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For those who are whining about me not using live ammo, I certainly did do this and made a video of it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yr7hsSCrI7A.html&t=
Crybabys great vid I agree. that some false BS info I've had the mauser for 7 years now and shot over 20 weapons in and out of the military dry firing is perfectly fine
Watch Ian from Forgotten Weapons run a 2 Gun WW1 Match and make the M1917 his bitch left handed. Same concept. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JZLKtm7HcG4.html
If your strong enough, you can support the gun entirely with your left hand, and work the bolt with the right. I do it often enough where it seems natural using a right handed gun.
If you're resting it on a sandbag you can keep your left hand on the trigger and the right hand does all the work, or reach over keeping it up with your right and pivoted in your shoulder
@@crodsbye British soldiers were trained to fire15 aimed shots a minute, so you load 10, fire ten and then load five and fire five. You'll have thm all away by 45-50 seconds easily. You can even cheat and load 11 at the start and get 16 off, by loading one in the breech and then loading the magazine thereafter . In combat, when the British encountered the Germans in 1914, they got a reputation for firing so fast it sounded and felt like machine gun fire. What they also did was have the man on the firing step of the trench fire off his ten rounds,then hand his rifle back to the second guy who gave up a fresh loaded rifle so he put down 20 fast shots in a minute and that rate of fire would drive any attacker to the ground so the second man would pass up a loaded rifle every 15 seconds and they could swap over and blast away all day. In the right hands, a .303 is the deadliest bolt action of them all.
"Palming the bolt" is exactly how I shoot my 91/30 nagant. That technique I used when shooting 2 running deer, and I was able to squeeze off 2 rounds within about 1.5 seconds, then 5 rounds in about 3.5 seconds on the other. This is why I'm a trot bit sad the era of Mil Surp rifles is coming to an end, and I realize this will make me sound like a Fudd, but it makes a man out of you. Makes you appreciate a 6 lb. AR when you've spent a day or two lugging around a 10 pound rifle with a steel buttplate.
It's interesting you mention using your middle finger to fire a bolt action rifle. When I first picked up a rifle, I intuitively used my middle finger. All my milsurp rifles have bolt actions.
I've read stories from ww1 that the British could shoot so fast with the Enfield that the germans were convinced they had machine guns when they didnt.
Very true ,but that was early in the war and mainly applied to the British Expeditionary Force which comprised of very well trained professional soldiers who were slaughtered in suicidal charges against well duh in German machine guns . The Germans thought they had many more machine guns than they actually had, Field Marshall Douglas Haig said ," the machine gun is a much over rated weapon " and limited the numbers available to stop ammo wastage ! He was an idiot.
During the Battle of Mons, each British battalion had one machine-gun. When the Germans began their attack, they were marching in parade formation. Not expecting machine-guns and the quick rifles of the BEF, it is estimated that the Germans suffered 500 casualties in just *2 seconds*
Eli S they probably had a firing order to make the shots sound closer together as well. Instead of just a mess of gunfire that’s clearly coming from different sources, they probably fired one right after the other.
I've been trying to practice and get better at shooting my m44. I don't drop the rifle from my shoulder but palming the bolt is something new to try. All my friends tend to drop the rifle down and karate chop the bolt open then slowly close it. Dude, your not going to brake the rifle, not even if you were trying to. Lmao
As a lefty I just got use to hot brass hitting my face or going down my shirt 😂 But one way I do it if I'm feeling lazy is slide right hand (hand stabilizing the barrel) and do the palm Technique. (Works decently once you get use to keeping a balance l) Or I do the good ole wrap around which isn't as fast bur works if you arnt semi ambidextrous
The best advice ive seen for a left handed shooter shooting a right handed rifle is just to learn to shoot right handed. Cos no matter what youre never gonna be as good as righty when using a right handed gun if youre using youre left. Eventually you get used to it and the hardest part is just to keep the rifle steady if youre taking a really accurate shot
My first gun was a southpaw because that is all I had. I'm right handed. I learned how to shoot left. Then I bought normal guns and dear Lord I had to learn AGAIN! Point being you can learn. It just takes practice.
Nah, keep your left hand on the grip, and if your bolt has clearance over your thumb, you should be able to work the bolt with your right hand. Move the thumb if clearance isn't possible, go slow at first. Catching your thumb on moving metal is never a pleasant experience. I grew up shooting my grandpa's Remington 277 this way. Feel free to experiment.
If you're strong enough to hold the rifle entirely with your left hand for the duration of the bolt cycle, use your right hand to cycle it. Ian McCollum from Forgotten Weapons and InRange often uses this technique and it works really well, plus it looks cool
When i was a little kid i used to do this with a training rifle my dad found, little did i know i got decent practice with it pretending to be army man lol
Interesting perspective. Each technique has its own benefits. Safari hunters make it a habit of dropping the rifle. Reasons why are simple but meaningful. 1.) you see that the rifle is being loaded, (short stroking a bolt gun is possible and could mean click when you want a bang) 2.) Sticky cases are a thing with high-pressure cartridges. 3.) training the snapshot from a low ready just works better for some people than trying to sway a muzzle heavy rifle. I try a little mix of everything, but yeah you can really start sending some roads if you tighten up on the gun a bit. Especially on the lee fields or especially on the p14 style rifles (US model of 1917 fanboy)
When I was little, I made a solid 1:1 scale bolt action karabiner 98k. I use to practice safe handling it when I was little so I could prepare safetly holding and working it in the future. I made the paper rifle really tough so I decided to speed the bolt action, I actually did it so often my hand naturally did a palm movement. I worked a bolt action fast when I first used one.
Nice video. good comment on dry fire. Dry firing is excellent practice. if you break a firing pin, simply replace it. You will save many times the cost of a firing pin in ammunition by dry firing. It is easier to see small errors in technique while dry firing. Granted, it is not advised for most rim fire guns and some shotguns. For handguns, dry fire practice is essential. Also look into Mantisx products for great tools to help your dry fire and live fire practice.
I did the palm grip never knowing it was a thing I have an old m24 Serbian carbine (we call it karabin) and since its old the bolt is a little stiff , I kinda naturally started using the palm grip as its easier to move it when its stiff , opposed to gripping it and not having inertia , you sort of hit the bolt handle and it dislodges.
My grandad in WW2 North Africa 2nd Bat Rifles, with the Enfield they used to use their little finger and thumb in an almost "Surfer dude" style and roll their bolts like that, was pretty dam fast
Thank god someone agrees with the quick bolt cycling, when I do it with my 30-06 Springfield everyone just stares at me, primarily because the rifle I use has a scope but I just want to make sure I can use the rifle as fast as I possibly can to ensure I can get the most out of it while being accurate. Even if I screw up and miss sometimes like 4 inches off the target.
Ya know, I don't know where I learned how to do this, guess it just made sense to me when I first shot a bolt action. I always wondered why people were dropping their rifles and moved the bolt so slow. Doesn't pulling the bolt back faster also help ejecting the empty case since you are bringing the case back with more force against the ejector?
Good vid! I've watched many gun vids on UToob and wondered why don't they use the palm of their hand??! ...You shoot as I was taught... It's bloody obvious to do it that way! Well done!
Much appreciated, my friend. There are two channels I watch fairly regularly, and you may be able to figure out what they are: one involves a guy with a beard talking and explaining and a young woman shooting WW1-era weapons. The other involves a somewhat more slender guy with a beard and his friend shooting 2-gun and 3-gun matches with vintage weapons. Both channels, all three shooters, use the tried and untrue drop-the-butt-and-cycle-the-bolt technique. It was bugging me no end - how could the seasoned British regulars at the start of the war be putting enough aimed rounds down range that the Germans thought they had machine guns, with this kind of bolt-action drill? As good as they were, they probably couldn't have, so they didn't. Honestly, I think I would work a single-shot falling-block almost as fast as dropping the butt on a bolt action. (With a butt stock bandolier, or something.) The 2-gu/3-gun guys also cleared the stripper clip manually, rather than letting the bolt handle that as it goes forward. Decent stripper clips are hard to find, so I can understand that.
Meant to add - excellent point about suppressive fire or volume fire with a bolt gun. Sure an assault rifle (or, better yet, a machine gun) does it better, But it was still a valid tactic when they only had bolt guns for the ordinary infantryman. A bit pricey these days, particularly with semi-exotic stuff like 8mm Mauser.
Thank you for showing the palming and keeping the rifle on the shoulder. People do it with levers and bolts, and it really hurts their speed and ability to stay on target. That being said, I do understand a taller person might smack their face with the action, so they take it off. In that case, they are excused a bit.
Just bought my first bolt action, an Enfield No.4 Mk1* made by Long Branch, and I think I may be spoiling myself by how buttery-smooth and lightning fast the action is on this thing. Not sure I want to shoot it fast, though, as .303 British in my area is about $2/round. :( Might be time to finally buy that Dillon 550c progressive reloading press I've been saving up for, because $2/round is murder on my wallet.
I was searching for information on how a squad or unit would assault a position with only bolt action weapons. How would they do covering fire or suppression. My first assumption is that it would require multiple riflemen but there just doesn't seem to be much information out there. Or maybe I'm doing all the wrong searches?
I shot 3 90 lb hogs in 5 or 6 seconds with a bolt action.308 a few years ago and I was absolutely shocked that I was able to do that. They we all heart shots and the last 2 were running. I credit the adrenaline.
one of my favorite reasons why my favorite firearm is bolt action rifles is the sound the bolt makes when racking. you can hear it really well on the mauser
I was about to comment that try to do that with a mosin but you had m39. My 39 has slick bolt but still I find palming to be hard. But anyways mosins are ment to be lowered and cycled in very exaggerated fashion. ;)
huh i apparently already knew about palming the bolt i had a savage axis in .223 i was able to empty in like 5 seconds with this technique when i was younger. just didnt know it was a proper technique figured id get yelled at if a guy who knew better ever saw me do it.
I have both bolt and semi-auto rifles. I find the old bolt guns the most fun to shoot but they are obsolete from a defense perspective. No matter how good you are with a bolt gun, a semi auto will deliver a blizzard of metal to the bolt gun's drizzle. But better a bolt gun than no gun.
Rifles are always faster when its unloaded. My m39 unloaded was smooth but when it was loaded the bolt would get shuck when extracting every time. I polishednthe bolt and the action and it did nothing. I eventually found it was the firing pin spring was too rough and it was causing the bolt to bind. I boughg another firing pin spring and its way smoother but still not as smooth as when the rifle is unloaded.
Again, I have made several videos of me working the action this fast with live ammo at the range. It can be done at this speed if your rifle is functional.
what exact type of rifle is the first rifle shown in the video? I know its a Gewehr 98/Mauser 98 but I don't know what exact model/derivative/type of rifle it is
I don't know Mike, maybe in a very close engagement. To me a bolt action is about accuracy not speed. I could go almost as fast but that is in a dire situation.
