What action is the most reliable?

[reynolds357]

Johnny, It is a semi-automatic. If that annoys you then you are free to ignore me. That is what I plan to do with you from this point forward.

[tdoyka]

single shot

[georgianative]

Of the three offered, I pick bolt action. But, I believe a break action is the most reliable.
Less parts=more reliable

[jaysouth]

It ain't the bow

It ain't the arrow

It ain't the quiver

It's the indian that makes it work well

[FITASC]

I'd vote, but my choice was not mentioned:

Farquharson rifle

[tahoe2]

Mauser !! nuff said

[44 AMP]

Of the choices offered, the bolt action, with its powerful primary camming action extraction is the most mechanically reliable.

HOWEVER, NONE of them are any more reliable than the operator.

Kudos to those who are paying attention to which sub-forum we are in.

If I recall correctly, the bolt was the quickest, been a while though.

Bet is has been a while! Tests I recall from the 60s & 70s, for 5 aimed shots, the bolt was ALWAYS the slowest. Semi auto, 5 seconds, pump, 6, lever 7, bolt 8-10. Times approximate, varying slightly with individual shooters, some shoot the lever faster than the pump, but the over all pattern is consistent.

Run some tests yourself. Its not that hard, if you got friends. Use a .22LR, available in all action types, and ensuring recoil of different rounds will not be a factor. Plus, its still as cheap as you can find. Get a pump, lever, and bolt .22 (this may be where the friends come in), and simply run some tests.

With good ammo, and a gun in proper working order, everything is equally reliable, providing the shooter doesn't jam it. With cruddy, damaged or out of spec ammo, the bolt has a slight mechanical advantage, BUT, its not a huge one, and crap ammo can exceed the rifle's ability to use it, easily.

I've seen a guy jam a Win Model 70, ENTIRELY though his faulty bolt operation. Short shuck a pump, or lever, or simply work them at the wrong speed, and they jam, too. Even when the gun and the ammo is fine.

In realistic terms, the most reliable action type is the one in the hands of the shooter who knows what they are doing, and does it right.

The most "reliable" action in mechanical terms can, and will jam in the hands of a shooter who doesn't operate it correctly.

[Gunplummer]

I would go with the bolt action also, but only because you can force it if you have to. I had an M-14 jam on me once, and being in a hurry at the time, I jammed the operating rod against a tree to extract. I would not try it with an M-16. point is: The question is just too general. You can really pick apart an answer just by the different subtypes of action mentioned.

[William T. Watts]

Bolt with a Claw Extractor, powerful camming action, Paul Mauser got it right. My favorite bolt guns all have claw extractors period.. William

[William T. Watts]

XX

[zachattack2]

I say as long as you maintaine your gun it won't fail, if you really love your pump action gun more than your lever or your bolt and maintain the pump action more that one might last longer , vice versa . But yes that depends on what kind of gun of each you buy.

[Gunplummer]

I had a 45-70 marlin lever gun freeze shut on me when I was out hunting in a heavy snow storm. No amount of maintenance was going to keep snow out of it. I never had a military bolt gun freeze to the point I could not open it at the end of the day.

[Paul B.]

I picked the bolt action and would qualify that. My serious hunting rifles are all based on properly tuned M98 Mauser actions. PERIOD! Some on military actions and the rest on FN commercial actions. They have never failed me, something I cannot say about a Remington and a tang safety Ruger M77. On both rifles the extractors failed. Good news it was at the range and not on a hunt that I had serious money invested.
I'm not saying the other bolt action types are bad and even use some. I'm saying that on a serious hunt that I have what I consider serious money considering my now fixed income, I want to use a rifle I trust all the way. The 98 Mauser was a originally a weapon of war that was designed for the period to be as goof proof as possible so that a scared recruit in his first battle might survive. I like that in my hunting rifles.
They're probably all good enough but we all have our likes and dislikes. Shoot what you like.
Paul B.

[tahoe2]

^^^+1 What Paul said ! The only bolt actions I own are Mausers ( 7 of them) in various calibers.
The Mauser is also the longest standing bolt action in use for dangerous game in the world !
All those 'African Professional Hunters" must know something ! Many use double rifles, but back them up with a Mauser !
If I were to go to Africa, I would sport a 7x57, 9.3x62, and a 404 Jeffry. All Mauser's.

[44 AMP]

All those 'African Professional Hunters" must know something ! Many use double rifles, but back them up with a Mauser !

And many back up their client's Mauser's (or whatever) with the double rifle.

In the century plus since the 98 Mauser, no one has come up with an action that is significantly better in all aspects. And even the Mauser isn't perfect. A poor operator can jam a Mauser, or anything else!

The point of the double rifle is a stopper. Something that can stop the largest, most dangerous game in the world when the range is down to feet! Large, powerful cartridges, in a double rifle that gave two shots, as fast as humanly possible, and using separate lockworks to be as reliable as humanly possible.

The Mauser design makes an admirably superior rifle for sporting use, well above its contemporaries, and still today on a par with the best of other designs currently produced.

But, that wasn't the real reason it was "chosen" by PHs. The real reason was, essentially, there was no other choice available. No other bolt action design was offered in the large calibers used in the double rifles. Either the same rounds, or their ballistic equivalent was available only in rifles with Mauser designed actions. German and English, and all the other gunmakers building rifles for Africa, used the Mauser action.

It wasn't because it was a fine rifle (which it is), as much as it was the only bolt action rifle that filled the bill in all particulars. Karamojo Bell killed elephants with 6.5mm & 7mm caliber Mausers. .303 British also was used, and some others as well, by different folk at different times, primarily because that is what they had, and could feed. I don't recall any of the "great white hunters" not using larger calibers when they could get them.

Stopping a charging elephant or Cape buffalo is a specialty task, at which the double rifle excels. In the right calibers, Mausers can do it well enough, usually, and also make superb sporting rifles for all other game.