Working a Bolt Action Lefty Style

Hi Folks,

I was asked on another board about sling positions and how do I work the bolt action on a rifle, anyway, without dismounting from my shoulder? I took pics and figured I'd post them here as well in the hopes it might help someone.

Hasty Hasty sling:





Hasty sling:





I hope this was informative. A lefty bolt is nice, but not necessary, and the lefty need not suffer due to a bolt action on the wrong side!

Regards,

Josh

Did you manage to kill those evil curtains ? Nice writeup and Nice rifle to boot! Please continue with the tips, I love info like this it will help me help a fellow shooters should the time arise. I am a firm believer we all need to help one another. It is the greatest contribution we can give to the rest of our community.

I have a theory that a straight bolt is better than a curved bolt for lefties using a non-lefty specific bolt gun by making it easier for the shooter to do the reach over. I have yet to test this theory but intend to. Any thoughts?

Mama sez you'z got dem Debil eyes.

Slings are useful things.

The Hooligans official lefty said the Army taught him to shoot righty. Lefty just does not feel right to him.

nedsurf said:

I have a theory that a straight bolt is better than a curved bolt for lefties using a non-lefty specific bolt gun by making it easier for the shooter to do the reach over. I have yet to test this theory but intend to. Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

Depends on firing position.

Standing/off-hand - yep.
Kneeling - yep.
Prone - Yep.
From a bench/off bipod - easier to cycle the bolt with the right hand.

YMMV, those are all my own experiences.

Interesting adaptation of the dog collar.

nedsurf said:

I have a theory that a straight bolt is better than a curved bolt for lefties using a non-lefty specific bolt gun by making it easier for the shooter to do the reach over. I have yet to test this theory but intend to. Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

I would agree. A bent bolt requires about 15° of counter-clockwise cant, especially if it has a 'scope mounted in the rear position.

All my current right-handed bolt rifles sport straight bolts for this reason.

I'm also a fan of iron sights on most rifles. Now, there are some that get optics, of course, but I strongly feel that iron sights should be used most of the time as 'scopes generally require more training to use. Optics such as the C-More are of course excellent for other reasons, but I'm talking magnifying optics that one must dope.

There's a feller by the name of 1Grizzman out there. He has a YouTube channel.

I made him a trigger and front sight. He tried the two-stage trigger and is saving it for another project he has going as he did his own work to his Mosin's trigger.

The front sight, though, is there to this day. He told me his intents, and I built him the correct sight.

His first video was 400 yards. He's moved it up to over 1000 yards now, if I recall, and is pushing that 7.62x54r envelope like has probably not been done since WWII.

The rifle is bedded, but pretty much stock other than that. Open iron sights make these shots.

He's pushing even further with, IIRC, a .300 Mag. The ballistics are just better.

I maintain that the rimmed case is probably better for shooting long range, and here is why:

1. Most rifles using rimmed cases have push feed, which tend to be slightly more precise in the long range. Not all can take advantage of this and it tends to be seen at longer range if one can use it.

2. When fireformed, the rimmed case will headspace on both the shoulder and on the rim. I therefore buy loaded rounds (like Wolf Gold) and plink with them solely to get the fired, fireformed cases.

There are a bunch of other factors out here, of course, but I really think that if two rifles, say, heavy-barreled Remington 700s, were built to the exact same specs, but one were made controlled-feed and chambered for the 7.62x51 while the other was made push-feed and chambered for the .303 Brit or 7.62x54R, or for that matter, the .30-40 Krag, I would hypothesize that the latter would have a slight edge on precision when handloaded using fireformed cases.

When I make 7.92x57 M88 or 7.92x57JS brass from .30-06, I use a standard sizing die, not a forming die. The reason for this is that the cases compress slightly going into the chamber and you know dang well that they're headspacing fully.

These are just some random thoughts, so take them for what they're worth.

Regards,

Josh