why are target rifle bolt guns?

[Steve Ruchala]

I was at the club over the wekend and a cople of guys were practicing for NRA high power and were using big heave bolt guns.  I can understand the need for the weight.  But why a bolt gun are they just more accurate than any other type of action.  I have been using contender in .223 with a 23 inch bull barrel that seems to shoot very straight.  I know that a stock can be made for the weight issue.  Just wondering why these guns alway's seem to be bolt guns?

[redial]

Steve, if they were highpower shooters, you were witnessing the end of an era. Other'n long range matches, I haven't seen two bolt guns on the line at a highpower match in a couple years now. During the same period, I was the only one left shooting an M1A!

It seems EVERYONE shoots the Mousegun - most are set up as Match Rifles while a few of us soldier on shooting the Service Rifle configuration.

For prone matches, benchrest and the like, boltguns can't be beat but for highpower and boltguns, it's the bottom of the ninth, IMO.

Putting my money where my mouth is - last week I sold my Quantico built 700 Match Rifle since I haven't used it in several years now. Oh well.

Redial

[newfalguy101]

I believe that as a general rule bolt guns are or can more easily be made
more accurate than all other action types.

[Jose Grande]

Bolt guns are inherently more accurate than auto-loaders,or any other action for that matter. Bolt guns are stiffer to begin with. Check out what the bench-rest guys are shooting. Custom built bolt guns.
The reason for the auto-loader in Service Rifle is..... there are a couple. It is service rifle after all, There haven't been bolt guns in regular service since WWII. That is REGULAR SERVICE , we aren't talking about sniper rifles on this thread. The M-1 was it (still is to me),then the civilian version of the M-14, then came the dreaded black rifle. I well remember how well they shot at 200 & 300 & then got their clock cleaned at 600.....Well,no more, with the 80 gr. bullet & a 1in 9 twist,they whup the tar out of the M-1 or M-1A at 600yds.
The 03 Springfield was a good rifle, & accurate too,but it is old. None have been made in over 60 years. You could use one in Service Rifle,but the AR-15 is much easier to shoot (particularly in rapid fire) accurately, & it doesn't give anything away at 600 any more.

[Red Neck64]

A bolt is the best way to lock a shell in a chamber.The bolt action and berrel combo make for less flexing.Thus the singel shot target rifle,the singel shot bolt is the stifest of them all.

[Green3845]

Steve-

I am an NRA HighMaster in highpower, but a new member here. There are two divisions in NRA HighPower, Service Rifle and Match Rifle. In service Rifle, which I shoot, you have a choice of three rifles, M16/AR15, M14/M1A, and the Garand. (The Springfield IS NOT a legal rifle in the Service Rifle Division).

Match rifle shooters are limited by only caliber, .30 or less.

I don't know where that one fellow shoots, or his experience level, but the bolt gun still rules the roost in match rifles. Some people do shoot ar15 based "spaceguns", but the top level shooters almost uniformly shoot a boltgun of one flavor or another. The hottest, cutting edge match rifle is a Tubb2K, made by McMIllan, and it is a bolt gun.

Some people have gone to great length and expense to have a match rifle made from an AR10 or SR25 platform, but those match rifles are not common, nor have they proven reliable.

The accuracy issue is not the determining factor here. Actually, most NRA HP rifles consistently shoot 1/2 MOA, and it is cheaper and easier to get an AR to be 1/2 MOA rifle than a bolt gun. The reason that the bolt gun is the predominant  choice in the Match Rifle division is actually because of 2 factors, caliber and lock time/ trigger.

Bolt guns can handle more powerful, better wind bucking calibers than the AR platform. Current favorites in NRA HP are 6XC, 6/250, 260 Rem, 6BR. These calibers, shooting a high BC bullet at a decent velocity, make a difference for an able, experienced shooter, particularly at 600 yards.

Lock time is also an issue for NRA HP shooters above a certain skill level.  While I love my AR's, its lock time is like molasses compared to my Tubb2K, or any of my Remingtons, Winchesters, and other HP boltguns I have. The trigger is part of this issue also. The best trigger in the Match Rifle division for an AR based space gun is either a Knight's or a Jewel. They can be adjusted down fairly lightly, but no matter what you do, they don't compare to a top flight trigger like an Anschutz in a boltgun.

[redial]

I don't know where that one fellow shoots, or his experience level, but the bolt gun still rules the roost in match rifles. Some people do shoot ar15 based "spaceguns", but the top level shooters almost uniformly shoot a boltgun of one flavor or another. The hottest, cutting edge match rifle is a Tubb2K, made by McMIllan, and it is a bolt gun.

Howdy!

Welcome aboard - good to have another ha-par shooter with us. If it's me you referred to above, I'm a match director in Missoula, Montana. Granted, there aren't exactly throngs of competitors up here but we do run our share of long range (Palma, 1000 yard) as well as regular 800 aggs.  To us, boltgun = prone gun! Those of us who have them it seems, built them several years ago. No new ones for quite a while now and no one here has the $$ for a Tubb, despite the 2004 Perry results. My line is littered with Spaceguns, every match. Ugh.

I too am a High Master, service rifle shooter but now in my mid-40's, I don't know for how much longer! Maybe if I sell the wife's car, I can swing a left-handed T2K. But it still looks like an Erector Set to this old M14 man.

Glad to have you amongst us!

Redial
Mark Riedl

[Green3845]

Thank you for the welcome!

I think after the 2004 Perry results, that the same bolt gun, a T2K, placed 1,2,3,4 and 7th and David Tubb shooting his namesake/creation boltgun won the Long Range Championship, that it would be hard to say the boltgun was dead. The only spacegun in the top 10, shot by Bert Medina was 6th, and a boltgun, (a Rem 700, I think), shot by Mitch Maxberry was 8th. Service rifle shooters took 9th and 10th to round out the top 10. I don't know what James Fox shot to win 5th place.(Edited to add Fox shot an AR service rifle).

While expensive, pushing the $3000 mark now, it's not that out of line for a top of the line boltgun built for across the course HP. The bonus of the T2K is that for the price of a barrel, $350, the quick barrel change feature of the T2K, allows you to have a Palma rifle, a long range rifle, and an XC rifle all in the same package.

For someone getting into high power, if they don't want to shoot service rifle, the AR based spacegun is the way to go. It can be built fairly easily and is the least expensive way to have a very good match rifle.

With the current popularity of 6.5 twist barrels and the 90 gr. JLK VLD bullet, a .223 shooter doesn't give up much anymore at 600 yards in terms of wind drift.

I have to disagree with you on the service rifle issue. I'm a recoil wimp to the extreme, and the M1A almost makes me tear up. Black plastic and aluminium  forever!