Well... generally I cycle bolt actions by raising the muzzle slightly to improve leverage. I found on my first outing with my Schmidt-Rubin K-31 today, however, that that is unwise with this design. I expected, albeit incorrectly, the spent casing would eject somewhere between 2 and 3 o'clock as most of my bolt-actions do; unfortunately it made a very forceful sharp-end-first ejection exactly at 12:00, which happened to be my forehead; thankfully it didn't bleed too much... 
I was surprised at the damage flying, manually ejected brass can do.
After laughing gleefully at my comic injury, my friend then took a turn. My K-31 quickly dispensed justice upon his laughter by proceeding to direct an ejected casing into his nose. My brother then shot it, but managed to escape with only landing a couple casings on his hat. I suppose it was only a matter of time till it bit me; all of my guns eventually draw blood, it's usually from working on them on the bench though, not from their first shooting run.
Besides the bloodletting session, I must say this rifle is the best deal I've ever gotten on a firearm. For $79, it shoots about as straight as anything I've got and stands unique among it's rifled bretheren in my collection. Though I wish ammo availabilty and price were a bit better, I still have little to complain about. For anyone looking for a great rifle for under $100, let me recommend the K-31, just watch that ejection!
In the picture below, the K-31 is the one lurking in the middle of the pack, waiting to produce semi-circular lacerations on any who mock it.
I was surprised at the damage flying, manually ejected brass can do.After laughing gleefully at my comic injury, my friend then took a turn. My K-31 quickly dispensed justice upon his laughter by proceeding to direct an ejected casing into his nose. My brother then shot it, but managed to escape with only landing a couple casings on his hat. I suppose it was only a matter of time till it bit me; all of my guns eventually draw blood, it's usually from working on them on the bench though, not from their first shooting run.
Besides the bloodletting session, I must say this rifle is the best deal I've ever gotten on a firearm. For $79, it shoots about as straight as anything I've got and stands unique among it's rifled bretheren in my collection. Though I wish ammo availabilty and price were a bit better, I still have little to complain about. For anyone looking for a great rifle for under $100, let me recommend the K-31, just watch that ejection!
In the picture below, the K-31 is the one lurking in the middle of the pack, waiting to produce semi-circular lacerations on any who mock it.
