How to reload a big game rifle

[charleslabounty]

I have shot my bolt action .22lr in a few local Steel Challenge matches.
I bought a Ruger American 22 bolt action because it takes the 30 round magazines so I could shoot in the match. I use a low power scope.
And I do this for the purpose of burning in muscle memory to reload and get back on target as fast as possible.
I get some snickers and some "why" questions, so I explain, that I hunt with a BA and regular scope. I usually finish about in the middle overall.
Semi-auto jams and center fire pistol misses at the longer shots help push me up in the scores. I just did the math on the last match I shot in and it works out to 1.2 seconds a plate. Fun fun fun.
I know it is not the same as shooting a big gun as fast as I can, but I can not handle more that 3 quick shots with the -06, if that.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

As you pointed out..practice , practice and more practice..that is the only way a hunter will operate his rifle under hunting conditions flawlessly...

 

[Royal27]

I have shot my bolt action .22lr in a few local Steel Challenge matches.
I bought a Ruger American 22 bolt action because it takes the 30 round magazines so I could shoot in the match. I use a low power scope.
And I do this for the purpose of burning in muscle memory to reload and get back on target as fast as possible.
I get some snickers and some "why" questions, so I explain, that I hunt with a BA and regular scope. I usually finish about in the middle overall.
Semi-auto jams and center fire pistol misses at the longer shots help push me up in the scores. I just did the math on the last match I shot in and it works out to 1.2 seconds a plate. Fun fun fun.
I know it is not the same as shooting a big gun as fast as I can, but I can not handle more that 3 quick shots with the -06, if that.

Agree - practice practice practice!

The SEAL I quoted earlier in this thread told me a story about living somewhere that he couldn't shoot much and he was training for a contest with an M14.

He did almost all of his practice dryfire, and had his wife pull the bolt back quickly after each shot (how he talked her into that I have no idea). He won the contest and it was one of his highest scores ever.

Muscle memory!

 

[Pheroze]

I did some re-loading for the .458 Mannlicher Schoenauer , I used gas checked cast bullets , 520 gn , S335 ,67 gn that will give me around 1900 f/s..the cartridge over all length is 83.2 mm , this will be a nice load to shoot in these practice conditions...these rounds feed extremely smooth through the rotary action of the rifle. I did some adjustments on the ghost ring aperture as well and will do some fine tuning tomorrow at the farm when shooting a few rounds to zero the ghost ring at 50 meters.

A few photos of the rotary magazine of the .458 Mannlicher Schoenauer:

That rotary mag with the controlled round feed is really a very cool combination....very nice indeed

 

[lcq]

I heard back from Dog, who is a former SEAL and runs the SAAM school at FTW. He's graciously given me permission to post his response. I'm personally going to keep the rifle shouldered. It just makes more sense to me.


Royal,

Good to hear from you. Sorry for the delay. Actually view video several days ago but have been running and gunning here at the FTW. Tim is hunting out of country so I’m instructing and holding down the fort with other issue that always arise on a 12,000 acre ranch.

Certainly what he is showing is a valid way (A-Way) to approach the problem. Everything in shooting has it’s Pro’s & Con’s. What he is saying about running the bolt is exactly what we put out. Very distinct bolt operating. Up, Back, forward, down for Magnums.

As far as his shooting technique, everything he says is a Pro other than dropping the gun out of the pocket of the shoulder. The Con (Time to Back UP), mainly because you have to remount the gun which is going to be slower than if the gun remains in the shoulder. We have many clients that cannot load their rifles from the shouldered position so they do have to drop the gun down to the same position as the PH is describing to get leverage on the action.

Keep in mind that we stress to stay on the gun so our shooters are not disengaging from their primary role and that is to get their animal on the ground. The Guide/PH primary job is to provide protection to their hunting party and back up the hunter as required. We have ton’s of video’s of hunters engaging their target and not following up their shots. At the point of firing your first shot, no technique will cover all the variables that may arise.

The PRO, if we can do everything he said and back up our owe shots faster then his technique that would be better, yes? So what’s the common ground, the technique we are teaching is with both eyes open so you have a clear fields of view, additional you do not have to take the gun out of your shoulder to view the threat around you just slightly lower the barrel and view over the scope or in the case of big bores with the barrel in a slight higher position from the line of sight (After firing) you can clearly see over the scope and barrel, run the bolt with the receiver in the “Work Space” viewing next round entering the chamber (especially after clearing a jam) and stay in the fight.

Hope this helps, Tim gets back I’m pretty sure he would agree but we can ask for his input. Thanks , Dog…….Keep on Training

unless of course you are one of those freaks of nature (like me) who shoot left but just can't get used to a lefty bolt. My wife is French and she refers to us as la race du diable (sp). The devils spawn literally translated

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I know this discussion revolves around fast recycling of a dangerous game rifle bolt as well as accurate shot placement when hunting a dangerous game animal....in putting this scenario in perspective I was contemplating the following :
With a PH as a back up on these hunts..do the hunter really needs to be competent with his rifle? The first shot will always be shot from a "safe position" where all factors are in favour of the hunter and PH who determined these factors.
Is it still relevant for the hunter to be able to cycle and fast shooting his rifle as accurate as possible?

 

[IvW]

I know this discussion revolves around fast recycling of a dangerous game rifle bolt as well as accurate shot placement when hunting a dangerous game animal....in putting this scenario in perspective I was contemplating the following :
With a PH as a back up on these hunts..do the hunter really needs to be competent with his rifle? The first shot will always be shot from a "safe position" where all factors are in favour of the hunter and PH who determined these factors.
Is it still relevant for the hunter to be able to cycle and fast shooting his rifle as accurate as possible?

The client needs to be proficient with re-loading his rifle.(Many fail to even attempt reloading their rifle after the first shot! and only do so when prompted by the PH)) He also needs to have sorted out any issues that may be present with his rifle, loading, feeding, loose scope etc..Too many times I have seen clients arrive with a "New" rifle and they are not proficient with it due to lack of practice before hand or some issue arises with the rifle. Talk about a confidence dumper. Most important the client needs to make sure the first shot goes where it is intended to, then there is no need for high speed reloading!

The PH on the other hand needs to be 110% on his game when it gets to follow up, backup and re loading time.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Excellent, so this theme will be relevant every time you pick up a rifle to hunt, specifically to hunt Dangerous game...

 

[Philip Glass]

Or short stroke issues could come to very well prepared lifetime hunters who were certain they're going to be eaten if they don't fire again?
I did great on my lion and croc by staying in the scope and reloading and in the case of the croc emptying the gun on him perfectly. On The lion my muzzle brake was full of water and I could not see for the thankfully unneeded follow up. Those were both blind hunts. The leopard was a different story.
But agreed...practice, practice,practice!
Regards,
Philip

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Philip, as you mentioned, keep shooting at a target like a crocodile seems all important to keep it anchored and not let it get to the water..that sure needs some fast accurate shooting and even flawless cycling of the bolt...

I did manage to zero my .458 Mannlicher Ghost ring ...I noticed the ghost ring ran out of adjustment and instead of making another longer dovetail post for the ghost ring I fitted a lower front bead..now it zero in the centre of the target at 25 meters and will definitely zero at 50 meters since I am shooting heavy cast bullets now..the .458 Mannlicher Schoenauer really is a sweet shooting rifle and handles extremely fast , it really is a pleasure to shoot this rifle...it really is remarkable that such a light rifle does not have a heavy recoil... I will do some bolt cycling practices tomorrow using the dummy rounds with dead primers, it will afford me the opportunity to get some trigger control practice as well...if I get the hang of it , I will upload a video ...

 

[Ole Bally]

I'd love to see some videos! I just can't get my mind around dismounting to reload due to the extra time alone. The only advantage at all seems to be to see other potential targets, but as a client I don't think other targets should be my primary concern. Only THE target should be.



Helps to prove my initial point. Practice practice practice. I bet that 99.5% of all short stroke issues are due to lack of preparation and nothing else.

My wife gets so mad at me for sending snap caps flying across the room before a hunt, but I do it every day for at least a couple of months before a hunt. I want the reload to be as automatic as breathing.

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1000431559983236?view=permalink&id=1859278424098541
This is how we teach it and here its done very well by a young PH!

 

[Royal27]

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1000431559983236?view=permalink&id=1859278424098541
This is how we teach it and here its done very well by a young PH!

Couldn't view it?