Agree. If a bolt stop is weak, or magazine follower is tipsy on any shot from the magazine stack (especially the last one?), or if a cock on opening rifle is stiff, or the ejector on a Ruger takes a millisecond to deploy and malfunctions if run too fast, it is better to find out ahead of time! Even my Mannlichers are a bit stiff on bolt lift after firing--my Tikka runs faster in that regard. (blasphemy, I know) A video of yourself shooting can show a lot of bungling.
In my extensive experience, rushed shots are more often that not missed shots. Anybody who's done much bird hunting will know what I'm talking about. Skybuster goose hunters with big autos rattling off three shots as fast as possible = maybe one bird falls. A couple years ago an outdoors writer in a pickup on the bird refuge stopped to chat. We were both unhappy with troublemaking refuge LE. I asked if he knew who was hunting down on the dike. "That would be me and my partner." He was a cool guy and we hit it off immediately. He commented on my old A5 and I noticed his older Beretta auto. I smiled and asked why he was firing his first two shots almost simultaneously and then sometimes delaying the final third shot. "Maybe give em a chance to fall." He chuckled. "That's my partner still out hunting with his O/U. I was just cleaning up for him." And how's that working out? He pointed to three roosters on the passenger side foor. His daily limit was filled and he was happy to be out of 0° temp.
Ok I am seriously impressed with the gun smithing here! Looks great!
Do what works best for you.
Exactly. Dry firing is the key, my ratio of dry fire to live fire most likely exceeds 100 to 1.
Who said anything about rushed inaccurate shots? Too many guys drop the rifle and look instead of reloading.
In my life I tried almost all action types and and all bolt types. Magnum length actions, medium length actions, straight pulls, and 60, 70, 90 degrees bolt rotation.
I lower the rifle and reload while I'm still looking at the animal. I can chew gum and walk at the same time.
It isn't; they are mutually exclusive concepts. The short stroke occurs when situational stress overcomes situational training. A non-hunting example (which I will keep simple): In defensive driving, it is taught to apply maximum braking (pedal to the floor with authority) and steer around an obstacle to avoid a crash; the ABS system does the braking for you IF you brake hard enough to activate it. In training scenarios, one can learn to do this. But what happens in the real world is (1) the training is difficult or inconvenient to practice and (2) if an incident occurs, the natural tendency is to finesse the vehicle with light braking such that the ABS never helps and then there's no time to steer, so the driver freezes.
As the two trainers described in the video, short stroking as often as not occurs when a hunter familiar with standard length actions switches to magnum action for dangerous game. Sure, it can happen when cycling standard action but probably switching bolt length is most common cause.
It's been my experience that most who are in a hurry to cycle ammo into their gun for followup shots are usually equally in a hurry to shoot it. I'm sure some highly trained individuals may cycle fast so they can have more time to shoot. Get in a hurry so they don't have to be in a hurry. But I submit speed freaks typically are disinclined to take their foot off the gas, especially in stressful or exciting situations.
I should clarify that CFR jamming because of two cases being simultaneously cycled closed is relatively rare. Most good CFR eject just before the bolt is back far enough to pick up the next cartridge. Usually the worst that can happen is same as push feed short stroking: the bolt closes on an empty chamber but with empty brass on the bolt head. Prematurely closing the bolt on a short stroked large caliber empty case without picking up the next cartridge might do a number on the brass but at least the shooter usually knows things are screwed up before he gets the bolt closed on a dud. Big mouth and no shoulders often precludes the empty brass from feeding into the chamber.
When it’s DG follow up shots have to fly.I lower the rifle and reload while I'm still looking at the animal. I can chew gum and walk at the same time.
Rushed shots as often as not = inaccurate shots. That's been my experience anyway.
" ... hit it wherever you can." Yes, but rush the shots, don't hit it well or at all and waste the ammo, then you could wind up having to reload the magazine in a charge situation, not just the chamber. I concentrate on making opportunities count, not taking as many shots as fast as possible. Quality vs quantity. Old habits die hard I guess.
