First issue: there are some autoloaders that are just as accurate as some bolt actions.

Yes, of course. And there are some very accurate lever actions, too. But I' m pretty sure that as long as you guys were being really honest, if I told you ' bet your life on which gun is more accurate' and showed you a bolt and a semiauto side-by-side, as long as the bolt wasn' t a piece of crap, and as long as the semiauto wasn' t a $5000 gun, you' d take the bolt. That' s what I' m saying, in general. In general, two guns of similar quality will produce better accuracy in the bolt action.

The guys who say ' you just have to take really good care of it, and it won' t jam' :

Yes, of course. But that' s a lot more effort than a bolt. If you had to take one of two guns with you, and you knew that for two weeks you' d be away from cleaning supplies, etc, and in harsh conditions, which would you trust more - a standard semi, or a standard bolt? Taking all emotion and knowledge of specific guns out of the equation, a bolt is generally more predictable and more dependable.