CRF vs Push feed

[winnie_the_pooh]

I hope I do not get flamed for this

There is a lot of debate online about the demerits of a push feed for a dangerous game rifle,mainly on American forums.A huge number of American shooters who post videos online seem to be shooting from the bench,carefully ejecting the empties to reload later on.

Is it possible that shooting from the bench and working the action slowly develops muscle memory which later on can get them into trouble when they are using push a feed rifle on a hunt i.e. their habit of pulling back the bolt slowly to the rear does not allow them to form the habit of working the bolt vigorously to eject the empties therefore creating the possibility of the hunter short stroking the rifle leading to double feeds and jams when using a push feed rifle ?

[TwoRivers]

"Short stroking" means not closing the bolt fully on a cartridge, and then trying to load a second cartridge behind the first one. Just about all the modern "push feed" designs have a spring-loaded ejector in the bolt face, thus ejection is automatic as soon as the cartridge clears the port, regardless of how fast, or slowly, the bolt is drawn back. The disadvantage here being that the shooter may push the bolt forward again as soon as the empty is ejected, but before it has travelled back far enough to pick up the next cartridge, thus closing the bolt on an empty chamber.

Yes to your second paragraph.

[Kittu]

I agree with our senior member Tworivers.

[timmy]

I wonder: Do hunters with lever action rifles fail to close the action completely? What about pump action users? What about those of us who shoot single shots? Is there a problem of not pushing the loaded round fully into the chamber before closing the action? Hmmm!

I also wonder: If someone is going on a hunt, is it their assumption that just firing a few rounds from off of the bench is sufficient to ready them for hunting? Would it not be more sensible, when reading for a hunt, to shoot a few from the bench to sight the rifle in, and then spend one's range time shooting offhand, kneeling, and, perhaps, sitting?

Somehow, in all of the talk and ink expended on this subject, there must be only a small minority of people who are plagued by this, or even who are susceptible to it.

[miroflex]

I wonder: Do hunters with lever action rifles fail to close the action completely? What about pump action users? What about those of us who shoot single shots? Is there a problem of not pushing the loaded round fully into the chamber before closing the action? Hmmm!

I also wonder: If someone is going on a hunt, is it their assumption that just firing a few rounds from off of the bench is sufficient to ready them for hunting? Would it not be more sensible, when reading for a hunt, to shoot a few from the bench to sight the rifle in, and then spend one's range time shooting offhand, kneeling, and, perhaps, sitting?

Somehow, in all of the talk and ink expended on this subject, there must be only a small minority of people who are plagued by this, or even who are susceptible to it.

Hello Timmy,

Surely you mean open the action completely on a lever action rifle. This can easily happen if one is firing from an awkward or prone postition which restricts arm movement. Many rifles,including the Model 1895 Winchester, have a long and awkward throw of the lever.

I quite agree that when preparing for a hunt it is appropriate to practice from a variety of positions one may have to shoot from in the field.

[xl_target]

This can easily happen if one is firing from an awkward or prone postition which restricts arm movement. Many rifles,including the Model 1895 Winchester, have a long and awkward throw of the lever.

I don't mean any disrespect but have you ever done this? Do you know people who do this on a regular basis? If not it just conjecture, isn't it?
It is possible for me to drive my family sedan in competition with the "stock" cars out there, during the Indy 500 race, but it doesn't really happen. I've fired a few lever action rifles and a few bolt action rifles and have never done this. Millions of soldiers, on all sides, in the last century have used bolt action rifles and this doesn't seem to be a common problem. If it was, I'm sure we would have heard quite a bit about it. Millions of hunters have used some kind of repeating rifle, many against dangerous game and the score still has been overwhelmingly in the favor of the rifle armed hunter. Similarly thousands of settlers and hunters on the American continent have used lever action rifles and this really isn't a common complaint about this type of action.

When bench shooting every shooter is concius for his brass(case) so he can reload and shoot again.If a bench shooter is in hunt game then his habbits of soft ejecting or ejecting at lower speed can be cause of loose his hunt.

Ashokgadora, I do not mean to belittle the experiences of Two Rivers, whose experience with guns is vast compared to mine. I'm willing to bet that with all his experience, he hasn't done that many times either. I think he was explaining the term "short stroking" and that it is possible but is not an every day occurrence. Do you know a lot of people who regularly short stroke their actions while hunting because they spend a lot of time on the bench?

Winnie, when actually hunting, I tend to concentrate on the game and don't think about the mechanics of loading another cartridge into the chamber. It is perfectly natural then to run the bolt, the lever or the pump back and forth to its mechanical stops when actuating the action.

[timmy]

I shot my M1895 Winchester .30-40 a fair amount, but do recognize that many have much greater experience than me.

But, no, it didn't happen to me.

And BTW, I did mean "close" in my previous post, just like I wrote.