What Type Of Magazine Do You Prefer On Your Bolt Action Rifle?

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

To be clear i prefer removable mags. Haveall diff types but prefer removable

 

[Philip Glass]

I have this thing about detachable magazines on bolt action hunting rifles. I don't care for them. It's mostly personal preference but the few bolt action rifles I've had feeding issues with were detachable magazine rifles. Coincidence? Probably, but I still don't like them. Give me a hinged floor plate any day. In fact, when I'm perusing the used rifle rack at gun stores all I look for are hinged floor plate rifles. If it has a removable magazine I look right past it. Not interested.

The down side is there are some really good rifles that have removable magazines. Cooper, Weatherby, Browning to name a few. My CZ550FS in 308 has a removable magazine. So does my Cooper 300H&H. Love the rifles but I'd much prefer they had hinged floor plates.

What about you? Does it matter to you either way?

I certainly have both but do not prefer the detachable mag. Luckily my R8 can lock the mag in place. I am always worried about losing a mag. A friend made the mistake of packing all his mags in his ammo box instead of his gun case. When AA only sent his rifle to Qatar on the way to Namibia he not only had to find ammo but had to hunt with a single shot for 3 days!

 

[mark-hunter]

To add to my prevoius comment.
If removable, preffered type is metal mag.

 

[AZDAVE]

@CoElkHunter yes you just sell those whitworth's to me

 

[Velo Dog]

Removable magazines annoy me…bah humbug.

 

[mdwest]

All basic designs have advantages and disadvantages... I've owned box mag rifles, blind mag, and hinged floor plate rifles.. and never really cared or had much concern for what type of magazine a rifle has when I have purchased it other than knowing that the design is good and there are no known defects with it...

I get the concern some people have with a detachable box, or even a hinged floorplate for a DG rifle.. but that isn't really an issue for me personally.. In 40+ years of shooting rifles in just about every condition you can imagine (competitively, hunting, plinking, in the snow, in the rain, in the heat, in the sand, in the mud, etc..etc..).. I have never had a box mag drop out without me intentionally engaging the release.. and never had a floorplate release without me intentionally engaging the release mechanism....

Again, I fully recognize the possibility that it could happen.. but.. using well maintained, well inspected equipment that are known to be quality made and without defect... largely negates this possibility..

Frankly Ive had other parts of firearms that people never expect to fail, fail on me... for example, I just had a firing pin on a a 98 mauser break off at the tip and stop functioning a couple of weeks ago... No one expects that to happen on a not heavily used, not abused, well maintained, very well manufactured (VZ24) 98 mauser.. but I've never had a magazine failure related to accidental opening or an opening occurring due to a breakage, etc..

 

[IvW]

 

[pjaln]

America Concari steinbok ,never held one in hand but it sure looks good

 

[Inline6]

Dependable mags.

Have had all types of mags fail in some fashion. Run your equipment and test it. Run it fast and slow, sometimes the problems show up in only one condition. It is all mechanical and it can all fail.

 

[Alistair]

I'm not that picky to be honest.

As long as it's double stack so I can top it off, not plastic and it fits flush, I'm golden.

I have a fondness for a hinged floor plate for the aesthetic, but a decent 4-5 round flush fit detachable box mag is absolutely fine as well and gives you the option of a 8-10 round extended mag and/or a second loaded mag if you want to do running boar competitions or cull work.

What I don't like are the injection molded single stack mags on Tikkas and the like where you have to drop the entire mag just to slot an extra one in if you take a shot. They usually work just fine, but they're a bit fiddly in the field and a bit ugly.

 

[mark-hunter]

Removable mag, makes it easier to unload the rifle.
For example during break in the field when with other hunters, we start fire, and barbique sausages on sticks, during the break of day long driven hunts.

Unload the mag, and put it in pocket. Rifle is safe. Start hunt, put it back in.
Very fancy.

that is how I lost the removable mag. From my pocket
It was not fault of design, it just dropped from my pocket.

This is another variable, in complex thing of hunting in the field.
But it cannot happen to fixed mags, or hinged mags.

 

[CoElkHunter]

After reading all of the posts here, regardless of the magazine system of ANY rifle, how many shots does anyone have to take on any ONE PG animal? I've only had to take two shots ever on ONE elk. I missed a cull impala and cull blesbok and had no chance at a second shot as they ran off. I missed a "trophy" blesbok twice at 300 yards and needed a third shot to take the one (it was bigger) 50 yards behind it. That's it for me in 30+ years of hunting PG here and my one trip to Africa. Seems to me the magazine issue for PG is a moot point? I don't know, maybe a lot of hunters are like my father in law, who two weeks ago missed FOUR different cow elk, but finally got the FIFTH, after shooting a BOX of .300WM cartridges! Unbelievable!

 

[CoElkHunter]

Removable mag, makes it easier to unload the rifle.
For example during break in the field when with other hunters, we start fire, and barbique sausages on sticks, during the break of day long driven hunts.

Unload the mag, and put it in pocket. Rifle is safe. Start hunt, put it back in.
Very fancy.

that is how I lost the removable mag. From my pocket
It was not fault of design, it just dropped from my pocket.

This is another variable, in complex thing of hunting in the field.
But it cannot happen to fixed mags, or hinged mags.

I keep my one DM in the cargo pocket of my BDUs. It won't come out unless that pocket is ripped open. FYI

 

[mark-hunter]

@CoElkHunter
After that experience, I have the same approach with my spare mag and pockets!

How many shots a hunter needs?
When I come to think of it, it is not about the hunting only.
It is about the rifle, and what gun factories are doing today.

Mauser had double stack, flush mag, 120 years ago.
Now we degrade this, to single stack, 3 rounds, and or sticking out from stock in case of 5,?

Just because its cheaper. (?!) I cant find any other reason for this.

To make proper double stack magazine, you need separate housing for each group of calibers, in order to accommodate two stacks, where center to center of each cartiridge is 60 degrees. Its engineering and design.
If factory does not do that, the space is lost, and magazine capacity is reduced.

When you have single stack mag, what do you get?
Much more calibers go in it, just fill in spacers in the gap for smaller group of calibers.
It makes cheaper production.

In the field, 3 shots in mag should be enough for plains game. Or for various deer in northern hemisphere.
But, its not only about that. Its also about the rifle.
High end rifle, single stack mag?

Hmmmm It makes expensive rifle cheap in my eyes. they can do better then that.
Sauer 202/404, Merkel Helix, etc.

A joke?
Find westley richard, or holland and holland or rigby, bolt action with single stack mag?

If I buy budget rifle, with single stack mag, like tikka, fine - no issue with that. I have tikka btw.
But expensive gun must have better mag design then single stack.
It is also about the taste. Not only about functionality.

 

[Alistair]

After reading all of the posts here, regardless of the magazine system of ANY rifle, how many shots does anyone have to take on any ONE PG animal? I've only had to take two shots ever on ONE elk. I missed a cull impala and cull blesbok and had no chance at a second shot as they ran off. I missed a "trophy" blesbok twice at 300 yards and needed a third shot to take the one (it was bigger) 50 yards behind it. That's it for me in 30+ years of hunting PG here and my one trip to Africa. Seems to me the magazine issue for PG is a moot point? I don't know, maybe a lot of hunters are like my father in law, who two weeks ago missed FOUR different cow elk, but finally got the FIFTH, after shooting a BOX of .300WM cartridges! Unbelievable!

I think for trophy animals 1 maybe 2 shots is plenty.

However, I used to do some hind stalking in Scotland (basically cull hunts). It was pretty common to shoot the mother, then shoot the calf as they tended to hang around when mum didn't scarper. I wasn't comfortable doing that with a 3 round mag in case of a miss or a poor shot on one or the other, so I used to use 5 round mags for the purpose. I never actually fired more than 3 so it was probably redundant, but I'd have felt crappy if I wounded one and didn't have a round spare when I really needed it.

Same story with driven boar on the continent where it isn't entirely unusual to have little sounders of 3 or 4 shootable beasts moving through in a short period. If you're good with the first shot, it's feasible to have a couple down in without reloading the magazine which presents the same potential concern.

 

[Dwight Beagle]

My preference in order:
Blind
Hinged Floorplate
DBM
I have an irrational dislike for DBM’s.

 

[Nevada Mike]

I have rifles with hinged floor plates and one Dakota 76 short action .257 Roberts with a blind magazine. The Dakota gave me trouble feeding until we figured out the problem and fixed it.

Still, I prefer the Mauser design with integral bottom metal and magazine box with hinged floor plate. These WORK because they are designed for the intended cartridge and optimal staggered cartridge stack. I find these the most reliable and smoothest feeding.

The Model 70 with two piece bottom metal and sheet metal magazine leaves much to be desired. I usually replace them with Blackburn or Sunnyhill bottom metal. Once this is done they are reliable, IMO.

The Savage 99 and Mannlicher Schoenauer rifles have excellent magazine designs, though I have never owned either.

 

[OldnLazy]

I have 3 Dasher kit mags. Two for comps. One has a +2 on it and I primarily use it. One is standard length and I leave it in my spare mag pouch on my belt every stage. And is an AW HRD kit for rooftops or other limiting obstacles.

I have 4 AICS mags I bought from Brownells bc they had a sale of $40 a mag. I only use two.

I have 11 AW mags bc one came with the gun and some dude sold me a box of 10 for $20 each back in 2008.

And 1 ARC mag so I can feed SAUM based rounds in a hunting rifle.

Randomness based on sales and other incidental factors. For competition, 3. One in the gun, one on the belt, and one as backup. For hunting, 2. One in the gun, one in the jacket pocket (I don't really know why but I do it). For zombies, all of them.

 

[meigsbucks]

No real preference except whatever it is, it needs to be secure and feed reliably. I do prefer the mag not protrude, although I do have a couple that do. A majority are hinged floor plates or single shots.

 

[dougfinn]

I really liked the Browning system that had the detachable magazine attached to the hinged floor plate. Best of both worlds in my opinion.