so let's say bolt-actions were still used by the military

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OK, I believe that the Mauser or Springfield is the best bolt gun design. A modernized combat bolt gun would have one of the two action types with a short barrel, 10 shot detachable box magazine, and possibly a composite stock. I think also mounting a 2X red dot scope (like a Bushnell) for quick target acquisition would be a good idea.

Lever actions or pump actions would work fine too, with the same features. Maybe a '95 Winchester carbine with a 10 shot detachable mag and red dot sight.

Rimless cartridges would be the best due to ease of loading and feeding.
 
The same Mauser action that has been fielded since 1898, with a 10 or 20 round detachable magazine.

Second option a Lee Enfield is also an excellent possibility.
 
Why does anyone think it would have to be built around a pre WWII action?

The best of the Pre WWII actions was the 98 Mauser. But it was very expensive to build. Most of the safety features in the Mauser have been dropped in later actions, to cut cost.

I could envision something where the receiver was simply an aluminum housing. The locking recesses in the barrel. That way you can change barrels out as in the AR type action and only use high grade steels on the bolt lug and barrel locking recesses.

Straight pull, I think the action would be straight pull. Not K31 or Ross, maybe something like putting a handle on a AR type carrier. I agree primary extraction and chambering would be more difficult on a straight pull, but there may be clever ways to use the recoil of the rifle to unlock the bolt, to provide primary extraction, or maybe just flute the chamber.

Polymer stock, optic sights, 6.5 mm intermediate round, magazine fed.
 
That said, I think the Rifle No. 4 still represents the ultimate manifestation of the bolt action war rifle.
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Roger that.

A Lee Enfield #4 chambered in a rimless intermediate cartridge and sporting a 16" barrel would be a pretty satisfying boltgun.
 
I would go with the Springfield -- with the following updates:

1. Better iron sights. The front sight would be a flat-topped blade, 1/8" wide, protected by "ears." The rear sight would be an adjustable aperture mounted on the receiver bridge. Battlesight zero would be 250 yards.

2. There would be a scope, with mounts forged integrally with the receiver (the rear sight could be mounted on one of them.) The bolt handle would be shaped to clear the ocular lens, and the safety would swing horizontally -- like the Winchester Model 70.

3. Gas handling. The bolt would vent down into the magazine well, and there would be escape holes in the receiver ring. There would be a thumb cutout in the left raceway and the bolt shroud would have a flange to block the raceways.

4. There would be a detatchable magazine.
 
I'm a huge fan of the Lee-Enfield action

those suckers are FAST.

I'd go to a smaller calilber such as 6.5 though. Give them good sights and turn my troops into a nation of riflemen.
 
Of all the military bolt rifles I've shot, the 03-A3 was the absolute best. Easy handling, buttery-smooth action, reliability, strength and superb accuracy, which was helped by decent sights. If I were limited to a bolt gun, that would be my first choice.
 
Of all the military bolt rifles I've shot, the 03-A3 was the absolute best.
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My primary quarrel with the 03 is the weight, with mechanical complexity being a secondary concern.
 
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At almost 12 pounds? Really?
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Nah. I could see it in two versions, one similar to how it's marketed now, and a lighter version, but I like it's features. We're all just having fun anyway, eh?
 
I don't think the K31 would be all that great. It seems nearly impossible to chamber a round quietly. If I don't slap the bolt forward with some force, it can fail to fire. So, not very useful for hunting, either, unless you want to walk around with a round in the chamber.

Anything Mauser-related would be good. I like the Spanish FR8 because the sights are similar to M1 / M14 / M16 - a peep near the eye, and a substantial post (not like the skinny invisible thing on an 03A3).
 
I think you could do a lot worse that an CZ-527 Carbine in .223 or 7.62x39mm.

Give it a steel buttplate and a bayonet lug for close-in work, and double the magazine capacity, and you have an updated Enfield Rifle No. 5 in a handier caliber, giving up some range for less muzzle flash and kick, faster follower up shots and a lighter ammo.

As a matter of fact, does anyone know if anyone makes larger magazines for the Cz-527 than the factory five-rounders?
 
Those of you who love the Springfield, you have not broke enough parts with the thing.

I have shot thousands of rounds through my Springfields. I can remember replacing (at least) three firing pin tips, three firing pin collars, and two cocking pieces.

I know I have busted an extractor. I have this fuzzy memory of replacing the ejector. Pretty sure I replaced one.

I have sent back to every supplier, used 03 bolts that the bolt stop had sheared through the left lugs. There is so little contact surface that you will find a lot of service bolts with that problem. You will also find lots of bolt stops that look like a rat took a bite out of them.

The Springfield action has this little rear tang pad, it just digs into the stock and ruins the bedding. Plus the rear tang screw is angled forward.

03 or A3, it does not handle gas well. Better wear your shooting glasses because the gas from a piecred primer is going right in your eye.

In every instance where the Springfield designers departed from the M96 Mauser (I don't know if they had a M98 to look at), the action got worse.

I have a target Mauser 98 action that I dry fired at least 50,000 times and is on its third barrel. The bolt has been cycled enough that the case hardening wore through the bolt cocking cam. So I had to replace the bolt. But nothing, absolutely no part broke.

You can't do that to a Springfield with out a box full of replacement parts.
 
Those of you who love the Springfield, you have not broke enough parts with the thing.
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Fair enough. The Springfield that I shot belonged to a friend of mine. I loved shooting it, but honestly have no long-term experience with the rifle.

For the most amount of ammo through a single bolt gun, for me it would be a Yugo Mauser. About 3000 rounds of corrosive surplus through it without a single problem, but it wasn't nearly as accurate as the Springfield and the action was never as smooth. I don't know if the German or Czech guns were any different.
 
I think we would most likly still have the Spring feild 03 in some varrent.
 
It would be a pump action, thats for sure.
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I am one of the biggest fans of pumps you'll ever see. But the problem is they still suffer from all the same problems the aforementioned straight pulls do. The only real difference in a straight pull and a pump rifle is the location of the charging handle
 
One only need to look at what features were considered essential when the bolt gun was the main battle rifle.

Must haves:

Controlled round feed
Fixed, non-rotating extractor
Fixed ejector
Simple trigger

Desirable: facility to recock the striker in the even of a misfire (without working the bolt)

Detachable magazine.

The classic combat rifles are the M1907, the K98 and the SMLE.

I'd vote for an updated Winchester M70/FN SPR with a synthetic stock and 10 round detachable magazine. Triggers don't get much simpler, although the M70's might have to be ruggedized at the expense of trigger pull
 
"...a group of US marines armed with Lee Enfields would be pretty scary..." A group of Canadians called the PPCLI, armed with Lee-Enfields, scared the German Army at least once during W. W. I and again in W.W II. And the Chicom/NKPA, at Kap Y'ong, in Korea.
"...Fixed, non-rotating extractor
Controlled round feed
Fixed ejector
Simple trigger
Desirable: facility to recock the striker in the even of a misfire (without working the bolt)
Detachable magazine..." Of your 'classic combat rifles' only the Lee-Enfield has your desired features. Mind you, only the No. 1 is an SMLE.
 
what do you guys think of the ruger M77? from what I hear, it's a modern day Kar98k?
 
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