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.

Acquisition

Bolt-action rifles can be purchased from outlander 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%

Bolt-action rifles can also be crafted at a machining table once the gunsmithing research has been completed; from 60 steel, 3 components and 12,000 ticks (3.33 mins) of work. A crafting skill of at least 5 is required.

A bolt-action rifle is also one of the three starting weapons in the standard crashlanded scenario, along with a plasteel knife and a revolver.

Analysis

The bolt-action rifle has the second highest overall accuracy out of all non-explosive ranged weapons in the game; marginally ahead of the charge lance and slightly behind the pump shotgun. On top of that, this weapon has a very good maximum range as well as a decent per-shot damage amount and armor penetration. Stopping power is also high enough to stagger not only humans, but also slightly larger targets such as cougars and all insectoids.

However, the bolt-action rifle's damage output at shorter distances leaves a fair bit to be desired due to its weaker close-up accuracy, easily being outclassed at those distances by weapons such as the revolver - larger burst-fire weapons will also generally outclass the bolt-action rifle in this aspect. The aforementioned poor close-up accuracy also means that the bolt-action rifle needs a competent shooter in order to be used effectively.

All things considered, the bolt-action rifle's most suited for field engagements (e.g. attacking siege camps) or as a general support weapon, both use cases due to its stopping power being able to slow down incoming melee or shorter-ranged ranged units combined with its range. As its description states, the bolt-action rifle is an excellent hunting weapon due to its respectable per-shot damage and long range, only being outdone by the sniper rifle and charge lance in this regard.

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.

Melee Combat

Tool	Attack	Damage Type	Power	AP	Cooldown	Likelihood	Base DPS
Overall	-	-	9	13%	2.00s	-	4.50
Stock	Blunt	Blunt	9	13%	2.00s	50.00%	4.50
Barrel	Blunt	Blunt	9	13%	2.00s	25.00%	4.50
Barrel	Poke	Blunt	9	13%	2.00s	25.00%	4.50

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
Charge Lance	46.25%	46.65%	43.78%	45.78%	49.60%	50.42%	-
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%	-	-
Greatbow	64.67%	62.55%	59.92%	66.67%	72.30%	-	-

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
Charge Lance	37.68%	34.93%	34.10%	37.64%	41.52%	42.21%	-
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%	-	-
Greatbow	67.16%	67.46%	66.20%	70.27%	75.64%	-	-

Graphs

The graphs assume a normal quality bolt-action rifle against an adult human that's out in the open in clear weather. For DPS, projectile speed has also been factored into the equation, with the weighting based on the base amount of attacks that it'll take to put the aforementioned target into pain shock.

Version history

The first texture of the bolt-action/survival rifle.

Before A16 it used to be called the Survival rifle.

Its accuracy was nerfed in 1.0. Prior to that, it was the most accurate weapon in-game, capable of reaching 100% accuracy at all ranges above Masterwork quality.

Weapons