Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters rimless cartridges in hinge action rifles - for JB

John, I am considering purchasing a Merkel K3 single shot rifle. I would prefer it to be chambered for the rimmed cartridges 7x57R or 7x65R, but did not find any for sale. I have found .308, .270, etc. but have some concerns about ease of loading/ unloading and reliability of extraction with the small plunger extractors necessary for rimless cartridges in this design.

I live in Canada and often hunt in very cold conditions with gloves on, and I don't want to make handling cartridges any more difficult than cold weather already makes it. I understand you and your wife have some experience with a Merkel K1 in .308, so I ask - how is it to load / unload with gloves on? is extraction reliable? Would you recommend a .308 chambered rifle of this design?

I'm not John, but I'd hold out for one for a rimmed case. I have break actions in 7x57R and 9.3x74R, and have owned or used others in these and other rimmed calibres, and they've always worked well. The extractor for a rimless is inherently more complicated, because it needs to have that little spring-loaded element to engage the extractor groove, and that to me is a potential source of trouble. As well, in those I've tried, non-ejector versions and admittedly not Merkels, you also have to pull the case off the extractor, which seemed a bit slow and sticky, where with one set up for a rimmed round you can just flick the case clear.

You may be able to do what a fellow I know did with a double rifle in .30/06 though, and that is convert it to use a rimmed version of that round made by reforming 7x65R brass, by changing the extractor.

castnblast,

The single-shot Merkel extractor is not spring-loaded, or any type of plunger. Instead it's a very simple cam-operated design, using the opening of the action to push the empty back out of the chamber. I've had my .308 around a dozen years now, and the extractor has never fail to operate. You can either pluck the partly-extracted round the rest of the way out of the chamber (which might be a little difficult with gloves on, depending on the gloves) or tilt the rifle sideways, allowing the empty to fall out.

thank you.You may have just saved me about $1500 vs special ordering one!