Prichard, actualy I hear there was once a weapon that would allow a lone hero to whoop butt on an entire army; sometime during the Cold War the U.S. Army developed the Davy Crocket Atomic Bazooka. I can't say for sure if this weapon existed, but I hear it did from people I trust.
My all-time favorite rifle was Enfield No. 4 Mk. 1 "tanker carbine". It looked real cool, was solid as a rock, and worked pretty good too. I liked the 10 round magazine and the bayonet lug. The bayonet is one of my favorite martial arts weapons. Ah the joys of the Western arts...
Anyway, I'm not a big fan of recoil, not so much because it spooks me as much as the noise bugs me and I like to shoot a lot but hate recoil pads, so I invariably end up battered and bruised. I'd like the same sort of action and look in .223 with a higher capacity magazine.
That said, firestorm tactics will usualy beat out marksmanship and I don't think that a bolt action rifle has any palce in a front line infantry unit and I except for special cases like taking out key command personel, I have serious doubts as to how much a sniper really alters the course of a battle.
Sure, sucks to be the guy he caps, but one man out of a batalion isn't going to be missed by anyone but his friends and family.
Also, wars are getting more and more urban everyday, where autoloaders have an edge, even over 18 inch bayonets.
As a personal weapon, I have to assume an end of the world scenario, then I'd say a good bolt action rifle would be fine because you wouldn't be facing a modern army on the field of combat, or probably even more than a handful of badguys at a time. A rugged and reliable weapon like a bolt action can be definately has an edge.
I think some of the TEOTWAWKI scenarios are pretty dumb; especialy the "bugout and hide in the woods" one. While you're hiding in the woods, somebody else is shaping the tribe that will form the nation that fills the void left by the destruction of the last. I think a lot of this stuff is just for fantasy, which is fine too. I guess I should go to the survivalist forum for this though...