Hand feeding

[Fretless]

While researching my next rifle purchase I learned that it is not recomended to hand chamber
a Mouser action due to risk of breaking the extracter.  A call to my local shop confirmed this.
However, the manual for the 527 .223 Varmint says " Loading is also possible for single cartridges
by directly inserting into the chamber..."  But putting a round into the chamber and closing the bolt
the extractor does no engage the cartridge.  I don't want to force it. 

So, is hand chambering okay or not recomended?

Thanks.

[armoredman]

I would always reccomend going from the magazine. The 527 extractor claw is very tough looking, but why stress equipment when you don't have to? Save the single load when something is charging and you HAVE to do it right now. Load the mag ans go from there.

[Fretless]

Thanks, it does seem that it would take ALOT of force to get the claw over the rim.

[mauserand9mm]

It's common on Mauser 98 rifles used for dangerous game to modify the extractor so it does spring over the case rim (very simple modification by the way) - better to do this just in case the cartridge some gets ahead of the extractor. There are no concerns about stressing and breaking the extractor - the movement is certainly within the range that it was designed for.

[ZG47]

The extractor on a genuine 98 Mauser, with all original parts, should cam over the rim of a cartridge placed in the bolt way or chamber. If you look at the metal hook behind the extractor and the cut in the bolt you will see that it is designed to cam over a rim in an emergency situation (when going forward) and not to let go when extracting.

Matt Grant wrote about this decades ago, probably in The American Rifleman. The article was included in The Sharpshooter, Matt & Bruce Grant, A.H. & A.W. Reed, Wellington, Sydney, London, 1972; compiled by Bruce after his father's death. A revised version was also published. If you search long enough, you might be able to buy a copy online. Alternatively, I have a feeling that Frank de Haas covered the subject in Bolt Action Rifles.

The problems are:

(1) Copies such as the P14/M17 do not have this feature.

(2) Parts have been mixed and matched over the years.

(3) Ammo makers have invented their own specs e.g. Remington ammo for Weatherby apparently has a shallower extractor groove, so which ammunition to set your extarctor up for?