What are the benefits to a single shot rifle?

K

Kimio

New member
Reading up on some modern firearms, I was curious about what is the benefit of a single shot bolt action rifle.

To clarify, I'm talking about rifles that require you to load a round manually into the chamber after each shot, as opposed to those that are magazine fed.

Are such rifles inherintly more accurate or something? Is there a design detail that I'm missing here that would warrent such a system where second shot capabilities are hindered due to the need to manually reload after each pull of the trigger.
 
Kimio - except for training new shooters, I can't recall any particular advantage of a single shot BOLT action rifle. My dad had a beautiful old Mauser .22LR single shot match rifle - I suppose its advantage was that the cartridge/bullet was never handled by a feeding mechanism. Presumably this is the advantage Scheutzen guys enjoy.

However, I can tell you about three friends who went elk-hunting and the two who used bolt-action rifles had some frozen-action problems when the weather got too cold, but the fella with the Ruger No.1 falling block single-shot did not. A No. 1 has a super-strong action and I'd put it up against an African double gun in that respect except that it doesn't have the second-shot capability you'd want if hunting dangerous game.
 
Single shot rifles are a tradional-looking rifle, very minimalist. I think of it this way: they offer the benefit of simplicity that cannot be had from a repeater. Mechanically, they are fairly simple, and do not look so much like a piece of machinery as an example of gunmaker's skills and art. The difference between a single shot and a repeater of any kind is kind of like the relationship between a bolt action and an AR15. They basically say "I don't need more than one shot. How about you?"
 
I don't know if there is a real advantage,,,

I don't know if there is a real advantage,,,
I always thought they were just cheaper to manufacture.

Now having said that I should say I own two modern single-shot .22 rifles,,,
One (Henry Accu-Bolt) has a MSRP of $399.95,,,
But it is a scary accurate rifle. :eek:

My other single-shot rifle is a H&R Sportster break-open action,,,
It's a very nice rifle that retails for around $175.00,,,
It too is a scary accurate rifle.

Both of these rifles (when fired by a local sharpshooting lady),,,
Are 1-hole rifles at 50 yards distance.

I can't tell you that their accuracy is because of their single-shot design,,,
But both rifles have more inherent accuracy than I can utilize.

The real reason I bought them is because I simply have a liking for single-shot rifles,,,
It's a very leisurely way to spend a few hours at the range,,,
No frantic firing just to be pulling the trigger,,,
Just the quest for the one shot hit. ;)

Aarond

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Forces the shooter to shoot accurately. Do to the additional time required to load and fire you expend less ammo.

I started on a single shot bolt 22 lr. I am a better shot for it.
 
Magazine bolt rifles have a great big hole in the bottom of the receiver, this makes the mag fed bolt more flexible, and less accurate than a single shot bolt.

Single shot bolts will be never as tacticool as a repeat action bolt, but will be stronger, more reliable, and more accurate.

I own both, a Weatherby MKV, Vanguard, and a Cooper MDL 22. The Weatherby's are more accurate than any other bolt repeaters I have owned; Mdl 700's, Interarms MKX, and MDL 96 Swede, but the Cooper is in another realm of accuracy altogether.

So all who said that there's no reason for a single shot rifle report to the library for detention.
 
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Other than a shorter length (which may or may not be an advantage depending on where it's used) I can see none
However I do love them
I own a Ruger #1 in 9.3X47R I am VERY fond of. I also have owned several other #1s in other calibers and also a few Sharps rifles.
Of course, one class of SS rifle that I am sure is not being referred to here, but is none the less popular is that of muzzleloaders.
I make them.
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To me the classic flintlocks and some of the cap-locks of 150 to 250 years ago were the classiest rifles ever made.
But that’s just my opinion.
 
one advantage would be the platform of the gun, for instance the tc encore. I have a stainless encore prohunter with blackpowder barrel, 7mm-08 barrel, 22lr barrel and 20g barrel. Put it all together in a rifle carrier and i could hunt pretty much anything in north america except maybe a griz. Another thing i like about that setup is i always have the same trigger, so once i get it like i like it its done and its familiar.
 
Magazine bolt rifles have a great big hole in the bottom of the receiver, this makes the mag fed bolt more flexible, and less accurate than a single shot bolt.
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This is spot on. A very stiff receiver. Also some of the old buffalo cartridges were to long to function through repeating rifle.
 
Although the old style schutzenfest rifles were single shots, I don't think you see any single shot rifles in competition these days, do you? At least not Ruger No. 1s. And the are not necessarily less expensive, given what a Ruger No. 1 goes for or one of the modern day Sharps rifles. The difference is in the finish and the wood, I'd say. So, other than the shorter overall length for a given barrel length, there's no real practical advantage.

A curious thing about the owners of single short rifles is they way they will tell you that you only need one shot and how you have to make that shot count, then turn around and boast how quickly they can get off a second shot. To be honest, I can understand both statements, having owned a few single shot rifles when I still was shooting rifles. One really can get off a second shot fairly quickly with at least some single shot rifles, even when running (yes, really), though more than about three shots will be getting a little difficult unless you're holding cartridges in your mouth.

It compares fairly favorably with some Mausers that have a relatively stiff action, but not so well with something like a Lee-Enfield. Of course, no manually operated rifle will compare well with a semi-automatic and those have been used for hunting since the 1930s.
 
I don't know that there are any aside from the length factor mentioned above. I like mine (a Browning High Wall) because it's beautiful. I enjoy working the action.
 
Many have missed that the OP was specifically referring to single shot Bolt action rifles.

For slow fire competitions there's no reason to have a repeater. Single shot bolts can be stiffer and when feeding from a magazine the feed ramp can ding the bullet a little especially with smallbore.


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Yeah fiveinadime, those benchrest techies have to be very fussy. They seat the bullet by hand so they can feel if the neck is sized right.
 
I don't think the length factor is any particular advantage, but the diameter,
the way a single without a scope rides in the hand, that is one reason to carry the single. To me that's the most comfortable way to hunt ever.
 
This Bernard action is extremely specialized and was purchased for F class competition.

As you can see from the pictures it has very thick sidewalls and the only holes are for the scope, trigger and action screws. It does not even have an ejector.

The lack of holes and thick sidewalls make this a very stiff action. Something that is desirable in target rifles.


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Kent Reeve won a NRA long range Championship with a single shot Mauser. It was highly unusual for anyone to be competiting with a Mauser, stiffer single shot action or not, but Mr. Reeve claimed with a good follow through it was good enough, and so it was for him that year.

During the blackpowder days you will run into single shot rifles, the commercial ones were just cheap, the military ones were due to the early technologlical development of the period, and the desire of the military not have issue repeaters to troops. Military leaders did not want troops “wasting ammunition”.

This M71 is a single shot, maybe someone knows why it has German and Belgium proof marks? And maybe what that Landwehr V OA NEB might stand for?

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