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Nickel Plated · March 15, 2013, 07:42 PM

So both shotguns and rifles have been available in both bolt and pump actions.

I've always wondered why is it that pump became the popular and quintessential action for the shotgun yet bolt for the rifle?

I mean pump-action is generally faster than bolt-action so why didn't rifle design go that route for the most part? Or why not bolt-action for both?

Sure there's a couple of examples of one actuion going onto the "other" gun but they're pretty few and far between. Why the divide?

March 15, 2013, 07:42 PM	#1
Nickel Plated Senior Member Join Date: January 17, 2010 Location: Brooklyn, NYC Posts: 610	Bolt action vs pump action. So both shotguns and rifles have been available in both bolt and pump actions. I've always wondered why is it that pump became the popular and quintessential action for the shotgun yet bolt for the rifle? I mean pump-action is generally faster than bolt-action so why didn't rifle design go that route for the most part? Or why not bolt-action for both? Sure there's a couple of examples of one actuion going onto the "other" gun but they're pretty few and far between. Why the divide?