Straight Pull Bolt Action Rifles.

[Sam1911]

Nope. I've got bakelite stuff and K31 strippers. They aren't anything like bakelite. Waxed cardboard is the best description I could give. Not corrugated cardboard, like a cardboard box, more like what they'd make a shoebox out of, but waxed heavily and tougher.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

One point should be made -- the straight pull rifles that actually saw combat were generally failures. The Swiss straight-pulls never saw combat -- we don't know how they would fare with substandard, war-time ammo under filthy, muddy conditions.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

Okay, we'll just said I read it somewhere but couldn't verify. Lol.

And Vern, unless you wanna do some battlefield testing to let us know how it fares, I don't plan on beating or abusing mine.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I don't have a K31. I do have an M1905 Canadian Ross.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

Well that hardly counts, doesn't it? I keed, I keed lol.

But you should remedy that! Pick up a K31! Lol

 

[Edarnold]

Owen Sparks commented:
"The K-31 cocking ring will hit you just below the eye if you operate it while maintaining a proper cheek weld. The bone under your eye is nearly as thin as an egg shell and will break easily. These rifles were designed when the average man was much shorter than modern Americans are now. I am about 5' 10" and I have to move my head back a little every time I cycle the action. This is not a tall mans rifle."

I grew up when bolt-action rifles were not just the norm, but pretty much the only option for a civilian target shooter. With any centerfire bolt action (M1903, M1917, Winchester M70, Lee-Enfield, etc. ) operated from the shoulder, there is no such thing as 'maintaining a proper cheek weld' while working the action. You pull back the bolt, and your head comes up off the stock to clear the back end of the bolt. You push the bolt forward, and your head drops back to sighting position. Takes a bit of practice, but it's the way to shoot bolt-actions rapidly and well. The straight-pull actions such as the Swiss 1889 and K31, the M95 Mannlicher, and the Ross 1910, all of which I have owned and shot, are no different in this regard. You just need to have learned the reflex of getting your delicate cheekbone out of the way of the machinery.

Sorry if this sounds snarky, but I am getting SO sick of seeing posts where the secret of all rifle marksmanship is achieving the holy 'proper cheek weld'. Short of a fully adjustable Olympic-style stock, or a custom stock built to your dimensions for one particular shooting position, the perfect stock fit that puts your face in the ideal alignment with the sights just ain't going to happen. IMHO, marksmanship is learning to shoot well with whatever hardware you have, rather than insisting that 'you can't hit anything unless you have a proper cheek weld on your hand-built famous maker rifle with the trigger than breaks like a glass rod and has a scope that costs at least as much as the gun'.

 

[sixgunner455]

On the K31 cocking ring issue - there have always been tall men around, especially in the more affluent European countries (Switzerland) of the 20th century (K31 officially adopted in 1931).

I am also 5'10". I bought my K31 a number of years ago, and rapidly learned that when shooting it quickly, the little head bob described above was a necessary part of the bolt manipulation cycle.

I've been shooting a LOT of .22 bolt action lately, and hadn't had my K31 out to the range since last summer, but a few weeks ago, I took it along to put a couple of boxes through just for fun.

First time I cycled the bolt, I whacked myself good on the cheekbone. Didn't break it, but it left a nice bruise. I didn't do that again - the head bob quickly made its return to my bolt manipulation.

Love that rifle. Whether or not it would have made it as a war-time rifle is interesting, but really immaterial today. Mine's a range toy that might get to shoot a deer or an elk sometime.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

Mine has taken a deer before, and did a pretty good job at it, too. I've gotten into the habit of tilting the rifle away from my cheek, keeping my head in the same spot, more or less. I've done that with all my rifles, except my Savage and my Marlin (bolts).

I agree though, marksmanship is the ability to be able to fire ANY sort of firearm accurately, and adapting to the different positions without issue.

 

[Bushpilot]

+ 1 for Sam1911. I've had both the Ross rifle and a K31 and never had any problems with either. But, I would hate to try and extract a stuck case from a dirty chamber with either of them compared to a Mauser. The slight advantage in the speed of the straight pull does not make up for the loss of leverage when extracting a sticky case. Semi-autos do have the same problems but the autos speed advantage is great enough to make it worth the compromise.

 

[SaxonPig]

My only experience with a straight pull bolt gun is the one M95 Steyr I own. Pulling the bolt is very hard because you have to overcome the locking tension. With a turn bolt you have the leverage of the rotating bolt handle. The pull type is interesting, but I think the turn type is superior in just about every way.

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

While I agree that a Mauser-type action is better, and stronger, I have never had an issue with sticky extraction.