with a tubular magazine.
But, alas! It looks like there is no such animal.
If life was fair and I could have any rifle I wanted, I would vote for bolts. But, in this poll I voted for levers because that's what I'm used to.

You would think there would be enough of a business market for there especially if there aren't any other competitors out there with one.

 

[fragout]

Semiauto and without hesitation, even though I own all the others at one time or another to include pump actions and revolving actions.

It is all John Garand's fault......initially.

M1
M14/M1A

Also love them M1 Carbines.

Everything else is relatively boring anymore. (my case at least)

11B

 

[henschman]

I like semi autos because they generally have a higher capacity and a higher rate of fire. I also like them because they do not require any mechanical function between shots, which means the shooter's natural point of aim is not disturbed between shots.

 

[chicharrones]

It depends on what I'm doing with a rifle at the time. I don't own a slide action, but I have the rest. At the moment the bolt is my choice.

 

[Sgt_R]

Select-fire, of course. But of those listed, I went with semi-auto.

R

 

[aka108]

I own some of each but the bolt is probably my favorite but not by much. The only action I don't care for is a slide or pump action.

 

[Dr T]

I enjoy the single shots the most (but I have more bolt guns than any of the other types).

Reasons:

1. The are very elegant purpose built machines. They tend to include only the minimum needed to perform their intended task.
2. When you have only one shot, it tends to focus your attention a bit more.

 

[Ole Humpback]

My personal favorite, a single shot Sharps. Read about them when I was 10 or so and have wanted one ever since. Finding out that there are modern reproductions of them that are chambered for more modern rounds is icing on the cake. But BPC's for the large 45 & 50 caliber rounds is neat too. I wouldn't hesitate at all to take a Sharps into the field for most anything in NA.

For more modern rounds though, its a bolt rifle or a lever rifle. If I have range on the target and time to take the shot, I like a bolt rifle. If I'm doing minute of object shooting and want to get rid of round in a controlled fashion, its a lever gun.

Semi auto rifles don't really do it for me.

 

[Still Shooting]

Favorite Action

Hmmm...Let's see. Right now I own 13 rifles; 1 is a single shot, 1 is a lever, 2 are semiauto, 2 are slide action (Remingtons, both). 7 of my guns are bolt action, so I guess by the numbers that's my favorite.

I dislike the safety aspect of the semiautos, especially for new shooters (how many rounds did I fire? How many are left? How do I make the gun safe in a hurry? Did a new round feed?)

The single shot and lever guns both require loss of the sight picture in order to reload, while the slide action tends to re-lock on target on the forward stroke.

The bolt also loses sight picture, and it isn't as fast as either the lever or the pump. But the bolt guns are relatively safe - round is visible during feed, and bolt open is safe. The bolt rifles will generally handle a hotter load safely. And they're just pretty.

-I guess it just comes down to what we like.

 

[wankerjake]

I love leverguns. They are a pleasure to shoot and to carry. I can't explain why, I just like them.

 

[RichBMW]

Another vote for lever action. Must be the cowboy in me.

 

[ky40601]

Sheepdog,

Ditto to the Lever Actions.

 

[Molasses]

Counting up the rifles in the safe, bolts outnumber levers at about a 3:2 ratio, autoloaders and single shots are nearly tied in a far distant third/fourth with pumps trailing in a dismal 5th with only a handfull represented. So I voted bolt.

As for which I appreciate the most or gives the most enjoyment, that depends entirely on my mood and what shooting task I'm contemplating at a given moment.

 

[LTR shooter]

Of the four general types which do you like best and why?

I like the bolts for target or precision shooting. All my current centerfire rifles are bolt actions. The bolts fits my style of shooting which is basically taking my time for each shot fired.

For the dollar spent the bolt actions deliver a high degree of accuracy. The only modifications I've had to perform were trigger replacements and barrel floating. And easy to get a match grade or "benchrest trigger" for the bolt actions.

The only other class of CF rifle I have owned were lever actions in 44 mag and 444 Marlin. I would say the lever is my next favorite.

Although I would not mind at all owning a nice highly accurate AR for a semi-auto.

 

[bannockburn]

While I enjoy my bolt action and lever action rifles a great deal, I have always been fascinated by the design and function of semi-autos. That and their military derived heritage make them my personal favorite class of rifles to have.

 

[dmazur]

Well, I have one of each, all in the same cartridge (.30-06).

Bolt action - target
Lever action - hunting (brush gun)
Semi-auto - plinking / target
Single shot - hunting (longer ranges)

I probably shoot more rounds through the Garand than the others, but I think I like the simplicity of the single shot the best.

 

[kingcheese]

the only semi autos i have a rimfire 22s, i like my bolt guns because they are easier to clean then the semi autos i own

 

[GCBurner]

I don't have a single shot, or a double rifle, though I've wanted one of those ever since I handled a friends "African battery" when I was younger. He had a .600 Nitro Express I admired a lot.
I've got semi-autos, bolts, levers, and one Colt Lightning pump rifle, and like them all. If I were limited to one rifle for everything, though, it would be a scoped bolt gun, probably in .308. I have confidence that I could hit what I'm aiming at at any reasonable range where I would take a shot with one of these.

 

[amprecon]

I'm a semi-auto person all the way, what's not to like about them? I actually don't like using manual action firearms at all. Now if I had to choose them from best to worse it'd probably go like this.
Semi-auto
Pump Action
Lever Action
Bolt Action
Single Shot

For the manual-action rifles, I find the pump action the most intuitive to operate, especially under stress and its easier to maintain your sight picture shot-to-shot than with the other manual actions IMO.