Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Controlled round feed, who wouldn't want it?

The more I shoot, the less the PF/CRF thing means to me.

These days it's more "Can I get the bullet I want in the case at the length I want/need?"

Box length is more my consideration right now, might not be in the future.

Excellent post, Bob.

From a functional standpoint, it doesn't matter much to me if a rifle has a claw extractor or a Sako/M16 type, but I do prefer fixed EJECTORS.

It's been many, many years since I've owned one, but I don't like the design of the Remington extractor, even though it usually works.

I do much prefer the look and feel of the claw extractor actions, probably because I'm kind of an antique design myself.

Mart most of these snafu's get uncovered at the range....assuming of course guys run their rifles enough to uncover them.

I have seen them a couple times in the field in other people's rifles. Never happened to me....see above. I grind the things to try and make them not work, before they go hunting.

Thank You All for the considered and experienced answers. I can see that I was stuck in shallow mud, and I can pull myself out of this one easily.

I will pick an action that has the proper magazine length and operates smoothly, then concern myself with the safety and trigger details I prefer.

I figure my money will go further by getting a used gun and putting a great barrel and glass on it. I mostly didn't want to hear that I needed to buy a $1000 custom action to find a good platform to build on.

Indeed.

In all my years of hunting I've only seen one rifle incapacitated and it was a 98 Mauser that jumped the rim of a chambered round leaving it stuck in the chamber. That is a grand total of one so not exactly damning. I actually have both CF and PF rifles . The biggest complaint is trying to feed a empty case into a CF rifle like when you are setting up a set of dies. The PF rifles work fine for me so I guess if I had to make a choice it would be PF.

PF or CRF doesn't matter all that much to me. All other things being equal I prefer CRF because at the range I can easily control extracted cases with one hand. I also prefer the stronger extraction strength of Mauser-type claws. Not so much with PF. Neither has given me problems in the field.

As to differences in accuracy and the "advantage" of PF types, my most accurate rifles have Ruger and Interarms CRF actions. Some PFs come close, though. The one really accurate PF I had went down the road to fund my first AR. No regrets.

In the end, if I like a rifle I buy it. Somehow I don't see myself shooting upside down while hanging from a tree and hunting DG is rather unlikely. Both PF and CRF work for my hunting and range work.

Ask Savage_99......He knows......or does he?

You need to pose that damn dog on the other end of that rifle. He looks skeeeeert!

Nothing quite like a level headed check of reality. I may be able to skip my coffee this morning.

A gunsmith I know happens to be a Winchester warranty repair station. He tells me that the CNC machining that has taken over the manufacturing of guns in recent years has led to a decline of highly skilled fitters, resulting in guns commonly leaving factories with inproperly timed or fitted parts.

Yes, I have taken him work for both CRF and push feed extractors and not just Winchester brands.

To the OP of the thread, for a custom rifle I like to start with old used donor actions, well worn in and smooth operating. I'm not particular about push feed or CRF. Buy an action that you like the way the safety is located or the way the magazine operates etc.

Bullsh!t!! "Snoopy" is a 9lb Lion �. LOL

When I first started buying rifles a gunsmith sold me on the idea of the "three rings of steel" and the Remington "safety chamber"

I tend to still believe it.

Love the pooch!

All it takes is a simple magazine spring to break and your beloved whatever has become a single shot! (Had that happen twice on an otherwise generally 'reliable' CRF : M70 375 H&H).

As BobinNH pointed out every rifle is a system wherein all parts must work together properly. A gunked plunger ejector may not work on a M700 (or other push feed type rifle) but a 'standing ejector' can be stymied even more easily and then they don't work either.

I won't hazard a guess on how many 'controlled round feed' rifles leave the factory in 'semi-CRF' condition but I would bet the percentage is high. I'm talking about rifles which work when run very slow, very fast and hard, and everything in between. No standard production rifle is one I'd trust straight out of the box (which isn't to say that it won't work or that I wouldn't hunt with it.)

Any rifle needs to be correctly set up and maintained reasonably well. I suspect a lot of people might get a surprise if they got themselves in a tight spot where they were 'shucking and jiving' hard and fast while they 'scorched the tailfeathers' of a pack of wolves doing the 100 yard dash or similar. A trip to a competent 'smith who knew his stuff well as it applies to function under any condition (or bullet configuration/length) should be considered when thinking about an 'ultimate' hunting rifle.

As Lee pointed out recently, some of the Winchester WSM rifles had feeding problems, so if I was going to build a custom based on one of the WSM's ( and that was what I was thinking of doing, a 7 WSM " extreme weather type SS action bedded in a Edge McMillan) I guess I would rethink it unless there is an easy fix for the feeding issues) I would most likely go with a custom clone on a Defiance or Borden action instead. For a custom "looker" I would most likely use a Winchester 70 CRF as I really like the look of these actions with their 3 position safeties and simple triggers. I suppose instead of a WSM, I would just go with a 280 Ackley with either a really nice hunk of walnut or a speckled McMillan stock and have someone like Lee ( Redneck) put it altogether. I remember one of our members showing a rifle that Lee made (think it was a 280 Ackley) and the test targets were superb.

That's funny right there.

I've never had a CRF fail to extract. I've had a number of Remingtons fail to pull the case out.

I've never had a CRF fail to eject. I've had/seen Remingtons fail to eject due to a bound plunger.

My most reliable rifle seems to be a Winchester pushfeed, with which I've never had any problem at all whatsoever. But with the small extractor, it will be more easily broken than a big claw, and it has the plunger ejector which I know can quite easily get bound up.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3445551/2

Remington actions are very strong. Tales of folks walking away unscathed from blow ups are plethora. Laugh all you want. Nobody will ever convince me otherwise.

I'm a lefty and have owned a bunch of LH Model 70's. Only two of them were true CRF, and both were made that way by talented gunsmiths. Consequently, both still reside in my safe and are my main hunting rifles.