Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Blind magazine bolt actions

Never been that broke that I would have to settle for an ADL
These days I am DBM

Fixed it.🤡

Sorry, just picking low-hanging fruit.

It depends.
We also have to completely unload for any vehicle ride, so,
on the few occasions I have hunted with a group driving, and had
a blind mag, it sucked. In that situation DBM is the king.

But I rarely hunt that way.

Mostly I hunt several hours to a whole day without the need to unload.
Then, it really doesn't matter. Although as some have said, blind is often
shaped better and warmer. Another thing, the stock doesn't seem to show
the wear of my hand as fast as a floorplate does.
But I like to see that, good honest use.

Yep, amazing how many people don’t do this.

ADL is my preferred style for a hunting rifle hands down.

Can’t figure out the unloading argument here, as it takes me about 8 seconds to unload any of my fully loaded rifles with blind mags. No need whatsoever to fully chamber the round so the safety argument is another one I don’t get.

I like DBMs, they offer flexibility in COAL and I guess can be seen as handy in some situations. Will probably give a M5 type a try on my next build, which is going to be a mid weight, just to see how i like it. My only concern is how it will carry in hand.

Hinged floorplate is my least favorite. I don’t see the benefit or draw to these at all. Most of my rifles in the past were this style, still never found one advantage.

To each his own, just my opinions. But I’ll take a blind mag every day for a hunting rifle, especially light/mountain style that I’m normally carrying.

Nice.

20" is my limit, having done the shorty thing about 50 years ago. No plans for cans either at this point. Not sure if they're legal for hunting here, and ranges all require protection even if you're the only one there. One or two shots while hunting ain't gonna hurt me at this point, and there are other options. Would definitely get one for use on the little Virginia farms around here, if any of them would let me hunt!

Do the same, but how many times does one have to unload a rifle before it becomes obvious?

Truth is most times when hunting with floor plate rifle I often still empty it this way.

I'm okay with any technique for magazine access as long as the gun consistently cycles and produces moa or less accuracy. Have owned blind mags and always unloaded by half cycling a push feed bolt.......have always wondered how controlled feed bolts do this without chambering the round ......but if you half a 3 position safety it's a moot point I guess.

With CRF you feed the shell only part way, then pull the bolt back-slowly-then pick the round off the extractor. It will be sticking off at an angle and is easily removed. Then you put them in your pocket, one at a time.

Addition: If it means anything, I’ve had more rounds go to the ground when using a floor plate than removing them one at a time. NBD unless you have to go digging thru snow to get the round.

You do the same with a CRF as a PF. Actually you don't even need to go half way with the CRF. Once the cartridge is out of the mag and under the extractor claw just pull the bolt back and the ejector will release it. Just do it slowly so the cartridge isn't kicked out of the loading port.


By the way I have both CRF and PF rifles. I can live with both. Could probably warm up to a detachable mag as well.

All of my bolt action rifles which are repeaters have hinged or removable floorplates and most are just fine. However, a rifle with a blind magazine can be shaped to be much more comfortable in the hand.
For a friend of mine, I put together a 280, based on a Model 70 action, and it has a blind magazine. It is a very nice rifle to carry. The same guy has a couple of Kimbers, also with blind mags, which I really like.
If I decided to build myself a new hunting rifle, I would be inclined to build one with a blind magazine. In addition, a three round magazine would be just fine. This way, I could keep the rifle slim and shallow in the midsection so it would feel comfortable in my old, arthritic, hand. I always strive to get the balance right at the front guard screw, regardless of the overall weight. Whether or not the rifle has a blind magazine has little or no bearing on this since the weight is in the midsection anyway. The important thing, to me, is how comfortable the rifle is to carry and how easy to shoot. The blind mag can improve the former and has no influence on the latter. GD

Bill, a Brown Precision stocked M70 with a blind magazine will hold 4 down... regardless, 3 or 4 is plenty!

Would add, I genuinely dislike how McMillan offers a blind magazine profile on their M70 stocks... they're squared-off rather than rounded.

Yes sir...I was unpleasantly surprised on my first blind mag M70/MRC1999 order.

I like a blind mag on hunting rifles, especially lightweight rifles. I don't have a need to load/unload often....mainly just put one in the pipe/remove one from the pipe....no driving around for me. If feeding is good, I like blind mag.

I have recently moved a few BDL rifles (mainly Model Seven's) to detachable AICS mags. Lot's of options on bottom metal and mags now like the Curtis Custom and Ruger's 3 round that are very close to flush fit...actually on a squared off stock they feel better to me than a flush fit when carrying when my hand under the action. The biggest plus to me of the AICS mags/bottom metal is feeding.....especially for something like the .223AI. Someone really needs to create a flush fit AICS 223 mag with plenty of room for OAL.

Pro's/Con's both ways on all mag types. Choose what you like and put it to use.

Never really mattered to me.

Carl, theres really no issue with them except here in some states you are required to have an empty gun in your vehicle, or if it has a detachable mag, for that mag to be out. Unloading a blind mag continually is a pain in the ass...but I dont live in those states so I dont care.

All that said, I like a mag I can unload from the bottom...just seems handier..

Brad,
The most comfortable rifle, to carry in my hand, that I have, is an H&R Officers Model Springfield replica. Of course, being a single shot, the stock can be round and not deep. One time, when I was out looking for grouse, I was reflecting on how nice the old Winchester Model 67 was to carry and decided I should try to make one which felt kind of like that. I had a Sako single shot action with a 308 boltface so I barreled it in 260 and made a stock which was shaped, in the action area, sort of like that little 22. It is my most packable scoped rifle.
It became common practice among custom stock makers, to produce stocks with crisp lines and sharp edges. This included producing the little flat, sharply defined, around the bottom metal. It looks sharp and, if it is minimal and the the sides of the stock meet up with it smoothly, it can be OK. Sometimes, though, it just makes the rifle feel like you are carrying a board. GD

have several ADL's as well as 2 BDL's Rem 700's. Either way is fine by me. But what I really like and its just my personal preference is my Browning Abolt Medallion 7 mag that has a BDL style hinged floor plate but has a internal removal box magazine that mounts to the floor plate. "If" and it has never happened to me in 24 years of having that rifle, if the hinged floor plate were to happen to open while in the brush, the clip is actually snapped into the floor plate. It won't just fall out. I wish there was an after market BDL system like that for my 700, but I have yet to find it.

I own examples of both, but really prefer the blind magazine. It feels easier to carry and it doesn't dump your cartridges accidently. My latest blind mag rifle is a Winchester M70 pushfeed, manufactured in 2001.

How many of you have ever "accidently" hit the floorplate release button, and dumped the cartridges?

I've hunted with BDL style rifles for a long, long time, and never have.

I have hunted all My life, 34 years of deer hunting logging thousands of hours with BDL type bolt action rifles and never once dumped the magazine ...I am no big fan of blind mags and prefer a DBM (ala Tikka T3x) but most of my hunting rifles are Kimbers with blind mags so other features that I value more are in play here 👍........Hb