Bolt-action rifle

The bolt-action rifle is a moderately heavy, single-shot firearm in RimWorld which deals a slightly higher amount of damage per shot; moderate time between shots; long range and very high overall accuracy.

The bolt-action rifle will deteriorate when left outdoors, under the usual conditions.

Acquisition

Bolt-action rifles can be crafted at a Machining table once the Gunsmithing research project has been completed. They require 60 Steel, 3 Components, 12,000 ticks (3.33 mins) of work, and a Crafting skill of 5.

Bolt-action rifles can be purchased from outlanders and orbital combat suppliers, or obtained from the following raider kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Scavenger Gunner	11.67%	Normal	40-110%
Pirate Gunner	22.61%	Normal	70-230%
Town Guard	18.63%	Normal	60-200%
Mercenary Gunner	12.17%	Normal	70-320%
Ancient Soldier	10.28%	Normal	100%

A single example is also given at the beginning with Crashlanded scenario.

Analysis

With a range of 36.9 tiles, the bolt-action rifle has extremely good range - the 2nd highest in the game, only beaten by an actual sniper rifle. It also has great accuracy, even beating the charge lance. Only the pump shotgun has a higher average accuracy, and it only has a range of 16 tiles. The bolt-action rifle is also able to stagger humans, cougars, and all insectoids. This makes it great as a hunting weapon, for field engagements (e.g. attacking siege camps), or as a general support weapon.

However, the bolt-action rifle performs poorly in close ranges. In close quarters, it is easily outclassed by by the likes of the revolver and autopistol, let alone any sort of burst-fire weapon.

Because this gun is most effective at a distance, a competent shooter is required to get the most use out of it. This is because a pawn's own Shooting Accuracy, which is in part dependent on Shooting skill, is more important when the target is further away. For example, a baseline Shooting 0 pawn has a ×3% multiplier on their real chance to hit a target 30 tiles away, regardless of the weapon used. A Shooting 8 pawn has ×29% multiplier from the same distance. With Shooting 0, it wouldn't matter if their gun had 10% accuracy or 80% accuracy, they'd struggle with hitting anything from 30 tiles.

Stats

Against an unarmored human, a bolt-action rifle can kill with 3 hits to the torso, 2 hits to the head or neck, or 1 hit to the brain; cripple or destroy limbs in 2 hits; and destroy eyes and digits with a single hit. It'll generally take around 4 hits (~15.9 seconds average) to incapacitate that human from pain shock.

Overall, the bolt-action rifle is best paired with a careful shooter up to level 13, then with a trigger-happy shooter beyond that point.

Attack table

Ranged

Bolt-action rifle			Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
Quality	Dam.	AP	Accuracy (Touch)	Accuracy (Short)	Accuracy (Medium)	Accuracy (Long)	DPS (Optimal)	DPS (Touch)	DPS (Short)	DPS (Medium)	DPS (Long)	Market value
Awful	16.2	24.3%	52%	64%	72%	64%	5.07	2.63	3.24	3.65	3.24	128
Poor	18	27%	58.5%	72%	81%	72%	5.63	3.32	4.05	4.56	4.05	191
Normal	18	27%	65%	80%	90%	80%	5.63	3.66	4.5	5.07	4.5	255
Good	18	27%	71.5%	88%	99%	88%	5.63	4.05	4.95	5.57	4.95	320
Excellent	18	27%	78%	96%	100%	96%	5.63	4.39	5.4	5.63	5.4	380
Masterwork	22.5	33.75%	87.75%	100%	100%	100%	7.04	6.19	7.04	7.04	7.04	635
Legendary	27	40.5%	97.5%	100%	100%	100%	8.45	8.28	8.45	8.45	8.45	1275

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality. Values shown in Red indicate the weapon is out of range at the reference point for this range band. The value is provided due to the interpolated nature of accuracy between range points.}

Melee

Feature	Toggle
Attacks

Bolt-action rifle			Stock (Blunt)					Barrel (Blunt)					Barrel (Poke)					Human: Left & rigth fist (Blunt)					HP	Value
Quality	DPS^[1]	AP^[1]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	Dam.	Cool.	AP	DPS	Chance^[2]	HP	Value
Awful	3.98	11.6%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	7.2	2s	10.4%	3.6	8.33%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 37.5%	100	128
Poor	4.07	11.82%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.1	2s	11.7%	4.05	20%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 20%	100	191
Normal	4.4	12.75%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	9	2s	13%	4.5	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	255
Good	4.74	13.73%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	9.9	2s	14.3%	4.95	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	320
Excellent	5.08	14.7%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	10.8	2s	15.6%	5.4	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	380
Masterwork	5.92	17.14%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	13.05	2s	18.85%	6.53	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	635
Legendary	6.59	19.09%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	14.85	2s	21.45%	7.43	25%	8.2	2s	12%	4.1	2× 12.5%	100	1275

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality.}

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Note: This is the actual base average derived from the melee verb system updated in 1.1.2610, it may sometimes disagree with the listed value in the in-game infobox.
It may also change depending on the stats and the melee verbs available to the wielder if the weapon is wielded by some other than a baseline human.
↑ Chance for attack to be selected, assuming the weapon is wielded by a baseline human. It may change depending on the melee verbs available to the wielder

Bolt-action rifle vs. comparable weapons

This section goes over how well the bolt-action rifle fares against comparable weapons (similar value, tech level or similar characteristics) in 1 vs. 1 combat.

Methodology

All testing is semi-automated which allows for large sample sizes to be gathered per set of results with ease
All pawns have skill levels of 14 in ranged and melee
No pawns have any traits that affect combat performance
All pawns are of at least 18 years of age and completely healthy
Pawns are divided by walls to prevent stray shots from skewing results in any way
Weather is always kept clear
No cover is used for either team

Results in the tables below are the percentages of battles that bolt-action rifles either won or tied against the weapon listed in the first column of said tables, with a sample size of 2,000 battles per result. Higher percentages are better.

Unarmored

For the unarmored testing, all pawns wore normal quality plainleather pants, plainleather button-down shirts, plainleather dusters and plainleather cowboy hats.

Other Weapon	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Sniper Rifle	72.94%	73.11%	70.76%	67.98%	64.76%	63.01%	-
Assault Rifle	14.70%	13.75%	14.55%	20.45%	27.29%	-	-
Revolver	25.94%	35.20%	44.38%	58.87%	79.46%	-	-

Armored

For the armored testing, all pawns wore normal quality flak pants, flak vests, plainleather button-down shirts, flak jackets and steel simple helmets.

Other Weapon	3	7	12	18	25	32	40
Sniper Rifle	73.07%	70.27%	68.81%	64.03%	61.41%	59.91%	-
Assault Rifle	20.85%	23.55%	22.40%	27.77%	32.62%	-	-
Revolver	32.68%	40.00%	48.04%	64.51%	81.97%	-	-

Version history

Approximately A9 - Renamed from Lee-Enfield to Survival rifle.
A16 - Renamed from Survival rifle to Bolt-action rifle
Beta 19/1.0 - Barrel melee attack damage reduced 10 -> 9, cooldown increased from 1.9s -> 2s. Stock cooldown increased from 1.8 -> 2.
1.0 - Accuracy was nerfed in Prior to that, it was the most accurate weapon in-game, capable of reaching 100% accuracy at all ranges above Masterwork quality.