What's the fastest single shot reloader?

[hightime]

I bought a NEA. 243 Win. for my grandson. He used it for a couple years and then he had to have a box mag. bolt action.

Now I hunted with a Model 70 all my life and it's a good choice, but the action of that single shot works so well I don't see that much of a time delay for a second shot. I also shoot a 45-70 rolling block that seems fast enough. Ya see I don't think reloading speed should be a big deal anyway, as it's the first shot that matters, but the kids seem to think you might shoot a ton at a little white tail. Is a rolling block the best for getting a second chance?

Owen

[NoAngel]

Most reloaders hate ejector rifles but that's where you'll get your speedy reload.

In my youth I witnessed an older fella, long deceased now, manage a follow up shot on a covey of quail with a single shot 20g. Don't know what kind of gun it was but it was loose as a goose on the hinge pin and you breeched the gun by pulling back on the trigger guard. He was fast. Playing it back in my head it puts me in mind of Jerry Miculek's revolver reloads. While he was certainly NOT J/M he was wicked fast. ....no, not fast....smooth. Smooth fluid movement and smooth is fast.
He would shoot with his next shot in between his fingers like a cigarette.

[GhostHawk]

All my life my rifles have been either semi auto's or bolts. But I recently switched to the Handi rifle cult.

I don't have a lot of time behind the sights of one, but it seemed to me that I could load that single shot every bit as fast as any bolt I ever had.

And shoot it more accurately than any semi auto I ever had.

Don't know why it took me 60 years to find some wisdom, but it appears to be settling in well at last.

Just committed to a second handi rifle receiver and stock set to go with the barrels I have coming from the factory.

Idea is to hopefully be able to have 2 of them going at the range.
.223
7.62x39
.357 mag
.44 mag

All low recoil, so all hopefully as much fun for my wife to shoot as me.
And all reasonably priced and American made. That receiver shipped to my door is 79$, stock set was 30$. Barrels from the factory fitted, and shipped at about 150$ each. So for the price of 1 gun I have 4. Least that is the hope.

[dtknowles]

I have two Handirifles one with an ejector and one with an extractor. I don't see either of them delivering a second shot nearly as fast as my M77 bolt gun. The bold gun stays on my shoulder while I cycle the bolt to chamber another round. I can't see that happening with either Handirifle. To even get off a second shot in reasonable time means holding a second round in your hand while you shoot the first and would require more practice than the bolt gun. I don't see it as a big issue but just relating my experience, fwiw.

Tim

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

All my life my rifles have been either semi auto's or bolts. But I recently switched to the Handi rifle cult.

I don't have a lot of time behind the sights of one, but it seemed to me that I could load that single shot every bit as fast as any bolt I ever had.

And shoot it more accurately than any semi auto I ever had.

Don't know why it took me 60 years to find some wisdom, but it appears to be settling in well at last.

Just committed to a second handi rifle receiver and stock set to go with the barrels I have coming from the factory.

Idea is to hopefully be able to have 2 of them going at the range.
.223
7.62x39
.357 mag
.44 mag

All low recoil, so all hopefully as much fun for my wife to shoot as me.
And all reasonably priced and American made. That receiver shipped to my door is 79$, stock set was 30$. Barrels from the factory fitted, and shipped at about 150$ each. So for the price of 1 gun I have 4. Least that is the hope.

Is there some one selling just receivers or did you find a use one that someone no loner wanted

I ask becuase I want to build a 357 max and 445 mag on a SB2 frame but h&R only sells those 357mag and 44mag on Sb1 recivers unless you buy a rifle first then send it in for a barrel, the change to 357 max or 445mag is a reamer rental

[Lucky Joe]

Greencountrypete,

The barrel replacement program at H&R technically came to an end Dec. 31, 2014, although yesterday apparently a fellow was still able to order a .30-06 barrel for his receiver. Might be best to order a new gun from your dealer or Buds. I have had a receiver in since 11/11/14 for a .44 Mag. and a .357 Mag.. Have no idea when it will be completed.

[country gent]

I have seen some fast reloads with single and double shoutguns. The old nieghbor man hunted with a parker 12 ga sxs and I seen him take 2 quail on the rise and 2 more going away several times. He kept the reload between his fingers and I dont think the gun ever left his shoulder. The less you have to move shift around to reload the better. Practiced smooth movements bring speed. When the NRA match rifles were bolt action repeaters there were a bunch that could fire 5 rounds reload ( stripper clip) with 5 rounds and fire them in 60 or 70 seconds depending on the stage. Most perfered model 70s winchesters but rem also made a good showing. Knowing the rifle and needed movements practicing these with dummy rounds to achieve the needed smoothness and muscle memory goes along ways.

[mattw]

I can reload my Contender pretty quickly, it is a learned skill but not to hard.

[Tatume]

I once shot a deer in tall grass with a break-open single shot rifle. He went down, and immediately popped right back up. I shot him again. The first cartridge had barely hit the ground when the second shot was fired. The deer went down again. When I got there, two deer were lying on the ground, almost on top of each other. Fortunately, at the time two deer per day was a legal take, but I never intended to take two.

[atr]

its an interesting question; I shoot rolling block, falling block and bolt. A bolt is certainly more convenient but not necessarily faster. When shooting the rolling and falling blocks I've learned to keep a cartridge in my free hand ready for the second shot, its a learned skill and allows a very quick second shot.

[leadman]

I hunt with a single shot mostly and never feel handicapped. My cousin found a solution to the single shot when he hunts on stand for deer in Michigan. He has 2 guns, usually muzzleloaders with him.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

Greencountrypete,

The barrel replacement program at H&R technically came to an end Dec. 31, 2014, although yesterday apparently a fellow was still able to order a .30-06 barrel for his receiver. Might be best to order a new gun from your dealer or Buds. I have had a receiver in since 11/11/14 for a .44 Mag. and a .357 Mag.. Have no idea when ti will be completed.

Thank you , very sad they are ending barrel accessories programs , It is a good part of what made them popular with many

but I understand they are Remington and they have millions of triggers to replace and I was talking with one of their techs back in early November and he wasn't sure why they were making some of the choices they were making either , he in particular thought it was very odd they had dropped the 308 from all but the survivor model in their catalog

I had sent in an SB1 frame but they would not do my barrels as it had been a muzzle loader originally , they gave me several stories about why it could not be done , but in the end the answer was no and not seemingly based on a sound technical reason

it would make a lot of sense to have a product with contender like interchangeability

[Lucky Joe]

I once read a bolt gun is a single shot with a convenient place to store extra shells. To each his own, I like single shot firearms but do own bolts and autos. I use the singles 80% of the time.

[rockrat]

To me, the NEF is pretty fast on a reload. When my friend and I would crow hunt, I would carry two shells between my fingers for follow up shots, since I was using a single shot shotgun, my friend had a Rem 1100.

Doesn't really matter how fast a reload is, if you don't hit what you are shooting at.

At the end of the day, my crow total would usually beat my friends. I only had one shot, so I had to make it count.

[JSnover]

Singles and double rifles have been used extensively for dangerous game for more than a century as described above: with extra cartridges between their fingers for fast follow up shots. If it works for Professional Hunters in Africa that's all the proof you need.
Practice.

[Bigslug]

Of the classics, I've gotta go with the 1885 Winchester for this - automatically goes to full-cock on opening. Load, close, and shoot.

Ballard - not bad. Goes to half-cock on opening. Still need to thumb the hammer back, but you're not fighting a monster spring.

Rolling block - getting kinda slow as you're essentially cocking two hammers.

Sharps = SLOOOOOOOOOOW. Move to half-cock, drop breech, load, close breech, full cock, engage set trigger (if applicable), and fire. My dad loves 'em. More than I prefer to keep track of.

[M-Tecs]

This guy is slow but he get 5 shots off in 7 seconds. I would like to see that with a single shot. Same for any of the videos below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WbpptdFiNE

First half of the video is sighters but it shows how little time is spent working the bolt. Most is spent dressing up the sights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5dEr2NmNQs

A little faster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbRGGtqGXN8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOT0EqNDbC4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBHP-Ezl020

I hunt with a lot Trapdoor Springfield's, 1885 Highwalls and Contenders but they don't come close to the accurate rate of fire I can do will a bolt gun. For NRA Highpower 200 & 300 yards rapids bolt guns work very well. Single shots not so much.


For hunting sometimes multiple targets are an option. About ten years ago I had two buck tags and a doe tag in my pocket. A large buck and a medium sized buck chased a doe by my tree stand. Three shots and all my tags where filled. With a single shot I would have got one.


Several years before that we had a fresh deep snow and I was out hunting coyotes. I spotted seven trying to pull down a deer. I had six rounds in my Sako 243 bolt action. Killed the first standing and the next four on the run. Missed one shot. With a single shot two MIGHT have been possible.

As to the fastest single shot action my money would be on the Martini-Henry. A buddy has a Cadet in 357. Never seen anyone run a single shot faster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5uUdWikE2E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SVdVA0pX84

[calshipbuilder]

Bench rest guys shooting trying to shoot a condition move pretty fast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfHqzlCPgS8

[M-Tecs]

Forgot about the benchresters machinegunning throught conditions. The video is a single port action. The dual port guns are reported to be faster. Not my thing. I like 1,000 from postition (sling), F - class not as much and I have zero interest in benchrest shooting but I have built a couple of bench guns for friends.

[Bigslug]

As to the fastest single shot action my money would be on the Martini-Henry.

True - I was forgetting Martinis. They auto-cock, auto-eject, AND have a splendid system for guiding your next shot into the chamber.

But there's no point in trying to run any of them against a guy who knows how to run a bolt action (with fingers and thumb, not palm) while keeping the stock in his shoulder and his head on the stock. Let the kiddies have their magazines. You can just keep killing stuff with one shot and sagely saying "hmmm".

[oldred]

1885 Winchester? Which one? The original rifles and the newer designs are similar mostly in name as they are two different animals with the newer design being faster to reload due to the ejector vs extractor on the older models. But either way I have been a single shot fan/owner for as long as I have been shooting which is well over 50 years and there's no way a single is going to be as fast as a bolt given an equally experienced shooter with both. I consider myself a fairly expert single shot shooter since I have hunted with one of one type or another since I was just a kid but I also have owned (still own) and shot several bolt guns, being very partial to the Remington 700s, and I have to consider the speed comparsion a classic case of apples to oranges.

When deciding which single would be the fastest to reload the first consideration to me would be the ejector vs extractor issue but a lever vs a break open could very well boil down to whichever suits the shooter best. With an extractor type single the empties can sometimes be dropped out by opening the action with the rifle held in the right position but this can't always be counted on to work that way and the case may need a little "help" from time to time using this method, when it works as it should however the ejector loses it's advantage.

[texassako]

I can run my sporterized Martini Enfield .30-40 AI almost as fast as a bolt, once I found a scope that did not block ejection. I have a buttstock cartridge holder about where the bolt would stop in the rear. I only have to move my trigger hand in about a 10 inch long oval to eject, reload, and fire the next round. I have yet to need a second shot on our little deer, but I always put the next one in the chamber just in case.

[kopperl]

Did the same thing but I had to get my brother to tag the second one.

[MtGun44]

You would be quite surprised what a competent man with a Rem Rolling block with the ejector
rather than extractor can do, esp in 7x57 since the bottleneck case makes it nearly impossible
to miss "throwing" a round at the chamber.

I once fired four aimed shots at about 35-40 yds, two each at two targets, starting from low ready
UNLOADED with the block open with both hads on the rifle, loose rounds in my right jacket pocket
(open top) in a electronically timed 5.6 seconds. All good hits. This was a fun side match at
an IPSC-ish rifle match and I just took the old RB 7x57 on a wild hair. This performance amazed
me, and a few onlookers, too. I did start with one round in my right hand, on the rifle, as per
match rules. They really liked it when I rolled 4 pepper poppers at about 230 yds with 5 shots,
all with the stock open sights, start standing, dropped to sitting, in about 15 sec, I forget
the exact time non that one. Good old rifle and faster than you would imagine.

Bill

[GhostHawk]

Sir, on the Graybeards outdoors site they have a very very active handi community.
I was able to buy just the receiver from the classified section for 79$ shipped. Now I will have to pay my FFL 20$ but IMO that is still a bargain.

If your interested in Handi's at all I strongly suggest you check out the greybeards site. Good people, loads of helpful info.

FYI that is probably the 6th or 7th receiver I've seen sold in the last couple months.
Price vary's if it is SB1 (Shotgun) or SB2 (Rifle)

I also have a receiver at the factory being fitted for .357 mag and .44 mag. :)
Low recoil, from all I read good accuracy, and cheap to shoot.


Is there some one selling just receivers or did you find a use one that someone no loner wanted

I ask becuase I want to build a 357 max and 445 mag on a SB2 frame but h&R only sells those 357mag and 44mag on Sb1 recivers unless you buy a rifle first then send it in for a barrel, the change to 357 max or 445mag is a reamer rental

[kens]

The OP was fastest single shot…
This must be the Winchester model 55 22lr. google it.
It is a single shot that automatically ejects the casing,

[McLintock]

I shot Cowboy Action Shooting Long Range matches for over ten years, using a Browning 1885 Traditional Hunter in 38-55 for smokeless classes and a Browning BPCR in 45-70 for the Black Powder classes. Ranges were from 140 to 500 yards, and with the 38-55 I did 10 shots at 290 yards in 60 sec and change at Winter Range one year, 5 shots in just over 35 seconds and change at 370 at a Nevada shoot, and 10 shots in just over 41 seconds at 140 yards at a club monthly match for some of my best times. Our normal monthly club distance was 180 yards and I usually did around the mid 40's at that distance for ten shots, all from crosssticks. The BPCR was slower by about 10 seconds on the average due to smoke and no ejector. Shot against Sharps, Rolling Blocks, Handi Rifles, both the short barreled versions and the Target ones in 38-55 and 45-70, as well as other Brownings; was rarely beat for time and won many a 1st place trophy, including a 1st place at the US Championships two years in a row. It boiled down, in my opinion, to an accurate load and rifle, cartridges that chambered easily, smooth loading on the shooters part, i.e. no bobbles, and practice, practice, practice to get that way. I think this was a good indication of the fastest single shot type as the main variables were type of gun and the shooter. I could shoot a 45-70 Browning 1885 smokeless gun just about as fast as the 38-55 (had two different ones over the years) so I don't think cartridge is a big factor. Ruger No. 1's weren't allowed, no hammer, but they should be just as fast as the Browning in good hands.
JMHO

McLintock

[M-Tecs]

The OP was fastest single shot…
This must be the Winchester model 55 22lr. google it.
It is a single shot that automatically ejects the casing,

Never shot one but it reads like it would be slow to load http://www.pbase.com/thejerk/image/53620155

[JHeath]

I think the PTRD opened and ejected automatically. Don't know if that makes it the fastest single shot, since it requires an additional step of shaking your head for several seconds and trying to remember where you are after pulling the trigger.

[LtFrankDrebbin]

after a skim read here I'd vote the Martini being the quickest as well.

[Huvius]

I have read that the Soper beat out the Martini handily in their day.
William Metford dated 26th March 1871:
"Soper I got to see me in London, and yesterday I stopped at Reading, his place, and saw his gun work. If you recollect, I thought that his lever, which was supposed to be worked by the thumb, would be too powerless to extract brass cases. I found however that it was really worked with the ball of the thumb and that one could bring the force of the hand and arm to work. The lever has a 3 1/2 to 1 power. The gun shot in my presence at rate of 54 a minute and at a 200 yds target; I mean this rate was done still keeping the bore directed well enough to prevent the necessity of going close to the mound. The brass cases were used; 70 grs. powder and usual 480 bullet; they ejected excellently with no sticker I tried an ejector and it was peculiarly easy."

I have never shot a Soper but I would think that a Field patent rifle in either their falling block or tilting block side lever would be as quick.
Other side levers like the Fraser and Westley Richards 1881 would be pretty quick too.

[LynC2]

Years ago I shot a local NRA high power match (100 yds.) on a dare using a Ruger #3 in 30-40. Factory irons, just like out of the box. I managed to get a sharpshooter score too. The sitting RF was a real challenge, 10 shots in 60 seconds. Actually about 48 seconds since it started from the standing position and it takes me about 12 seconds to get into the sitting position and settle in. I got all the shots in the black too. :shock: Reloading a falling block action is pretty fast, but I also believe the Martini would be faster. Also when I use to hunt, a #1 was my favorite deer rifle.

[M-Tecs]

I had to look the Soper up but I think you are correct that it was the fastest. 60 rounds in 60 seconds is impressive.

http://www.hbsa-uk.isonlinehere.com/resource/Soper.pdf

"It was with a rifle of this model that Sgt. John Warrick of the
Berkshire Volunteers (and Soper’s assistant) achieved 60 shots in 60 seconds at the
Basingstoke Exhibition of 1870."

http://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1195432057

[LynC2]

The rate of fire with the Soper is indeed impressive; however I can only guess that was not aimed fire. I guess the spray and pray shooters have been around a lot longer than I would have thought. ;)

[M-Tecs]

Volley fire with smooth bores was the orginal spray and pray.

[Lead pot]

I have hunted using a single shot from the .22 to the Sharps with and lever rifles. I have never felt that I was handicapped with a single shot rifle. A post above mentioned that a sharps was slow :) They are no slower then any other single shot. You don't need to set the trigger when you have a set trigger it will fire just fine with out. You don't need to place it on 1/2 cock and you can make the sharps eject the empty case as well extract it if that is what you feel you need to do.
In the State I live in I can only use a muzzle loader for deer. I have never lost a deer I shot and hit and seldom needed a second finishing shot.
A hunter with a single shot will most generally make a good first shot placement that will put the game down and there is plenty of time to reload for a second finishing shot when needed.
This day and age the trend is self loaders that don't even look like rifles and when they are at the range they are clamped down on a rest and all they do is pull the trigger as fast as they can. They never learn how to shoot the rifle to get proficient out in the field.
I'm not saying all are like this, but look around when your at the range and watch how most shoot.

[.22-10-45]

Probably not what you guys are thinking of...but Winchester built a single shot semi-auto .22, Model 55.

[M-Tecs]

Probably not what you guys are thinking of...but Winchester built a single shot semi-auto .22, Model 55.

See post #26 & #28

[.22-10-45]

Oops..missed that one!

[marlinman93]

Of all the old single shot rifles, a Rolling Block that takes two moves to open it and reload a shell, plus a third move to prepare for firing; is probably the slowest. Any falling block style action that doesn't require the hammer to be cocked first will be much faster, and a falling block that also cocks the hammer on closing the lever will be the fastest. The old Win. 1885's all cocked on closing, so a quicker reload was much easier.
I hunt with my old single shot rifles, and when I have time to prepare for a shot, I put a 2nd cartridge between the first two fingers of my off hand. Even if I drop game with the first shot, I still kick the empty case out, and chamber the 2nd round. This way I just get into the habit, and if I need the 2nd shot for any reason, it's in the gun and ready. I've needed it a couple times, and it's proven to be a good habit to get into when hunting.