Went out this morning to shoot my 6MM Rem., and had it set up on one of the benches at our local range, while using my Caldwell rest system. I put a round in the mag, closed the bolt, and took the shot. The shot broke, with no cartridge being fired; just the audible click. Hmmmm... I opened the bolt, saw my round still in the mag well, and realized I didn't have the bolt back far enough to catch the case head when I loaded the round and closed the bolt before firing. Aha! Jacked the round in, and took the shot...all's well.
What I did learn on that "dry" fire, is that when my empty chambered shot broke, both my eyes were open, I had the bull centered quite well in the hairs, I didn't blink, and most of all, I didn't FLINCH one bit. Before I even wondered about the round not firing, and for what reason, I gave myself a bit of a kudos for doing a shot the way it was supposed to be done, at least by my standards. I shot five, at 100yds., and the group was just right at 1.5." Not great at all, but I was happy with it this morn, mostly with my surprise "dry fire."
Both my sons learned to shoot a high-power with that same 6MM, and I would do the single shot thing, loading for them while coaching. And yup, sometimes I'd not load a round to see if they would flinch or not. That old trick is still a valid one, even if you inadvertently do it to yourself.
What I did learn on that "dry" fire, is that when my empty chambered shot broke, both my eyes were open, I had the bull centered quite well in the hairs, I didn't blink, and most of all, I didn't FLINCH one bit. Before I even wondered about the round not firing, and for what reason, I gave myself a bit of a kudos for doing a shot the way it was supposed to be done, at least by my standards. I shot five, at 100yds., and the group was just right at 1.5." Not great at all, but I was happy with it this morn, mostly with my surprise "dry fire."
Both my sons learned to shoot a high-power with that same 6MM, and I would do the single shot thing, loading for them while coaching. And yup, sometimes I'd not load a round to see if they would flinch or not. That old trick is still a valid one, even if you inadvertently do it to yourself.