CRF Question

[crs]

A bit more detail for you.
When my shot to the pelvis dropped the buff, the ground shook AND out came the bellow from Hell. !!
That brought buddy buffs back to check things out. That is when my PH said in a serious voice
"reload and get ready". I did.
As the buddy buffs appeared at the far edge of the little clearing, the trackers and PH began making guttural growling sounds that stopped the buff just out of the clearing with only front legs and horns showing. Then my dying buff then gave out a death bellow and here came the buddy buff again. The repeat of the growling lion act stopped them, but it was several minutes before we relaxed. I kept my rifle at the ready until we were ready to move out. At the truck, I unloaded it.

 

[Neil Molendyk]

A bit more detail for you.
When my shot to the pelvis dropped the buff, the ground shook AND out came the bellow from Hell. !!
That brought buddy buffs back to check things out. That is when my PH said in a serious voice
"reload and get ready". I did.
As the buddy buffs appeared at the far edge of the little clearing, the trackers and PH began making guttural growling sounds that stopped the buff just out of the clearing with only front legs and horns showing. Then my dying buff then gave out a death bellow and here came the buddy buff again. The repeat of the growling lion act stopped them, but it was several minutes before we relaxed. I kept my rifle at the ready until we were ready to move out. At the truck, I unloaded it.

I'd call that getting full value for your hard earned hunting dollars.

 

[crs]

Neil,
Yes, it became more interesting when the pelvis-shot buff hit the ground and bellowed; not a death bellow-- it sounded more like a mad bellow and at 20 yards, it was loud. The beast then used its front legs to drag itself another 20 yards . The death bellow was unmistakable.

 

[Spooksar]

My best advice is try a few things getting your gun reloaded, find what works best for you and then practice, practice, practice ect…

 

[Fixfire]

As an avid shotgunner I always catch the shells from my o/u. As an avid CRF rifleman, it has NEVER even occurred to me to attempt to catch the spent cartridge!!! Not sure it would be good practice in-the heat-of-the-moment, at least for me.

 

[Rick HOlbert]

On my recent buffalo hunt I thought I was well practiced but I was asked to do something that caught me off guard. After the first shots the buff stopped about 20 yds away behind some brush but clearly visible and badly hit. It was then that my PH told me to “top off” my rifle so I cupped my left hand around the action to stop my chambered live round from flying away. As you can guess, the round hit my hand and stayed firmly seated in the controlled feed. So, I spend several frantic moments prying the round out of the bolt. This leads me to a few questions to the group:

Do you believe in “topping off” a CRF rifle or just run it dry and then reload?

If you do top off a CRF what do you do? Let the live round fly or try to catch it?

Is this something we should practice?

Of course, if done after ejecting an empty then it’s a different scenario.

Give me your thoughts.

Having practiced this maneuver at times this is my take. In your case I would have run the bolt forward 1/2in or so then slamed the bolt to the rear to let the fixed ejector kick the round out into your hand or on the ground. The more vigorous you bring the bolt back, the further the ejection. Takes practice but doable. Just my thoughts and what works for me.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Neil,
Yes, it became more interesting when the pelvis-shot buff hit the ground and bellowed; not a death bellow-- it sounded more like a mad bellow and at 20 yards, it was loud. The beast then used its front legs to drag itself another 20 yards . The death bellow was unmistakable.

Wonder if the "mad bellow" is similar to the sounds Townsend @Bob Nelson 35Whelen utters when someone shows up with a .243 to go hunting with him?

 

[crs]

That had not occurred to me, but you do have a point.
There was a real difference between the first bellow and the death bellow, so I think it is good Bob is mad and not dead!

 

[RobBrown505]

Thanks everyone! It only took a second to get the round out but it was a small distraction and these small things stick with me. Not really a big deal, I had 3 shots into him and he was on the way out and the PH was covering but I’m always trying to learn more. For this post I was just curious if folks top off their magazines or not and how they did it. I did learn something so I appreciate that!

 

[fourfive8]

Yep, pays to practice on-the-run reloading of your crf- I've done it several times trying to get back on an animal. Things get hectic... you're trying to keep track of your animal, trying to keep track of your PH and trackers so they don't get in your line of fire, trying not to trip and fall, trying to listen to what the PH is saying.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Wonder if the "mad bellow" is similar to the sounds Townsend @Bob Nelson 35Whelen utters when someone shows up with a .243 to go hunting with him?

@CoElkHunter
It would be more the first one mate. The bellow from hell

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

That had not occurred to me, but you do have a point.
There was a real difference between the first bellow and the death bellow, so I think it is good Bob is mad and not dead!

@crs
Thanks mate glad I'm not dead.
Who else would keep these 243 heathens like @CoElkHunter, @CBH Australia and others in their place.
Bob

 

[Nhoro]

MMM, Technique?
Been shooting pre 64 Winchester Model 70 CRF bolt action for many years and it has always been easy to do :
Raise bolt handle
Place left hand over ejection port
pull bolt handle to rear
Use left hand fingers to push cartridge down into magazine
Use right hand to place another cartridge in magazine.
push bolt forward loading chamber
push bolt handle down to close action

There might be a variation, but this works for me.
l

Same thing I do except I reach under the rifle and curl my fingers around to push the round down into the magazine. I do that same action when I get to the car or walk back into camp-empty chamber but full magazine. If you wanted to add some rounds then you can once the top round hooks into the mag.

 

[mark-hunter]

Interesting question on CRF functions in field situation.
CRF was not originaly designed for topping up, but rather for realoding when empty by stripper clips. which is standard concept for battle rifle of the time, early XX century.

This is, of course out of question when having optical sights on hunting rifle.

So, what would I do?
Depending of situation:

1. Top urgency:
Eject the chambered round, and top up full

2. less urgent (like buffalo calm, in bush 50 yards away)
Would try to catch ejected round, but if slipped away I would not loose the time to pick it up, would just top up the mag.

 

[mark-hunter]

I wonder in this situation, would a push feed rifle be more convenient?
This, has never been asked on the forum. (mea culpa!)

 

[fourfive8]

Another way is to always load and cycle from magazine only. Don't even start dropping one on top and ramming into chamber no matter the situation. Lock in the habit. Then given enough reps and time, it won't even cross your mind to load that way. While some CRFs will pop the extractor over the rim some won't and can really cause a loss of function requiring a rod to drive the round out of the chamber. Never load directly into chamber no matter if using PF or CRF. If worried about not having that extra round to fire, then get a CRF with extra magazine capacity and for sure don't use a double rifle which has a full up capacity of 2 or single shot with a capacity of 1

 

[CoElkHunter]

I wonder in this situation, would a push feed rifle be more convenient?
This, has never been asked on the forum. (mea culpa!)

Yes it would. Especially if it was a semi auto .458 WM with a detachable magazine. LOL

 

[BeeMaa]

Yes it would. Especially if it was a semi auto .458 WM with a detachable magazine. LOL

Ask and you shall receive...

 

[CoElkHunter]

Ask and you shall receive...

I WANT ONE! I know that company is defunct, but somebody, somewhere could make an upper for it. The .458 SOCOM cartridge is a little short, but the WM cartridge fits in any .30-06 length action. There is/was a company that modified Garands for the .458WM and with just a barrel, a Browning BAR in 7mm, .300WM or .338WM can accommodate the .458WM. Thanks for sharing this video!

 

[Shako Badhan]

I read about a technique, and tried it with dummy rounds that seems to work to top off a CRF. With a round in the chamber turn the rifle so the magazine floor plate is facing up. Open the floor plate and just drop the rounds in and close the plate.

This method seems to work well and has the added benefit that you keep a round in the chamber in case things go sideways.