Info request: bolt travel vs cheek weld

[Caliper_Mi]

Was fondling the rifles recently and got to thinking about shooting bolt action and how some actions are very nice that you can keep your cheekweld while working the bolt while others force you to move your head to make room for the bolt. For example, my g/f's Enfield I can (just barely) cycle the bolt without moving my head while my Mosin forces me to move.

Anyways, I was wondering what other rifles let the shooter keep their cheekweld while cycling the action? What about a 1903A3 or a Remington 700? Is this an issue of short action vs long action reveivers/calibers? Has anyone measured the bolt travel from bolt closed and cocked to fully open? Just looking for some discussion/suggestions.

 

[Ar180shooter]

I've owned Winchester M70's, Enfields, Mosins and K98k's, and I've always been able to keep my cheek in place when cycling the bolt.

 

[jmr40]

I don't mess with old militaty rifles much but always keep my bolt rifles shouldered with a good cheek weld when working the bolt. I've used pretty much all of the common commercial rifles made by Winchester, Remington, Savage, Weatherby,Tikka, and Ruger to name a few. Never ran into a problem with the bolt hitting my face with either long or short action. I can work a short action a bit faster, but the smoothness of the action and ease of bolt lift are more important factors. And even then I see more differnce between individual rifles than between brands. There are some trends. The Tikka's tend to be the soothest and fastests with Ruger and Savage the roughest and slowest, but not with every rifle.

Some rifles are using a 60-70 degree bolt lift instead of the traditional 90 degree. They tend to be harder to lift which offsets any speed gained by less movement. They do give more clearance with the scope which can help.

 

[WNTFW]

Take a piece of painters tape and put it on your stock to mark the bolt's rear most travel. Now you can see it won't hit you in the face.

Technique also helps on not having to lift off of the stock on bolt lift or bolt retraction.

 

[barnbwt]

The K31 striker ring gets dangerously close to my noggin when I pull it back. I've been rolling my head to the left and back to get a bit more room when cycling, which allows me to get back into position fast enough. I've never approached bolt actions with speed in mind, though.

The harder part about maintaining cheek weld on that rifle is the urge to lean back, reach up and catch your falling brass

TCB

 

[Slamfire]

You just have to learn to put your face back into position.

I have shot most bolt action service rifles rapid fire in fun competition matches. If my head is so far back that I don't have to move my face, then my position on the rest of the rifle is off.

Depending on the stock, I rest my cheek on my thumb. When I work the bolt I get my face out of the way and rest my cheek back where it was on the thumb.