Lloyd, you do know that Rem700 that the military uses and that people are so proud of is a copy of a Mauser, don't yall? the 03-A3 was a direct rip off of the Mauser, which is why Mauser sued after the war and collected.. almost every bolt gun made to date uses Mauser designs. if the Mauser was so antiquated and obsolete then why does everyone seem to want to copy the design in one way or the other? and if you still think it is obsolete and useless then stand 500m out and let me shoot at you with it and 200gr FMJBT.. and b4 you get your panties in a wad over the accuracy, get a new barrel in one that is not shot out and does not have cleaning rod wear at the muzzle as 90% of the surplus mausers usually have.
and the Barret M82 semi automatic .50cal was originally intended as an EOD rifle, it was never meant for sniping operations. it is by no means a MOA or sub MOA rifle platform. and i think you will find that it is the mcmillan tac 50, a bolt action rifle, that holds the worlds longest recorded kill shot at 3,871 yards using the Hornady A-MAX.
and as for "An m16 is every bit as accurate out to any distance". tell you what we will do.. we will do an easy test that you should be able to do at home. get your AR or M16 and go outside right now and fire a 20 shot group at 100m. if you can cover the group with your thumb then we will talk, because i can do that with my obsolete and antiquated Mauser. hell back it up to 50m and try it. ill wait. and if you ever get a chance, take that 5.56 to 1,000m and tell me how well it does.
and b4 you call BS on me, here is a picture of my group..
Attachment 221365
and a bunch of moron drunks in the woods with their 30-06, who groups get worse and worse the more beers they get in them using cheap ammo is not an accurate assessment of the capability of civilians. im by no means a great shot, there are people i know who make me look like and idiot child as with accuracy.. just because you or your drunk buddies can't hit the side of a barn from inside the barn proves nothing.
but show me this super accurate 5.56 hits on clay pigeon at 200m rapid fire exercise that you speak of. video or pictures or it never happened.
the "Bolt guns are hunting guns and do a fine job of shooting something that doesn't shoot back." tell that to Carlos Hathcock.. he more or less had a modified 30-06 bolt action and went up against guys with AK47, SKS, and full auto ****, and got over 100 confirmed kills. he would not say that bolt action was garbage.
but the reason that a lot of snipers in the middle east are using the M110 7.62x51mm is that everything is urbanized and multiple targets arise at the same time. hell even "The Devil of Ramadi", Chris Kyle used the bolt action, against guys with RPGs, RPK, AK47 and 74s, and did quiet well. became one of the deadliest guys on the planet. because of tactics. it all comes down to tactics and training. you never see the snipers bouncing around in the open trying to spend as many rounds as possible as you see with the AR guys, it is one shot, one kill. there are many ways of concealing oneself during sniper operations. that might be from inside a room shooting through a keyhole, or shooting through a gap created by buildings.. or between trees from deep inside the woods. but if the bolt gun was so dam worthless in combat, how is it that a single guy with a bolt gun can rack up so many kills on guys with the wonderful semi automatics?
but this is how it usually goes with the spray and pray morons when they go up against a sniper.. i laugh at this video..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soWjZgEpReI
here is another..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN8EXUgNJpk
how many rounds did the moron fire and still got taken out by one round? rapid fire accounted for nothing. but it takes a totally different thought process to use the bolt action effectively.. you can not go rushing people. but it is the old fight that has raged on for over a century between the regular grunt who waste thousands of rounds per kill and the sniper.. everyone poos on the sniper and the bolt action rifle he carries, but who do they call on for effective direct long range fire when pinned down by another sniper? why even have snipers if the bolt action is so dam ineffective against guys with AR and AK47s? because they are effective..
but as for "the bolt gun is not useful in combat anymore". i think that has been proven to be 100% Grade-A grass fed and pasture raised BS..
and no. you will not learn in 8 weeks. i myself have been shooting since i was 6yr old. started with a Daisy lever action in the hallway of house and worked to 22cal at 8 and then worked up the older i got. but ill tell you right now, you need to learn about bolt action rifles and how snipers operate b4 poo pooing on them.
recommended reading is FM 23-10.