Any one have practical experience with this? I really like the look of the original Schuler rifles with the extended mag box - more so than dropped magazine boxes.

Anyone built one like this? What kind of modifications are required on the receiver rails? If someone has one of these rifles, would you mind posting some pics of the magazine / feed rails, and maybe some mag box dimensions?

Many thanks,
Todd

One more time... help please.

Duane Weibe?

I have some cartidge specs, took a bit to find, all from a drawing of the cartridge dated 8/21/1928:
2.75" L
.604" shoulder
.616" base
.569" rim

Will have to break out the calipers and see how this fits the standard cutout of an 8x57 mag box...

well, first look up 2000 CIP specs...they are the latest, though for magazine boxes, I suspect those 1928 dimensions are plenty close.

No, never had any call to do what you plan. I experimented a little with "straight line" feeding, that is, right up the middle...easy to do, but loading thru the rails became next to impossible. At the time I thought a detachable magazine would work well, but deemed not practical for a dangerous game rifle. Keep us posted!

Contact Tom Kessel (WVTom on AR); he is not a gunsmith, but he has a couple rifles using that feed method, & can tell you who did the work. Just call him before noon EST at 304-744-3811, introduce yourself as a fellow AR member, & ask him. You can mention me (Frank Beller) & tell him I said to call.

Tom,
the easist way to figure out singlestack...
get a 45 acp single stack mag and look.... john moses browning is a genius

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Tom,
the easist way to figure out singlestack...
get a 45 acp single stack mag and look.... john moses browning is a genius

....But...you gotta take the magazine out to load it...

pesky details...

My friend has an original Schuler in .500 that is a single stack and on that rifle Schuler added a detent spring on the right rail of the action to facilitate single stack feeding. It works and you do not have to remove the Magazine. It is a bit fugly though. Not try to argue with Duane in the least, he knows much more about the subject than I do. I just thought I would mention that one. Actually the gun is in my shop now. I'll try to post a picture in the morning.
Steve

fortunately, i know tom, and he would at least modify the idea to hold the 500 jeffe, rather than the acp (which is the next SA comment LOL )

and then get a $35 single space mag from weatherby, and see how they did it... its modified, but retains the same concept, as JMB came up with, and you don't have to take it out to load it

Here is the way Herr Schuler handled this rifle and the single stack feeding. The blue marked lip is a spring that is inlet into the right rail.
Steve

As I remember TIP BURNS in Canyon Lake Texas built a 500 Jeffery for the Houston Safari Club a couple of years past. The magazine was a stagger, however it single stack down the middle of the action. You might contact him via the link above.

SKB: Thanks for the photo and info...Something like this is also featured in "Original Oberendorf Sporting Rifles"...A couple examples had a spring clip on each side...your photo looks way cleaner.. Guess there's been a hundred ways to deal with this, but careful rail work, proper follower and magazine box allow these big rounds to feed smoothly and reliably

Wow - go away for a couple days and the thread fills up.

Thanks for all of the responses. I asked for you in particular Duane because I know you have built some 500 Jefferys. I also found another drawing in my saved files, which is I believe the current spec - like you said though, close enough to get the idea of mag box dimensions.

I know the idea is not very practical, but I love the look and realistically, even if I do take it hunting in Africa, the likelihood of me having to reload urgently is not high. I would either be flat or the action would be over long before I reached #3 or #4 (however many rounds it holds).

The spring is cool - I have though of using a clip-type spring that fits around the bottom of the rail, in similar fashion. That would also allow loading from the top.

SKB, thanks for the great photo. While you have that beauty in the shop, could I trouble you for more photos of the rails from directly above / below, the mag box setup, and perhaps an upper view rail shot with millimeter ruler next to it for scale?

Many thanks,
Todd

TMG

I am not a Gunsmith, but one way would be to have the cartridges not use the reciever to feed, but to have a seperate U shaped spring/feedrail piece inside the magazine box.

Being a "spring" you could feed the cartridges straight down, the "rails" being forced open to accept the cartridges, yet with enough spring pressure to hold them under the pressure of the follower.

The magazine of the Blaser R 93 works somewhat in this way, [except it is plastic and "stacks the cartridges in a rotary fashion].