Blowing up my face: OPINIONS WANTED

[Bad Hand Dan]

Howdy!

So I'm workin' on being a freaky Rifleman Cowboy. With my only working arm being my right one, I'm thinking of trying something. OPINIONS WANTED!

I have to work my lever with the gun on my left forearm and hold and shoot the rifle with my right hand only. Slowwww...

I've thought of putting a weight on the butt stock of my rifle(for balance) - Dropping the rifle off my shoulder. Snapping my right hand down/up VERY quickly and returning the gun to my shoulder. All one handed. I need a short stroke rifle that is strong enough to with stand this motion.

Will I blow myself up? Anyone ever tried this?

Al input appreciated.

Bad Hand Dan
Super Duelist One-Handed 12 Gauge Shotgun Kung Fu Master

[Doc Shapiro]

Dan, I know a couple of shooters in the East that either have one hand or one bad arm.  They do what you are doing now, and do it well.  You might benefit from having the action of your rifle worked over so that it is smoother.  And lighter springs so that the lever is easier to work.

Doc

[Bad Hand Dan]

Thanks Doc!

I had a gunsmith scare me with tales of blowing my face off, but there is no engineering reason for it. I'm not shooting faster than a two handed Cowboys are.

BTW,I solved my sighting problem with your suggestion. I blocked off the left eye of my shooters glasses. Worked like a champ!

God Bless,

Bad Hand

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[Doc Shapiro]

Oh, it is possible to have an out of battery discharge with what you are contemplating.  The inertia of the bolt moving back and forth like that can push a firing pin forward fast enough to set off a round.  Especially if it doesn't quite chamber all the way.  Manatee had a video with a primed case that wouldn't chamber.  It went off without ever touching the trigger.  Just by working the lever briskly.

I'd caution you against it.

Glad ya took care of the other problem with a peice of tape.

Doc

[Marshal Halloway]

Bad Hand,

You might want to get in touch with Samuel Bandit Carpenter. He shoots one handed with all his guns in Main Match. If you have RealPlayer installed, look at this video:
http://www.cascity.com/castv/swstv5.htm

You can get hold of Bandit here:
http://www.cascity.com/posseprofiles/bandit

[Lars]

Bad Hand,

I practiced one-handed rifle shooting a few months ago, just in case I had to do it (I don't, at least not yet). I found I could do it with a Rossi 92 carbine that is slightly muzzle heavy. I did tuck the butt under my shoulder and worked the lever sharply, but not as fast as I used to. It was really slow because of the extra effort of putting the butt under my shoulder after each shot, then back to shoulder, reacquire target. IF I ever have to go the one-handed route, I would make a buttplate with the long extension to the toe of the buttplate, often seen on schuetzen target rifles. Hopefully, that would allow me to keep the rifle on shoulder while levering. Maybe even a full schuetzen buttplate would be better.

I too have watched the same one-handed shooters as Doc Schapiro. They are were not the slowest shooters at monthly matches.

Best Wishes for finding a good solution,

Lars

[Ozarks Ranger]

If ya have a short stroked rifle 73/66 or marlin you can keep the rifle on your sholder and you may want a butt wrap put on it to keep it from slipping off of your sholder. the short stroked rifle with a lever wrap and butt wrap can be levered with just the fingers and not have to leave the sholder.
the extra lever wrap and maybe a glove should let even a person with short fingers do just fine
Good luck, My hats off to ya!
Doc may have a vedio of this too

Snake Eyes

[BlaiseNSaddles]

It would seem to me (but I could be wrong) that a pump type rifle would be a bit easier then a lever one handed as the motion of racking a round tends to push the rifle into the shoulder.

I saw an ad from Cimmaron for a short 20" .32 H&R mag pump rfile.