So What? (Last Shot Bolt Hold-Open)

[Peter Gun]

i had a remington "speedmaster" .22 autoloader. nice gun, but .22 ammo is more prone to malfunctions i think. this rifle would occasionally get a round hung up between the tube magazine and the barrel. because it did not have a bolt hold open, it was difficult to extract the jam with one hand. That was the reason i sold it.

 

[ny32182]

I consider it to be all but required on a defensive/military rifle. The only such rifle I have without one is a VEPR K. I wouldn't mind using it as a house/car gun, because the chances of firing over thirty rounds in any of those situations is next to zero, but if I somehow ever had to carry a rifle in a situation where I'd have to fire more than 30 rounds (can't imagine what that would be) I'd be reaching for an AR or FAL, because of the BHO. With an AK or HK-91, you are going to get one "click instead of bang" event per magazine, guaranteed. Plus, the reloads are slower even once you have noticed that you are actually empty.

I don't like "click instead of bang" events on the range, much less if I were actually using a rifle for its intended purpose.

 

[ny32182]

I will add, the one positive about the no BHO design is that you get a lot of chances to see if you are flinching or not. heh.

 

[Kurush]

Like moonclip said, Yugo mags will hold the bolt open (on any AK), so just get some Yugo mags. They're cheap, $5 or so last I checked. You can keep your AK without having to rationalize its inferior controls

By the way SKSes have bolt hold open too, so I guess Mikhail (peace be upon him) was just being lazy

 

[66gt350]

The biggest advantage I'd see for have the bolt hold open after the last shot is when you hear the click...that equals dry firing. Some guns you can dry fire all day, and others don't like to be dry fired.

just my thoughts...

 

[mustanger98]

I was just thinking about the deal about the bolt hold-open telling you your rifle's empty... Ya'll know, the M1 Garand will really tell you when it's empty... not only will the bolt hold open... PING!!!

 

[cosmonick]

How are Yugo AK mags different than standard AK mags? Who carries them?

Thanks,
Mo

 

[Correia]

I use an AK type rifle in 3gun. (I'm stubborn like that) so I have plenty of experience with the lack of a BHO. It is a weakness that you need to learn to work around. For me, during the match under pressure, I just reload everytime I think I'm getting close.

Now with that said, and this is going to sound weird, and many people probably won't believe me, but once you've shot your AK enough, even with out the BHO, you know when the bolt has closed on an empty chamber because the recoil feels different. I've done this many times. But even then the lack of the BHO is a weakness because you still need to work the charging handle after you change magazines.

 

[mustanger98]

Correia:

Now with that said, and this is going to sound weird, and many people probably won't believe me, but once you've shot your AK enough, even with out the BHO, you know when the bolt has closed on an empty chamber because the recoil feels different.

Actually, that don't sound so wierd. It's a lot like some levergun people who have lived with their rifles to the point they can tell the difference in weight of the tube magazine between full and empty. (Not necessarily the individual round's weight, but the whole mag's worth of rounds.) When you get to know your rifle, whatever type repeating rifle you choose, you can tell a lot of things by feel.