I can't say for sure as to how things work on a center fire rifle when it comes to bolt action vs auto loader. Mainly because I have never had two guns close to the same with only the action different. As has been posted here there are lots of other things that can account for one gun getting more velocity out of the same round.
I have however shot a lot of rim-fire 22lr. I have a 10/22 and a cz 452 varmint. The barrels on these guns are very close to the same length and I shoot the same ammunition in them. With both guns zeroed at 75 yards the 10/22 drops 8-10 inches more at 200 yards than my bolt action CZ.
This is my thoughts on this and it could be wrong, but the energy that moves the action back and forth has to come from someplace. Now if that energy was just the energy that was otherwise just going to give you more kick then it shouldn't make any difference but if some of that energy was going to be used to propel a projectile then it could make a difference.
I have however shot a lot of rim-fire 22lr. I have a 10/22 and a cz 452 varmint. The barrels on these guns are very close to the same length and I shoot the same ammunition in them. With both guns zeroed at 75 yards the 10/22 drops 8-10 inches more at 200 yards than my bolt action CZ.
This is my thoughts on this and it could be wrong, but the energy that moves the action back and forth has to come from someplace. Now if that energy was just the energy that was otherwise just going to give you more kick then it shouldn't make any difference but if some of that energy was going to be used to propel a projectile then it could make a difference.
