I regards to the original question about what is better studs or bolts, if you want realism you have to do it the way the original was done.
Look up the work of Cherry Hinds on the web or in Model Engineer magazine, she (yes a woman model builder) is one of the best model builders that there ever was and it's all in the details. She doesn't use "close enough" bolts, studs, rivets, nut and other parts, she makes her own to the proper scale along with the rest of the models that are near perfection. That's why she has won so many awards for her work, her models just looks more like the prototype .
As for studs, old equipment studs didn't have threads in the middle, I don't know if it was for strength or just to eliminate extra work or something else, and the ends of the studs need to be finish properly usually with a radius, called a Higby end I believe, look it up on the web. Nuts aren't just a bit of hex bar cut off and threaded, they need to be as close to scale size as possible, the right thickness and finished like the real thing (proper period look which can be a square nut not necessarily a hex and rounded over or chamfered if applicable). You can't model nuts on modern types, they may not be the same.