When I started shopping around for my first bolt action rifle a few years ago, I stumbled across one of the great classic debates within the shooting world: push feed action versus controlled round feed action. At the time, I didn’t quite grasp what all the fuss was over, and decided I couldn’t go wrong with the ubiquitous Remington 700 (which, it just so happens, is a push feed rifle).

 The Remington has served me well, but as I added more bolt guns to the stable, I couldn’t help but get sucked back into the “push feed versus controlled feed” argument. Not only is there disagreement over which style is “better”, there’s some debate over whether it makes any real difference at all.

The Debate: Controlled Feed vs. Push Feed Rifles

Almost all bolt action rifles work under the same basic principle. The shooter loads cartridges into a magazine — an internal magazine or a detachable box magazine. When the bolt is pulled to the rear, the spring in the magazine pushes the top cartridge up. When the bolt is pushed forward, the cartridge moves with it and into the chamber to be fired. The shooter pulls the bolt rearward again to eject the spent casing and load the next round.

The issue at hand is what exactly happens to that cartridge between the time it leaves the control of the magazine’s feed lips and the time it’s sitting snugly in the chamber.

Controlled Feed Action

In a controlled feed action, the extractor grabs onto the rim of the cartridge and guides it into the chamber. Wherever the bolt goes, the cartridge goes.

Here’s a demonstration of feeding and extraction with a controlled feed rifle both at normal speed, and then slowed down. Notice that if I move the bolt back and forth, the cartridge stays under the control of the extractor. The rifle used here is a CZ 527, which, like many controlled feed rifles, is based on the Mauser M98 action.

It’s a little easier to understand what’s going on if you remove the bolt and look at how it interacts with the cartridge up close. Notice the large claw-like extractor and the slot on the other side of the bolt.

controlled feed bolt
Bolt from a CZ 527 controlled feed action

I can slide a cartridge onto the bolt face with the rim underneath the extractor. When I move the bolt, the cartridge stays with it, just as it would inside the action.