Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Great Article by Phil Shoemaker

Correctly according to Mr. Shoemaker anyway!

From my readings of history I gather the preferred method of operating bolt handles when they were situated at a 90 degree angle was the palming method but the English taught those operating the SMLE to use the ball and socket method with their fingers and a very good operator could place forty rounds on a man sized target in sixty seconds. that is pretty fast when you consider they were using a 10 round magazine so had to reload from a stripper clip three times during those same sixty seconds!

How one is taught and familiarity with ones rifle makes a big difference and I know JB can operate a bolt rifle quite fast using his method but the general consenus among the real bolt gun wizards that I know is that the fastest and most reliable method is the ball and socket method.

Walgreen's Drug stores are now selling Duct Tape bandages (bandaids). They work great!

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Phil:

Just read your article tonight, your rifle is so ugly that it beautiful.

Beauty is as beauty does... Although I don't own any rifles that look as "well used" <grin> as yours I'm not too big on pretty rifles either.

Almost all of mine have plain jane grey or flat green Kevlar stocks and some of them look like I use them as jack handles but every one of them shoots accurately and functions flawlessly in any weather at any time no excuses!

I fully understand those that consider rifles as a thing of beauty and many are true works of art but to me a rifle is a precision tool that must never, ever, fail to deliver if I do my part and looks just ain't all that important to me.

All that being said though... I think Savage Rifles (excepting the 1899 series) are butt ugly and I won't ever own another so I guess looks matter at least a little bit <wink> <nudge>

$bob$

Mr Shoemaker

If I recall correctly your rifle at one time had a lever on the rear base of the scope mount similiar to the Pilkington type for easy scope removal. I see the rifle in the latest article has what appear to be Weaver mounts. Is this the same rifle and did it used to have mounts similiar to the Redfield type with the lever in place of a screw?

Also, are you satisfied that the Weaver type mounts are as sturdy as one needs mounts to be? I know Finn Aagaard always spoke highly of them.

Many thanks for a great and very informing article.

Phil -

I have a work-a-holic Winchester 94 that I lovingly refer to as "Ugly Stick." It lives up to its name, but it's faithful each and every time it's called upon to work, and I'm not afraid to take it anywhere to do most anything. There's a beauty all its own to such a gun, but only the owner can appreciate it.

Idared, I did have Redfield bases and rings with the Pilkington QD lever on my 458 for a dozen years and was hapy with it but since it has no adjustments it finally became worn enough that it needed to be replaced. I also realized that there was no reason to remove the scope any faster than i could with the standard Weaver cross slot type mounts. I also knew that we had mounted rifle scopes on M-2 Browning 50 cal's for sniping use when I was in Vietnam using the same system and a mount that will stand up to a 50BMG most certainly will hold up to a 458 so that is what I chose. I have never regreted it.

458Win

Your observations on the Weaver mounts are very interesting. I have always thought the same as you but it seems perhaps the Weaver system gets more critisism than nearly any other scope mounting system. I also find it interesting to hear about the Redfield system becoming worn enough that it needed to be replaced. Was this in the dovetail or the screws on the rear base?

Many thanks for your reply.

Actually I do not open the bolt with my palm so much as the LEFT three fingers, palm up. This prevents the problems of hitting scope, safety etc. that Phil mentioned in his piece. I learned the method too long ago from an article by John Wootters to change now. The main point is to move the bolt back and forth in a two-stroke motion rather than the typical 4-movement motion of the average shooter.

I agree, another great piece from Phil Practical.

JB

Just wanted to say:

Another great article! I too have an Make your Momma Cry It's so Freakin UGLY gun. Remington 870, was my backup waterfowl gun now it's my shortbarreled knockaround answer the front door ar 3:30AM Gun. At last count it was 5 different colors. Who knows now. Krylon Camo on the receiver, Gray parkerized barrel, Blaze orange Speedfeed stocks, I should just paint it OD Green and be done with it, But I like the orange cause I can't lose it.

I was taught to shoot bolt rifles by my dad and uncles (all Canadian WWII vets, so trained on the SMLE). I never used any technique to manipulate the bolt other than the thumb-plus-two-fingers method until I bought a surplus Swedish Mauser in the 80's, and was taught to use the palm-strike method by a fellow who happened to be a Wehrmacht combat vet expatriated to Canada after the War.

Most guys I hunted with in high school bought a surplus SMLE as our first centerfire rifle, as they could be obtained for less than $20 even in the late 60's, and surplus ammo was cheapcheapcheap for practicing. The stripper clips were 5-rounders, although the detachable box magazines would hold 10 rounds.

My first SMLE was a No. 6 Mk I ("jungle carbine") that I picked up at a garage sale in 1978 for $100. It was a beat-up old thing, truly an "Old Ugly" in its own right. Sold it a couple years later for the same price so I could buy a shotgun! That's one of many gun deals I've made in this life I wish I could take back!

There is obviously more than one way to get the job done. For experienced shooters the difference only amounts to a fraction of a second.

I have used both but find the trigger finger/thumb/socket slightly faster as I can simply roll my wrist up and back and quickly foreward again and my trigger finger is on the trigger. That way you don't have to also twist your hand over to strike the bolt to eject and then reverse it to close it - and then find the trigger again.

I thought it was a Great article� Keep them coming.

I agree. And I'm always interested in what works, no matter what it looks like and no matter how old or new it is.

- TJM

Phil, I also enjoyed your recent article. You are right, though, that 458 sure is an ugly one ! Keep up the good practical articles. I enjoy 'em.

I ordered the online subscription largely to get this article.

Rifle handling qualities are a neglected subject.

Fireplug

I liked your article too Mr. Shoemaker. I like your pragmatic approach to things. Not that it's worth anything, but the only ugly rifles I have ever seen were the Remington Model 710 and the Mossberg Model 800 series.

It's nice to see those old Weaver mounts and rings on a working rifle. Another of my favorite writers, the late Finn Aagaard used them also. I have never had a Weaver fail me, be it scope or mount/rings.

And finally, I like to read Mr. Barsness' articles too. I value the articles from both you gentlemen very much and read and reread them all the time.

Thanks...Bill.

Ole
Ugly coming back to life.

Do you have a picture of Mr Ugly?