Loading a Single Round into a Bolt-Action Rifle
Having watched movies like "Sergeant York" and "Enemy at the Gates" which feature bolt-action military rifles like the Eddystone Enfield, Mauser and the butt-ugly Mosin-Nagant, I've sometimes wondered: what is the preferred way to load a single cartridge into a bolt-action rifle? The reason I bring this up is that, in discussing "Sergeant York" with some friends at my preferred gun store, I told them that Gary Cooper (Alvin York) simply pushed the cartridge in and shut the bolt. One person shook his head and said that wasn't a very good thing to do---to load a single, you should press the cartridge down into the magazine on top of the follower so it "catches", just like you were going to load it up full---THEN close the bolt. His opinion was that simply slipping the cartridge in loose and closing the bolt wasn't the best thing in the world for the extractor claw, or something to that effect. Me, personally, I've developed the habit of loading singles like he told me to...But having closed the bolt slowly to see what happens to the cartridge, I can't help but wonder: does it REALLY matter? It seems to me that the bolt simply shoves the cartridge into the chamber from behind as you close it, and the action on the cartridge would be the same no matter HOW you positioned it to begin with. Six of one, half a dozen of another?
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If time and conditions permit, by all means push the round into the mag and save some ejector wear (which would be minimal anyway). In a situation such as York was in, its all about getting cartridges in as quick as possible, ejector wear or not.[;)] 0 -
Magazine fed firearms are designed to be loaded via the magazine and not by simply shoving the cartridge into the chamber. Even single shot match rifles are not loaded like that; you place the cartridge in the action ahead of the bolt and then close the bolt, this allows the bolt to push the cartridge into the chamber. One of my 300 meter target rifles: a Steyr Match, is normally fed from a five round rotary magazine. If you wish to single load the rifle you are provided by the factory with a single shot adaptor which you install in one of the magazines. With this adaptor in place you simply drop the round on top of the adaptor and then close the bolt- you don't shove the round into the chamber and then close the bolt- this will over stress the extractor and lead to eventual failure. Doing this once or twice won't hurt much, doing this repeatedly over the course of several matches could lead to problems and no one in serious competition will take any extra risks with their equipment- there is more than enough to go wrong already. These are just my opinions and others will no doubt feel differently.
Mark T. Christian0 -
First of all : READ THE MANUAL !!
Some makes and models do need to be feed from the magazine.
The Steyr Mannlicher - Scout .308Win I had a little while back, didn't care wether it was one round or a magazine of rounds that was being loaded.
The Scout have two regular magazines, double-stacked. In either 5 shot or 10 shot capacity.
To load one cartridge at a time in the Steyr Scout - You simply had to move the mag. down a notch. That would allow for loading of single rounds, also if you didn't want to chamber the next cartridge - just move the mag. down one notch.
It's all in the build of the bolt.
Some bolts are made, so the cartridge is slid upwards by the magazine - seating it in the head of the bolt in a tight grip that allows the bolt to retract the empty casing after the shot.
Other bolts are made in similar ways, but have a more movable grip - that allows it to move outwards, slipping outside the casing and then grapping the casing - that is if the cartridge is not slid into the grip with help from the magazine.
I have seen many new rifles that doesn't chamber the round fully, if the cartridge is not placed properly in the magazine.
I have seen rifles that are hard to close, if rounds are put in front of the bolt and attempts are made to close the bolt.
So - Read the manual, know your weapon.
Don't believe everything you see in movies.
Some movieweapons are altered slightly, to make an incredible moviesequence ot something fancy.
Like Schwarzenegger and his "Rotating the lever-action 12 gauge shotgun around in the air - reloading the weapon".
That took three cameraangles and three different weapons to make the reloadsequence - so they told in a documentary about moviemaking.
Happy shootin' by the way. =o)
Don't do anything that I've allready done - That'd be just plain STOOOOOOPID.0 -
Depends on the gun. I don't see any problem with single loading Mosin Nagants, Krags, really any rimmed cartridge. Rimless I find more difficult, often simply refusing to shut. It depends if the bolt just knocks the cartridge foward or holds it snug as it comes off the magazine.
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf0 -
Never gave it much thought...I usually only fire about every 4-6 minutes, anyway...If the bolt don't close-don't shoot that ammo.
If you know it all; you must have been listening.WEAR EAR PROTECTION!0 -
This is one of the problems with the Mauser controlled feeding system. Unless the extractor is modified, you can not close the bolt on a cartridge dropped into the chamber. The cartridge must be fed from the magazine. 0 -
I have ALWAYS dropped a round directly into the chamber on all of my Remington 700's, I've only had most of them for under 10 years, but that is still a fair amount of shooting for a regular hunter. If you think about it, it is a requirement for those sporting arms with a hidden box magazine if you want to have a full magazine and still have one in the chamber... Also, I have several BDL's with detachable magazines and they just aren't convenient to load for sighting-in, so I completely remove the magazine and I can insert the cartridge from underneath easier than I can under my scope. It took a little practice, but now I even do it in the field if I've exhausted all my shots and need another.
It doesn't matter what you shoot, just shoot it well...0 -
According to a Wichester Model 70 Owners Manual good for controlled and push feed says
With the magazine loaded to capacity, an additional cartridge may be placed directly into the chamber only when you are ready to fire. This is done by opening the action, inserting a round in the chamber, and pressing down on the top cartridge in the magazine as the bolt is closed.
They should know.
Rockton0 -
quote:Originally posted by Iroquois Scout
This is one of the problems with the Mauser controlled feeding system. Unless the extractor is modified, you can not close the bolt on a cartridge dropped into the chamber. The cartridge must be fed from the magazine.
No mod's needed, with the fingers of your left hand squeeze (press) the extractor bow into the bolt body while your right hand finishes closing the bolt.
Thats the way Paul Mauser designed it to function, and the way that every army that issued it was trained to use it.
Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.0 -
If the rifle is a push feed system, like the Rem 700 or the older Ruger M77 you can just drop the round into the chamber or on top of the follower and close the bolt. If it is the control round feed system, like the Model 98 Mauser and pre-1964 Win 70, you are supposed to push the round into the mag so that it slips under the extractor claws. You can just close the bolt on a round in the chamber, but it will be harder to close the bolt and it's probably not a good idea to do it all the time since it does cause the extractor to be forced over the rim of the cartridge.
&0 -
Lot of words for 'it depends'. Like Jonk says, it depends on the rifle. It's better to use the mag on a Mauser-like action that has a claw type extractor, but on other actions it doesn't matter.
What happens in movies and tv doesn't count. Most of those firearms are just plastic props, have had their extractors removed or otherwise altered. Some of 'em are gas lighting devices and aren't, um, firearms at all.
Oh and the Mosins are homely, none of 'em are truly ugly, but they work. The ones that came through the store I worked in, were nearly all dead on at 200 yards with no fussing about with the sights. Russian stuff is like that. Homely but it works.0
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