Why so few pump-action rifles?

[peterb]

From the "Levergun Insanity" thread:

"You can run a Remington 870 as hard as you want (I run right around 1/4 second splits with one) and it will put up with a whole lot of that and eventually it will break something that you have to repair. You run a lever gun too hard once and that thing immediately stops working." (TCinVA)

Given the popularity and durability of pump-action shotguns in the US, why have there been no successful pump-action rifles other than the gallery .22s? The Remington 760 and 7600 never seem to have gained a following.

[shootist26]

difficulty in shooting prone maybe? I don't know. I've always been weirdly fascinated by the Remington 7615 Police. Apparently its a very popular rifle in Australia due to the semi auto ban

[Coyotesfan97]

My Dad had a 760 in 30-06 when I was in my teens. It had no buttpad other than the metal plate. It was not a pleasant gun to shoot. I just looked up stats and it probably weighed seven pounds. My recollection was it was lighter.

[Welder]

I've always heard great things about the 760's accuracy. I've sorta wanted one, probably a carbine and definitely in one of the original long-action calibers, for quite awhile. I guess I can't find a spot in my mind for where I'd need something faster than a Mauser-style turnbolt but slower than a semi-auto. But still I scan the pawn shop shelves for that beater 760.

[SecondsCount]

Because there are bolt actions available

[Mark D]

One issue with center-fire pump action rifles is the tubular magazine. In traditional tubular magazines, the point of the bullet sits directly against the primer of the next round. This creates the potential for an unintended detonation in the magazine. This is not much of a problem if the bullet is rounded (say a 30-30), but it's more of a problem with "pointy" bullets like a 5.56, etc. This limits the calibers that can be used.

Remington addressed the mag issue by adding an ingenious "corkscrew" feature in the tubular mag of the Remington 30 rifle.

Additional problems with bump action rifles: it's slow and awkward to reload a tubular mag, compared to a box mag. And shooting from a prone position is challenging, as noted by @shootist26.

I'm not a military historian, but I suspect that in the late 1800's and early 1900's most militaries decided bolt action rifles were superior, and that in turn influenced subsequent sporting rifles. (Up until semi-automatic rifles became dominant).

[GJM]

I had a Remington .06 pump, tarted up by Jim Brockman. Good to 100, but out further they just didn't group well enough to support the cartridge.

I have found Marlin .45-70 levers guns to be very durable.

[JRB]

Shotguns needed to work with a much larger variety of ammo in significantly different power factors, which made good semiauto development stall for decades compared to rifles shooting a SAAMI cartridge. So pump actions ruled as a fast manual action that works well with the big round flat low pressure shotgun cartridges we use in shotguns. That design got refined and well sorted over decades of widespread institutional use. IMHO, the Remington 870 is basically the Mauser action of pump action shotguns as a result and why the 870 continues to be the gold standard for pump actions.

Rifles, using spitzer bullets in cartridges with higher pressures meant box magazines and bolt actions filled that need. A lot of that I suspect was purely out of the sheer endurance and flexibility of the Mauser and similar bolt action designs.
The only real motivation I see for a pump action rifle is when you want a semiauto but can't due to local laws, or you're a handloader or otherwise want to feed that rifle a myriad of different ammo and don't want to fuss with making it work as a semiauto - or you want to run mouse fart light loads that can't cycle an action but want it to cycle rapidly, as seen in the gallery guns of days gone by.

Regardless, the Troy AR-based PAR lineup is a good fit for that niche while keeping modern ergos and compatibility with modern accessories, optics, etc, as is the already-mentioned 7615.

[Crazy Dane]

Taurus had the Thunderbolt and Uberti had the Lightening in pistol calibers for a while but neither list them in their catalogs now. I had the Taurus in .45LC and it was a steaming pile of bad and I traded it off. I always wanted an Uberti but never found one that met my wants in one.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Model 7600P Patrol Rifle[6]
Introduced in 2002, the Model 7600P Patrol Rifle in .308 Win featuring an advanced sight system. Answering the call for a low profile, user-friendly patrol rifle, Remington now offers this durable, pump-action rifle for standard duty use.[6] It features a black synthetic stock with sling studs and Wilson Combat ghost-ring rear sights.[4]

Model 7615 Police Patrol Rifle[7]
The Model 7615P comes in .223 Remington caliber, uses standard M16/AR-15 style STANAG magazines and has a 16½" barrel. Just like the Model 7600P, the Model 7615P is designed to be a low-profile, user-friendly firearm for police officers to use alongside the Remington Model 870 shotgun.[7]

Wiki - here's something interesting. One rationale for the gun was to avoid the ugly looking assault appearance of the AR pattern. They offended the populace and some city officials as being intimidating, showing the militarization of the police, etc. However, incidents suggested a long arm was needed. So, it was easy to use and low profile as officers were familiar with the 870s and could transition. The AR being too complicated to learn. Never really took off. The complaint about evil EBRs for police is muted nowadays (not for the general public though from some quarters. Why do you need gun with a hundred rounds for a deer - SOTU).

Same appearance rationale and easy usage contributed to the Beretta Storms and the Ruger PC9s. The North Hollywood shootout put a damper on those. On gun rag, trying to promote the Ruger, said well - it would make head and leg shots easier.

Funny that today, the Ruger PCC is a popular gun again. It's a fun gun and not useless unless the body armor brigade attacks your home. LOL.

Just some history on the modern fighting pumps in 223.