Bolt Single-shot vs. Bolt Repeater in Long Range Tactical

[Dino67]

Another consideration when under time pressure and shooting in dusty, dirty, wet conditions is the ability to keep your rounds counted and cleaner by having them in mags.

You can load ammo in mags according to number of rounds required for a stage. You only need to keep track of mags and not individual loose rounds.

With a single shot you'll need some sort of ammo carrier, bullet binder, loose rounds in your hat etc. If you have to up and move in a hurry it can be less efficient.

Shot once beside a braked 300win mag in dry dusty conditions and everything I had laid out around me got covered in dirt and dust. Kept the bolt closed and loaded mags in a backpack pocket, kestrel and rangefinder out had a pretty good 'dusting' along with a spoonful of dirt I tipped out from the objective end of my scope.

 

[58weasel]

Thanks for all the replies. Am always heartened by the experience you all have.
The single shot gives one a larger cartridge design window.
A Tikka 308 was the most accurate 30 cal I ever fired ... until my 30 BR came on line! Wow!
Can't get a 30 BR in a repeater. At least not too easily or too reliable.
To my knowledge anyway. The magazine can be a limiting factor in cartridge choice.
So the single shot will hold sway for a long time.

 

[Scott Harris]

Usually, an advantage of a single shot is that you can build longer OAL reloads and chamber them without the length limitations of magazine length reloads and whatever advantages that may offer ( ex: a bit more powder capacity available). Pros and cons to everything.
Best Wishes

this is not an advantage of a single shot action. You can do exactly the same thing with a repeater....when feeding it like a single shot. AI magwells, for example, can have a single-shot follower inserted that essentially converts the rifle to single shot mode. So, you can turn a repeater into a single shot, but not the other way around.

 

[22BRGUY]

Usually, an advantage of a single shot is that you can build longer OAL reloads and chamber them without the length limitations of magazine length reloads and whatever advantages that may offer ( ex: a bit more powder capacity available). Pros and cons to everything.
Best Wishes

this is not an advantage of a single shot action. You can do exactly the same thing with a repeater....when feeding it like a single shot. AI magwells, for example, can have a single-shot follower inserted that essentially converts the rifle to single shot mode. So, you can turn a repeater into a single shot, but not the other way around.

True that Scott, but why would someone buy a custom reamer designed to maximize the powder capacity by being able to seat the bullets farther out of the case mouth, and also perhaps less case body taper, and then use it on a repeater platform with a single shot follower installed because it wouldn't work with magazines? Everyone to his own on this I think, but for me if I'm going to take full advantage of the custom chamber, I'll make the rifle accordingly and enjoy it for what it is. If I want a repeater with a different usable repeater style rifle then I'll do that and enjoy that for what it is also. Maybe some switch barrel idea might justify this but I just build them and like them for what they are designed for.

 

[Scott Harris]

.... Maybe some switch barrel idea might justify this ....

That's the point. One action for a variety of activities. If you want to have many different rifles for different things, then a single shot makes sense. But for those of us on a budget, one action, one trigger, and even one scope can save a lot of money and space in the safe. Change the barrel and stock for different uses. The point is a repeater is just as precise as a single shot.

 

[22BRGUY]

Thanks for your understanding reply Scott. I noticed you are also a golfer. Do you only have one golf club with like changeable heads and maybe some other changeable golf club parts? Please forgive..... NOT trying to offend you here, just make a point.
As far as equal accuracy between the 2 type actions, I admit that if there is any difference between the 2, it certainly isn't much. That debate has and will continue to go on for more time than I care about, but to me as ranges get longer and longer, the more and more the very tiny details matter. Is a short action single shot being stiffer more accurate than a repeater? Is a short action more accurate than a long action? Hell I don't know, but I'm sure there are many others on the site with many more multitudes of experience and knowledge than I have, able to testify in all directions.
My very best wishes to you and the OP

 

[58weasel]

A few final thoughts come to mind. Have taken to making a few of my own wooden stocks (with a few alternating laminates). This process has impressed on me a tendency towards the single-shot, because the absence of the mag well seems to make the stock a lot less compromised (strength wise). Also the greater bedding area generally available with the single-shot would (seems to me) allow better dampening of the barrel vibrations upon firing.

A repeater under severe conditions (as some have detailed) should likely not have a tight "target chamber"; giving reliability a very high priority in one's rifle. So there are a whole set of compromises in any particular build of a rifle.

May have to give a 223 repeater a try -- with an Ackley Improved chamber. Shoot 223s in repeater mode, and hand-loaded Ackleys in the more precision mode. Humm . . . What repeater would be best for that?