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Since a bolt-action rifle takes 2 actions chamber a round and shoot, does that mean the older single shot rifles such as the rolling block, falling block and trapdoor would require 3 actions? 1 to load, 1 to shoot and 1 to unload the spent cartridge?

I'd assume so. Though the damage isn't worth it unless you're going to go with shock and bloodloss rules (Compedium of Modern Weapons).

This is for gaming in a wild west type setting, don't have a lot of man portable automatic weapons for then, unless you can carry a gattling gun with you

Steinerwan wrote:Since a bolt-action rifle takes 2 actions chamber a round and shoot, ...snip

Where does the text say this?

In the Rifts World Book 26 : Dinosaur Swamp, page 74, the Legacy Bolt-Action Rifle, Rate of Fire: each single shot counts as 2 melee attacks/actions, one action to fire and one action to work the bolt and reload the chamber. Now I will admit this is only mentioned about this gun, but as far as I know, almost all bolt action rifles in the game would work the same way.

Steinerwan wrote:In the Rifts World Book 26 : Dinosaur Swamp, page 74, the Legacy Bolt-Action Rifle, Rate of Fire: each single shot counts as 2 melee attacks/actions, one action to fire and one action to work the bolt and reload the chamber. Now I will admit this is only mentioned about this gun, but as far as I know, almost all bolt action rifles in the game would work the same way.

Well, I'll be damned. It does say that. Funny how the next entry is a pump-action, but it doesn't take 2 attacks to fire/pump. I wonder what the reasoning is? I looked to see if maybe the Legacy Rifle only chambered a single round, but it has a 5-round magazine. This one stumps me.

The pump action uses the off hand to reload a round using the pump, the other hand still has a finger on the trigger, whereas normally you use your shooting hand to work the bolt.

Steinerwan wrote:The pump action uses the off hand to reload a round using the pump, the other hand still has a finger on the trigger, whereas normally you use your shooting hand to work the bolt.

Most pump-action shotguns and rifles have a slide lock on or around the trigger guard, requiring you to take your finger off the trigger in order to cycle another round. I would be willing to bet that a good shooter could operate a bolt-action as fast, if not faster than a pump action.

I've no doubt that is possible, but in the case of the Winchester Model 1897 12 guage the trigger disconnector is absent, allowing it to be fired with the finger on the trigger, even keeping the trigger pulled, or slam firing for those not familiar with the term, but I' getting off topic and apologize for that

Steinerwan wrote:I've no doubt that is possible, but in the case of the Winchester Model 1897 12 guage the trigger disconnector is absent, allowing it to be fired with the finger on the trigger, even keeping the trigger pulled, or slam firing for those not familiar with the term, but I' getting off topic and apologize for that

Fair enough. I have seen an Ithaca shotgun with the same setup, but again I don't think it is common (although I am in Canada, so that may not be the case down south).

Still, I like the rule that a bolt-action takes 2 attacks to fire, but would also like to see it extended to any weapons where the round isn't cycled automatically. Pump-Action, Lever-Action, Single-action revolvers, and the like. This would be a tangible benefit of using semi-automatic or double-action weapons.

personally? I would say that is unique to that one weapon. (since there have been many bolt action weapons before and since) with out the note.

filo_clarke wrote:

Steinerwan wrote:I've no doubt that is possible, but in the case of the Winchester Model 1897 12 guage the trigger disconnector is absent, allowing it to be fired with the finger on the trigger, even keeping the trigger pulled, or slam firing for those not familiar with the term, but I' getting off topic and apologize for that

Fair enough. I have seen an Ithaca shotgun with the same setup, but again I don't think it is common (although I am in Canada, so that may not be the case down south).

Still, I like the rule that a bolt-action takes 2 attacks to fire, but would also like to see it extended to any weapons where the round isn't cycled automatically. Pump-Action, Lever-Action, Single-action revolvers, and the like. This would be a tangible benefit of using semi-automatic or double-action weapons.

Nice to meet a fellow Canadian online, and I can see your point for the lever action rifles and shotguns, but the single action revolvers only require one hand so I'm not sure it would for them since you only basically need to rooster the hammer back with your thumb

eliakon wrote:personally? I would say that is unique to that one weapon. (since there have been many bolt action weapons before and since) with out the note.

Quite possibly, I hadn't thought of that, or it may be a rule upgrade palladium may be starting to use.

With the amount of game-wide rules Palladium has cooked up that were listed in the text of specific weapons/gear/spells, i wouldn't be surprised.

A larger updated version of there firearms book would be nice, or their modern warfare gamebook as well

another canadian here (but with no real world experiance with guns)
never seen that ruling but for bow and arrows i ruled 1 action to draw the arrow into the bow and another to fire (i'd round up if they had odd actions)

i'm all for it taking more actions to shoot , though maybe depending on occ or some home made wp skill to negate the extra time
like wp. speed shooting, or having gunslingers fire all pistols and rifles with just one action