I was looking at some gun catalogues from Europe, and apart from Sako, most seem to have gone to removable magazines on their rifles!!

As if that is not bad enough, the ejection ports make it impossible to load the rifle through it.

While hunting, I like to add ammo to my rifle as a round gets fired.

These new rifles make that impossible!! Unless one takes the magazine out!!

This trend is completely nonsens....as the current straight-pull rifle craze....IMHO..

quote:

While hunting, I like to add ammo to my rifle as a round gets fired.

+1

Completely agree, gents. Moreover some even remove the entire PLASTIC trigger housing group, integral to the magazine. No thanks.

+2

I agree with Saeed, some of these rifles would be much nicer without a detachable magazine. In my opinion on a rifle, especially a hunting rifle, it is just something to loose and often designs that favor these magazines make the action harder to get at. No positives to me.

I agree with Saeed as well. However, I'm OK with the Sako design because you can add rounds and load from the top.

I hunted buffalo and plainsgame in Zim/Chewore one year and carried my Sako 375 H&H with detachable magazines. It actually worked really well. I would keep a magazine of softpoints (300 grain Swift A-Frames) in the gun and crank in a round whenever we got out of the LandCruiser. If we were pursuing plainsgame I would leave the magazine in the gun loaded with softpoints. If we decided to go after buffalo, I would leave the softpoint in the chamber and then quickly/easily switch out the detachable magazine with an extra mag loaded with 4 rounds of 300 grain Barnes solids.

In Zim/Chewore, you could be tracking one species and suddenly come across another species. Since we tracked buffalo everyday (something Ian Gibson was so good at), but I didn't shoot my buff until the 4th day of my safari, I had a lot of practice changing out the detachable magazines. I shot quite a few really nice plains game animals during those 4 days when we were targeting buffalo, but came across Impala, Kudu, warthog, grysbok, etc.

The one advantage to a removable magazine is when hunting from a vehicle. You stop to glass or observe an animal...you load up and leave the vehicle briefly. When getting back in, you just pop out the magazine and the rifle is unloaded. That's easier than jacking the rounds out, or opening the floorplate and dumping them, only to reload them at the next stop.

Also you can often find old French fries whilst searching under the seat for your magazine. Or check for Oil leaks when you kick it out of the truck and then under the truck.
Having said that, I used a 760 Remington for years and never lost a Magazine. Had two. Also the Box magazines on the M4 platform certainly do their job. Still prefer to load top down as described above but understand the cost of the rifle needed to hit the Mass Price point is what is driving the trend towards Detachable magazines today.

I'm more worried about having fewer and fewer places to hunt here and abroad.

This seems like a relative non-issue.

Hated that about my f-i-l's .338 WinMag in Tikka Whitetail model. Another drawback of DM's happened with two different magazines in my .280 Remington BDL DM model. Rather than loading / chambering rounds they would simply "eject" out the port!~!~ Had to go the Kwik Klip route, which is as Saeed describes in thread opening. Doesn't matter with an accurate rifle intended for stand hunting, but the option of swapping magazines to choose a different weight bullet based on hunting situations got defeated.

Although I have mixed feelings about detachable magazines, there is no faster way to charge a rifle, and that can sometimes be very important.

i dunno none of my single shots or doubles have them

quote:

Originally posted by Navaluk:
I'm more worried about having fewer and fewer places to hunt here and abroad. This seems like a relative non-issue.

Agreed, but this gives everybody something a bit lighter to debate and toil over.

Why the trend towards this design do you guys think? Cheaper to produce, preferred for European stalking (clear carry), ability to reload a new "clip" for driven shoots, or ?

Hey, Shumba's back!!!

Hunting here in the North of BC Canada I just love removable mags and plastic guns !!!!

It is against the law to have ammo in a gun when in a vehicle, ATV or a boat under power. It makes it so easy to have your ammo in a removable mag in your pocket when hunting up here. Having to dump ammo from a closed mag or hinged mag every time you get on an off the ATV or in the truck is a drag ! Every year for the last 18 years we have been stopped by game cops and they have checked for loaded weapons, even check pump and semi shotguns for mag capacity. The mags have to be plugged to hold only two round.

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i dunno none of my doubles have them

Are those the ones with the corks on strings in the muzzles?

I recently took the bait and took a NIB Savage Axis in trade.

I kept it exactly two days and one trip to the range. The magazines are very hard to load, very sloppy in their fit in the gun, the magazine release felt like it was ready to break everytime you removed the magazine, and as Saeed said, they are impossible to load/top off through the port.

I have all pre 64 Win 70's except for my little Weatherby Vanguard II carbine in 223. All have hinged floorplates and can be loaded from the top!

Detachable mags? How terrible, Everyone knows any respectable weapon can't have such a poorly thought out mechanism.

I hope the military doesn't start buying rifles with such a horrific feature...our troops will be doomed!

Can see where the detachable mags have their place, but I will stick to my M70's.

Just wondering if this is a result of the European style of driven game hunting and modern manufacturing methods.

I guess the removable mag is a good idea for safety considerations in driven game hunts with several guns and drivers.

With modern CNC manufacturing methods, I wish someone would resurrect the old pre WW2 Mannlicher Schoenauer rifles particularly in the medium calibers.

A lot of experienced hunters for whom I have a lot of respect don't like detachable magazines, but I take a contrary view. I use a Bill Wisemann .416 Rem. as my go to rifle for just about everything. Yeah, I carry a backup rifle, usually a .375, but I carried light rifles in 2013 and 2015, but I've shot exactly one impala with a light rifle.

The Wisemann rifle has detachable magazines that hold 4 rounds. I have three. Here's what I like about them. I keep one in the rifle and always top off the magazine from a slide on my belt upon leaving the gari. I also have a standard grenade pouch on my belt that is perfect to hold two spare magazines, one with softs, one with solids.

I can change from softs to solids in short order or restoke a magazine without taking the rifle out of commission, always have one up the pipe.

Much faster reloads on buffalo. When you are down to one up the pipe and two in the magazine, you can plug in a new magazine and you're fully loaded.

Oh, and the Wisemann is push feed, so I'm sure that is disqualifying for a lot of folks. But it drives tacks and it's never failed me. I did short stroke it on two occasions, but that's on me.

Bill Wiseman knows how to make a shooter, for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
A lot of experienced hunters for whom I have a lot of respect don't like detachable magazines, but I take a contrary view. I use a Bill Wisemann .416 Rem. as my go to rifle for just about everything. Yeah, I carry a backup rifle, usually a .375, but I carried light rifles in 2013 and 2015, but I've shot exactly one impala with a light rifle.

The Wisemann rifle has detachable magazines that hold 4 rounds. I have three. Here's what I like about them. I keep one in the rifle and always top off the magazine from a slide on my belt upon leaving the gari. I also have a standard grenade pouch on my belt that is perfect to hold two spare magazines, one with softs, one with solids.

I can change from softs to solids in short order or restoke a magazine without taking the rifle out of commission, always have one up the pipe.

Much faster reloads on buffalo. When you are down to one up the pipe and two in the magazine, you can plug in a new magazine and you're fully loaded.

That sounds well thought out and pragmatic.

The key to using a rifle with a DM is have 2 or more mags at all times....

quote:

Originally posted by lavaca:
Oh, and the Wisemann is push feed, so I'm sure that is disqualifying for a lot of folks. But it drives tacks and it's never failed me. I did short stroke it on two occasions, but that's on me.

Sounds like that you can actually load this rifle from the loading port.

If that is the case, I have no problems with a detachable magazine.

Problem with European made rifles is the fact that a detachable magazine comes along with a very narrow ejection port, that makes it impossible to load it from the top.

The old SMLE 303 British rifles had a fantastic 10 shot detachable magazine which could also be charged using 5 cartridge charger clips. This, along with an unbreakable big strong through bolt holding the butt stock in place, is what made the SMLE one of the best battle field rifles ever produced.

Thousands upon thousands of red deer, tahr and chamois were culled in NZ with the old SMLE, deer cullers often shooting until the barrels were so hot they almost drooped. A bag full of clips and magazines provided this awesome fire power as it did in battle.

Like many I cut my teeth on the 303 with its virtually indestructible 10 shot detachable magazine.

Nearly all European makers have removable magazines. I use an R8 Blaser which you can load from the top, and also lock the magazine in place too.

Due to gun laws in Germany you end up loading and unloading guns permanently. This is why a lot of people like them. I prefer fixed clearly but had good success also in Africa with Sauer 202.

Pretty much describes my Tikka Superlite. I carry a second magazine already loaded.

Tikka T3 Lite in 300 Win

= "Plastic Fantastic"
= the absolute antithesis of a Classic African hunter

....... and yet I love mine, its a dandy to haul up mountains and over valleys and above all it shoots where you aim. 77 gr R22 and a 168 gr TSX match bullet plenty precision !

I love detachable magazines. Every bolt action rifle should have one.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I was looking at some gun catalogues from Europe, and apart from Sako, most seem to have gone to removable magazines on their rifles!!

As if that is not bad enough, the ejection ports make it impossible to load the rifle through it.

While hunting, I like to add ammo to my rifle as a round gets fired.

These new rifles make that impossible!! Unless one takes the magazine out!!

......................Plus one for top loading!

Detachable magazines -- I can take them or leave them. And like most people who have used them I have left them somewhere or another at various times in the past.

There are two kinds of guns with detachable magazines: Those from which the magazines have been lost and those from which the magazines will be lost.

Moral to story: Always buy a couple of spares before the manufacturer quits making them (just check the going price of a Sako Finnwolf magazine or a Sako L469 magazine for .222 Magnum -- if you can find one.)

I did use my Sako TRG-s in Africa, and with a couple of spares it came in handy on a cull hunt. As others have pointed out, where a "loaded" gun is prohibited by law in a vehicle, the DM is pretty handy.

Stone:
Or Cooper $108 each!!
I'd rather have a single shot than DM's.
Carry a couple in the off hand with practice can be almost as quick.
George

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Moral to story: Always buy a couple of spares before the manufacturer quits making them

Where is the best place in the USA to buy spare magazines for a Tikka T-3 Lite ?
Too expensive here. I was quoted NZD $ 169.00 each !! Pretty expensive plastic !!

Yes, Saeed, you can load from the top if it suits your fancy. Nigel Archer, Tony Archer's son, once told me it was "a bit clunky" but I love it anyway. It's dropped a couple of running buffalo in their tracks; so much for clunky. I know that's child's play given your experience with buffalo.

detachable magazines are just the thing if your hunting party walks in the elephants L-shaped ambush and your need to gain fire superiority. :<

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
As others have pointed out, where a "loaded" gun is prohibited by law in a vehicle, the DM is pretty handy.

In NZ we can shoot from a vehicle on private land or roads but cannot carry a loaded firearm in a vehicle on public roads or in a public area. Here even a 'loaded' DM separated from the firearm is classed as having a loaded firearm

I was raised with detachable magazines and normally do not have a problem with them. Same as eagle27. However to me, they should be double stack, not single. Also some of the magazine release catches need redesigning.

I do not mind the small ejection port on calibres for non dangerous game, however on anything that can bite back I like to be able to top load if I have to.

No experience with removable magazines until buying a Remington 783 recently.

The receiver is tubular and the ejection port is too narrow to top load the magazine. Can't get a finger in there to push the round down. However you can single load by inserting a round in the ejection port and closing the bolt.
The good thing about this design is that the action is very rigid and combined with pillar bedding this has been the most accurate rifle out of the box I have ever owned.

It has always been my habit while deer hunting to empty the chamber and then push the ejected round down into the magazine and close the bolt on an empty chamber. The rifle rides on the pasenger side of the truck muzzle down. On the frequent ocasions while driving back to the camp a hog is spotted, the rifle can be quickly loaded and fired at the hog from the truck window. All of which is legal in Texas.

Now with this rifle it will be necessary to clear the chamber, remove the magazine, replace the round in the magazine, close the bolt on an empty chamber, replace the magazine in the rifle. Just one more step.