Detacheable Magazines on Bolt Actions? Whadda Ya Think?

[Scout]

OK - I have been reading and thinking over this one a fair bit. I want to know what other opinions are.  Detacheable mag on a bolt gun - silly or serious?  

Almost all the European rifles have em.  Few American rifles do.  I was thinking that one Con would be the chance of losing a magazine out on a hunt - and being stuck in single shot mode.   Replacement mags can be expensive too.    

Anybody ever lose a Det mag on their bolt action?

Different loads in different mags? - Well OK Think 308, Some 180g PSPs in on mag - Some light HP's in another - I dunno - I've never been varmint huntin and big game shootin at the same time - and if I was, I'd probably just shoot the varmint with the big bullet.  Only one trajectory to memorize too. Most all of the European sniper rifles have Det mags. But I have heard from a friend (and he has trained snipers)  that a sniper likes to stick with one load type - "consistency and simplicity" he said.

Quick reloads? Well maybe if its a real need - I am not really sure for hunting..

Notice how most American rifles max out at 4 rounds in the mag and depending on caliber maybe 3.  To me 5 seems to be a real nice number of rounds to sit in the magazine without any real worry about whether it's detacheable or not.. why not round up to 5?? I think most Weatherby's are 5 rounders and not detacheable.

[smoky]

I am contemplating installing DBM's on my 700 short BDL and 700 long BDL.  I think I would like the luxury of removing a clip before entering the house or camp versus dumping out a hinged floorplate and then reloading before each hunt.  H-S precision makes an all steel version, but it will cost you $150-200!  I will be checking with my smith to make sure that this is as simple and convienent as it seems.

Smoky

[Zachary]

I have detachable magazines and I love them.  However, there are certain designs that I like more over others.

My favorite DMs are my Browning A-Bolt I Stainless Stalkers. (This is the older version.  I don't know if the newer versions are different, especially since now Browning and Winchester are owned by the same company.)  You push a button on the bottom of the floorplate and the floorplate swings open.  The DM is attached to the floorplate and cannot fall out when you open it.  Once it is open, you can take the DM off of the floorplate.

Next are my Remington BDL SS DMs.  Unlike my Brownings, if you open the magazine, it can fall completely out because the "Floorplate" is actually the bottom of the DM.  However, I still like this DM over not having a DM.

Next is my Tikka Laminated Stainless.  It has a DM very similar to the Remington, except that it is thinner.

Either way, I love DMs.  I take them out when I'm going to the truck, and slide them in when it's time to hunt, rather than keeping on putting in bullet after bullet after bullet after bullet and then again taking them out and taking them out and taking them out.  Sorry to be repetative, but you get the point.

Now, some people say that the drawback to DMs is that the stocks are not as rigid and thus accuracy suffers.  They sounds true in theory, but all of my rifles with DMs shoot sub 1" groups at 100 yards, so I don't think that a more "rigid" stock would have increased accuracy.

Bottom line.  I love my DMs and find it difficult to go back to the "hinged floorplate" designs.

Hope this helps.

Zachary

[JOE MACK]

in the light that they ARE easy to reload under "field" conditions. It's the same as with any magazine rifle. Practice your reloads and there should be no problem. I can reload all my magazine fed rifles in just a few seconds without looking at the weapon. One must be familiar with the firearms they hunt with. Just a couple sighting-in rounds once a year doesn't cut it with me. I shoot them all year long from field positions. Not from the bench. With enough of the right kind of practice, it becomes second nature to load a magazine. RKBA! :wink:

[RWH24]

Since the change from Wheel guns to those with electricity, LEO's have been loading in the dark for some time. We are taught to keep our eyes on a target/threat or to scan the area, WE load shoot load again.  I have a Tikka and love the DM. Hate the blind mag (ADL style).
My $.02 worth.
Randy

[Mikey]

Scout, to me it is six of one and a half dozen of another.  I think in field practice it makes little difference.  A minor inconvenience is a bolt gun with a scope that crowds the ejection port and may delay reloading by a hair.  Detachable mags can drop out - had one do that on a Rem 788.  The holding brackets or screws can come loose.  They can wobble and make noise, or they can be tighter than a drum.  

One of the posters said they are difficult to reload under low light or field conditions.  Ok, get some spares.  I prefer the box magazine and carry a stripper clip of spare ammo - a lot cheaper than another mag and just as good for containing your spare ammo.  

I have sat on stand watching bambi working his way toward me while loading a box mag in a rifle with a scope.  No problem, ya'll don't even have to look, the cartridges go right in.  The only problem would be with a rimmed cartridge where you have to make certain the rim on the upper cartridge leads the rim on the lower one.  But you learn that quickly, too.  

I guess it goes back to an older saying that goes - beware the man with only one gun, as he likely knows how to use it well.  Every shooter should know his gun that well.  This be Mikey.

[Zachary]

My can assure all of you that my "silence" as to the issue of use of DMs in the field was inadvertent.  Fact is, I love them just as much in the field as I do when getting back into the truck.  

On a somewhat negative note (even though I love them) I must say that I have heard, although I have no experience with, the Remington DMs making "rattling" noises.  Again, I have never had this problem, maybe because my Remington DMs are still relatively brand new and, as such, are not worn out to the point that they rattle (again if this is true).

On a different, yet somewhat related, subject, Remington Synthetic stocks are very cheap.  As such, I recently purchased an HS Precision stock for my BDL SS in .30-06.  A person from HS Precision informed me that he too heard about people complaining about Remington DMs rattling, and that this was caused by the Remington DMs not having an "O-ring."  I guess this makes sense, but my Brownings and Tikkas don't have O-rings and they do not make any noise either.

BTW, my new HS Precision stock looks just like the Sendero Stock except that it is a bit thinner to accomodate the thinner sporter barrel.  However, the new stock also does not have a DM.  HS Precision offers a DM option, but it costs about $200.  The Stock cost me $250.  I cannot justify the additional cost of $200 for the DM.

Zachary