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Rifle Drill


Rebel Bill

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We have a shooter who has become realy good, but has a problem ejecting a live rifle round occasionally.  He asked if I knew of any drills or practice regiments to cure the problem. I don't. I have the same problem at times.  Any help  would be greatly appreciated by both of us.  Thanks. 

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What kind of rifle?  A '92 if not set up properly can do that.  If he's jacking them out of a toggle link gun, then I'd say he needs to slow down and/or practice loading one on the clock.  Speed has become such a major thing that fast folks seem to jack them out fairly often.

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I had a tendency to jack a round out too.  Have you been dry fire practicing without rounds?  You can get your timing all outta whack that way. 
Make up 10 or so dummy rounds, use a chunk or pencil eraser, or RTV  for the primer. 
use these to get your mechanics back in sync once again when you dry fire practice.  

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The best way I found to fix the situation was to practice rifle reloads. Once I got it through my head that I could reload fairly fast, the number of rounds jacked out went down considerably.  I’m a firm believer that if you think you might jack one out, then you probably will lol

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The first thing that should be understood about jacking rifle rounds is that there could be many different causes.  And there could be different causes for different model rifles.  I am going to speak in general of toggle link rifles because that is what my experience is with.

 

It could be that the primer is not seated deep enough.  Or that the shooter is pressing the trigger before the lever is fully closed.  Or maybe they get out of rhythm and hit the trigger late and the lever is already opening.  It could be some type of mechanical problem with the rifle that causes the shooter to get out of rhythm.  The first step to correcting this issue is to figure out the cause.

 

I have seen a few people recommend correcting the issue by learning how to reload your rifle quickly.  I am not discouraging this but it is not a fix for the root of the problem.   Figure out the root cause and correct it.

 

If the primer is seated too shallow in the primer pocket, when the firing pin hits the primer, it moves deeper into the pocket and does allow a full strike which fails to cause detonation.  It is important to check all your primers after loading your ammo.  If you find one that is not seated properly, do not use it in a match.  This is the best-case scenario because it is the easiest to correct.

 

If the shooter is pressing the trigger before the lever is closed, the trigger safety (assuming there is still one in the rifle) will not be disengaged yet and the trigger will not release the hammer.  The shooter (in rhythm) would then open the lever to cycle the rifle without the hammer falling causing them to eject a live round. Fixing this would depend greatly on the shooters' technique while shooting their rifle. I tend to notice this more on shooters who keep their finger inside the trigger while cycling the rifle.  What seemed to work for me was holding my finger farther forward in the trigger guard while cycling the rifle.  This takes just a split second longer to get to the trigger and helped me not jack any more rounds.

 

If the shooter gets out of rhythm and hits the trigger late, there could be several causes for this.  It could be a mechanical issue in the rifle.  Or maybe they are pulling their finger out of the trigger guard during cycling and not getting it back in soon enough to press the trigger.  The mechanical issue is self-explanatory.  If you do not know how to correct it yourself, take your rifle to a qualified gunsmith.  If the timing is late, try to keep your finger inside the trigger guard.  This may require a loss of performance initially when getting used to it, but in the long run, could help to correct this issue.  I’m not saying this technique is incorrect either.  Missouri Lefty shoots his rifle this way for example.  But if the technique is causing you to eject live rounds, it may not be for you.

 

There could be any number of other causes as well.  The only way to be sure is to take videos of you running your rifle from your strong side when you eject a round.  Then, analyze the video in slow motion and find the cause. 

 

If you find it to be a problem of technique, then you can correct it with some dry fire practice.  I do not recommend using full-weight dummy rounds to dry fire your rifle.  They are much heavier than what the extractor is designed to handle and can cause premature wear on it.  I use a dummy I loaded with no powder and a silicone-filled primer pocket.   I then ground off one side of the rim and load that side up so that it does not extract but gives the firing pin something soft to strike when you pull the trigger.  Start your reps very slowly and get your form perfect.  Especially if you are training yourself to use a different technique with the trigger finger.  Do 10 cycles of the rifle just like a 10-round dump, but slowly.  If your timing is off during the dry fire, then go even slower until you can do several strings without any problems.  A lot of times, you can figure out what is going on during these slow reps.  Make sure you are pressing the trigger the same way you do during live fire. (i.e., slam fire, etc.).  This may seem like overkill but the point is to train your muscle memory so that when you are shooting a string during a match there is no thought about it at all and your subconscious does all the work.

 

One thing I did as well included changing my stage prep at the Loading Table.  I used to go over the rifle string in my mind by thinking about the multi-taps at a very fast pace.  But in reality, I can not shoot my rifle as fast as I am visualizing shooting it.  So when I went to shoot my rifle string, subconsciously, it was trying to shoot it at the pace I visualized causing me to be out of rhythm and to jack rounds.  I now visualize my rifle strings at the pace I know I can run the rifle.  My mind and body work together instead of against each other.

 

There could be many other causes as well, but in my experience, these are the three most common.  I have had the alternate alias of Jack ‘Em Out James due to the number of live rounds I was once ejecting.  It took me a lot of extra work and diligence to figure out the cause and correct it.  But it is possible. 

 

I hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

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If the jacked out rounds have struck primers that failed to detonate, try tightening up the hammer spring.  A heavy spring won't slow you down as much as a jacked out FTF round.  And the heavy spring also shortens the lock time considerably, in case you are fast enough to outrun the hammer drop.  

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I have found the biggest problem for me jacking out rounds is a loose nut behind the trigger!:D

 

A few years ago at the Southeast Regional I was shooting on a posse with some members of the Cracker Crew. After jacking out a few rounds they gave me a card that explained the whole problem and I kept it on my hat until it wore completely out.  it said, “It’s Lever, Trigger, Lever, Trigger, not Lever, Lever Dumb A$$.

 

Randy

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You can outrun the hammer fall if the hammer spring is too light.  This can also cause an out of battery discharge as the links are starting to unlock as the hammer hits.  I had some of both issues that I fixed by tightening up the hammer spring.   If I jack one out now, it mostly because of the lack of live fire practice.  I have not had an OOB since I tightened up the spring.

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I would try setting two targets 8 or more feet apart.  Try alternating back and forth between targets working on your timing.  Then move the targets closer and repeat.  Keep moving them closer until 2 feet apart.  Start double tap alternating each target until smooth.  Then triple tap etc... till you are shooting 10 on one target.  If you start jacking them out again go back and repeat.    I think many time when want to put the problem somewhere else.  I do however believe it can be a hammer spring to light.  That is an easy check also.   

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Thanks much to all you guys. I wil apply to myself and pass it on to newer shooter. In my case the prmers are never hit not even lightly.

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