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If you want guarantees, then hunting dangerous game is not for you.

Talking as tho a hit with the second shot must be "guaranteed", shows no appreciation of the benefits of the double. Probably the only certainty that you have, is that there will be the odd occasion where the man with the bolt-gun will not have enough time to get off an accurate second shot AT ALL.

At the ranges under discussion, hits with the first shot say little to nothing about the merits of the action.

Those who say that a double cannot be reloaded quickly have obviously never seen it done by a practiced hand. Just like shooting quickly and accurately, it's a skill that requires practice. But that doesn't mean that it can't be done. Just that you haven't done it.

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Too often when discussing the merits of the bolt over the double or vice versa, we hear that all it takes is practice or that we have not seen it done by a practiced hand and we read of those who shoot countless rounds off the bench or over the sticks in preparation for their dangerous game hunting.
Unfortunately this means very little when placing one in the hunting situation with all the attending distractions such as, heat, the excitement, the fear, the adrenaline, the fatigue, unfamiliarity with the terrain, the PH, the others in the party, etc , etc, and then add in a dangerous animal particularly one that is about to attack.

If it was all that easy with just practice at home to hone your skills for the real thing then our other top sports people would only ever have to practice their running, cycling, swimming, whatever sport they have chosen, in their own back yard or local park and then head off to the Olympics to become a champion. Not in a million years will that happen. They may do some of that to maintain fitness but as we all know it takes competing at real venues with other top sports people in the field, with crowds of spectators, starting guns, all the distractions, all the issues that pop up, at many many meets to hone the skills to be a top exponent of any sport.

Most often when we see a practiced hand demonstrating the fast use of a double or a bolt for that matter on these forums, it is under controlled conditions on a range. More often in Africa we see, or I see(maybe some are a little reluctant to comment in case of upsetting others) a fair amount of fumbling and bumbling in trying to reload firearms and some ineffectual or wasted shots. This is also backed up by honest comments of PHs who have said that there are far more instances of poor handling of firearms in Africa than instances of good handling and some cringe when they see what firearms some hunters arrive with.

If we were to assume that those having the money and fortitude to venture to Africa to hunt are at the top of their game, then we should expect to see a very high percentage of those hunters being exceptional in the handling of their firearms. This does not seem to be the case. Maybe that is because many of them are using firearms with which they are not so familiar with i.e. not the usual type of firearm they use for most of their hunting.

I have used bolt actions all my life on all kinds of hunting, some in other countries as well. I'm left handed and only use right handed rifles. I feel quite at home when using any bolt gun and can operate these without looking and on the run. Hence I would never dream of taking any other type of gun to Africa or Australia on dangerous game.

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