What is you favorite type of magazine for a bolt action rifle?

This is how I feel about them:

Detachable magazines: while they provide ease of unloading and reloading, it is naother part to get lost in the rear or during a hunt and in many cases does not allow for an ideal OAL in ceratin guns. Some mags, like the rotary version on my Steyr do not faclitate reloads without removal of the mag.

Hinged Floorplate: One of my favorite, while it may be slower to unload then a detachable mag, it provides a solid base and since it is attached to the rifle you are never without it.

Bling Magazine Box: I just bought my first rifle with one of these the other day, I lie it a lot. It seems to be ideal for an all weather mountain gun type setup, as when the action is closed nothing can really get into the magazine. The obvious disadvantage is the fac t that rounds must be cycled through the action in order to unload the gun.

1) Hinged floorplate.
2) Blind magazine.

I don't like detachable magazines for the reasons you have already stated.

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

I kind of like a belt feed personally. My problem seems to get the Dept of Conservation to go along with my choice. Ah well, go fight city hall.
In reality though, detachable mag every time.

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Jay
"For God and Country"

I don't like the hinged floorplate because I had one that went bad on me during a hunt and it was a pain in the butt. If I had thought to take along some duct tape it would not have been much trouble.
For that reason, I prefer the blind magazines.
Oh yes, the hinged floorplate got a good coating of JB Weld and has not been any trouble since.

Bruce,

Your problem was due to poor manufacture, not an inherent design flaw.

Jay,
If the firearm is semi-auto and the belt contains no more than five rounds, ENCON can't do a thing about it.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

George.
Do you know anyone to convert a Ma Deuce to 5 round semi auto ONLY. Seems expensive to me. Guess I will have to stick to my usual deer rifle, (M-1A)
Jay

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Jay
"For God and Country"

Tweesdad,

Someone, I forget who, makes a semi M2 50 cal. I had the pleasure of shooting one of a few occasions a while ago because a friend had to have one and needed the marine along to assmeble and headspace it.

It wasn't quite as cool in practice as it was in theory, a total pain in the ass to get shooting.

Bill

I strongly preferr a hinged floorplate. Especially with CRF its the easiest to manipulate. To unload the gun, I open the bolt, preferrably on safe ( Win 70, Mauser, CZ 550 ), don�t eject, rather take out the round with fingers of right hand, put it back in mag, hold down ( with fingers of left hand wrapped around stock ) and close bolt above round. Just for insurance I put the rifle on full safe now. This works quicker than I need to describe it, also in complete darkness when leaving the forest.

At home I open the floor plate and remove the cartridges. Open bolt, check and with trigger pressed close bolt.

A magazine is one more thing to hold in Your hands while doing this. With a blind mag You have to cycle all rounds.

I agree with above posters, that the floor plate has to have a very secure latch, and perhaps should be checked before trusting it.

I�ve said this before, but I don�t like plastic floorplates!! CZ�s will go back to steel, but e.g. Tilla�s still have plastic!

Good shooting! h

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Hinged floor plate, you can't lose it and I was allways taught that a rifle with a detachable magazine attached was loaded. Thus if it has a detachable magazine I have a continual urge to remove it and hence lose it.

I like being able to top up from the top too.

Jay,

I know a guy in Ohio who can do it, but I'm sure there is information the Internet as to which parts to remove/replace to convert the M2 from full- to semi-auto (or vice versa).

Of course, it's impractical to lug an M2 around, but MAN, everyone in the county would here the report

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

Some jurisdictions prohibit a loaded firearm in/on a motorized vehicle. There are some perfectly legitimate hunting situations in which you may hunt from a vehicle. In these situations, a loaded detachable magazine is an advantage to getting into action quickly when game is spotted. Another advantage of the detachable magazine is that a second (or third) loaded magazine can be carried in a pocket, making very quick to get back into action in the (hopefully) rare occassions when all of the rounds in the magazine have been expended and an additinal shot(s) is needed.

Outside of these limited advantages, the fixed box magazine would be my preference, mainly because it can't get lost, and doesn't have a tendency to fall out if improperly inserted.

The floorplate style is handier than the blind box, but I can live with either.

I see no legitamate reason for other than a hinged floorplate...I normally replace the detent sping so recoil won't pop it open...

The original Mauser floorplates never pop open, but they are hard to open in a hurry..

Keep in mind that a jammed magazine in a blind magazine requires disasembly of the rifle..Not good in Africa or Alaska...

As to hunting out of a truck, a magazine may be a mental assist...You could just stick one in the barrel if I have to shoot fast...

I suspect you would have to be road hunting to justify that situation....

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

If I have a choice I prefer floorplates. Popping open has only happened to me when they were dirty and I then opened it and they wouldn't latch back securely until they got thoroughly. I have to say I have had an exponentially greater problem with feeding problems with detachable magazines. I still use them, but again my choice would be to eleminate it if possible.

Hinged floor plates if at all possible,but nothing is perfect.

A friend of mine was hunting elk with his new 338.win mag with a hinged floor plate and was driving down the road saw a elk in the field pulled over grabbed his rifle got into range cycled the action and click no bang. No floor plate no bullets no fun no elk. He found them in the back of his jeep. It turned out to be a problem with the thread locking compound so nothing is prefect but I will still take the floorplate

"Playboy"

Bill,

I will not touch a hunting rifle with a detacheable magazine!

Yesterday I had a talk with a friend who just came back from hunting in Africa. He told me they stopped their truck, and he got out of to go shoot an impala. When he tried to load his rifle, he discovered he did not have a magazine in it! It somehow got dropped without his knowledge.

Hinged floorplate for me.

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saeed@ emirates.net.ae

www.accuratereloading.com

Blind box (ADL style) or hinged floorplate (BDL style), but never a detachable box.

Bill,
That semi auto in .50 Browning is made by Barrett in TN. Our EOD uses them for detonating unexploded ordinance at distance. When I was in Panama, the SEALS had a single shot bolt gun that, I think, was made by McMillan. Cobalt