TargetTalk

I shoot a Pardini that does not hold the bolt open when the last round is fired. I shoot at a range that is funny about closed actions, so I open the action between magazines and allow the bolt to drop with spring tension after I insert a fresh one by hardly touching the bolt handles. Is this a mistake? The more high level shooters I watch the more I see them insert magazines into Pardini pistols with the bolt closed and they then cycle the action from closed to closed again by holding the bolt handles throughout their travel.

I’m a huge believer in doing everything the same each time, and feel that allowing the bolt to close with it’s own spring tension is closer to how each round would normally be fed from the magazine, but is my practice potentially damaging the pistol?

I don't consider myself a "high level shooter" by any means, but I've shot Pardini SPs for 26 years. This has always worked for me:
1. After the 5th shot, use the bolt hold-open button.
2. Withdraw the empty magazine.
3. Insert the full mag.
4. Retract the bolt fully and release. Bob's your uncle.

I know shooters who fire 4 and switch mags while the 5th round is in the chamber. Although I've never heard of a mishap it strikes me as the least safe way to do it, and it probably violates some rule about loading more than 5 rounds in the pistol.

Pardini SPs and Walther GSPs are very forgiving, and you can probably reload any way you want short of cartridges backward in the mag.

Jon Math wrote:is my practice potentially damaging the pistol?

Not at all. For one thing, it's slamming shut even harder when cycling after each round fires. For another, gently closing the slide on a round can cause it to seat differently in the chamber. Neither is fatal, but most of us want each round to feed as consistently as possible. You're actually doing the right thing.

Thanks everyone!

I load the mag with the bolt open, and flick the bolt handle a bit to disengage the stop.

On subsequent mag changes, I insert the mag most of the way, pull the bolt back with the offhand thumb, seat the mag, and let the bolt go forward.

I don't like seating a full mag against the bolt bottom (I seem to recall Pardini saying not to do so, but that may have been for the HP.)