A bolt action is more accurate in my oppion. Hard to explain why but i can shot a lot better with a bolt than i can a semi-auto. But maybe it depends on the shooter. I like a bolt action though. And it would have to be more reliable than a semi due to teh simple fact that a semi could jam on occasicion. But i dont personally own a high power semi-auto. Just a .22 semi but every once in a blue moon it will jam while target shooting. It easy to fix but you could end up missing somehting big when out hunting. I put my trust in a bolt