Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Detachable Mags

Is it just me, or are detachable mags are an unnecessary PIA?

I've got a whole room full of deer rifles. It seems like the DM rifles are the ones that give me the most trouble. My Rem 7600 is top of the list. I've started the season with 5 working magazines and come back with only 1 able to stay in the rifle.

I went hunting for boar the first time with over 40 rounds of 30-06 ammo and Rem 742. The first time I went deer hunting I'd cut it back to 20 rounds.
I'm well past that now. For most of my rifles, I load 3 rounds in a blind mag and that is more than enough. Why only 3? When was the last time I needed 5 rounds to kill a deer? I started the 3-round thing when my sons were small, and the idea stuck. It dawned on me that if I have to go to more than 3, something is wrong and I need to sit back and come up with a new strategy. I carry 9 rounds in plastic 9 round MTM ammo wallet, and that usually does me for the whole season.

Mind you, I'm not saying DM rifles are wrong or bad. I'm not saying we should ban them. I just mean that a detachable mag is not a plus in my book.

Is there a time and place for DMs? Am I missing something?

If I could only have one rifle, it wouldn't have a DBM. They have their uses (longer COAL, etc.) but, for hunting rifles, I'm generally not a fan. The market seems to disagree with me on this subject.

I'm not a fan. Only have one rifle with one..a Tikka and it works fine but.....

Not for me, one more thing for me to lose and or misplace while hunting. KISS

I only have two tools that have them, and both for comp. shooting.

They are growing on me. I used to not like them, but they do have advantages and many of the newer rifles made today are taking advantage of that. One reason many of the less expensive rifles such as Tikka, Ruger American, TC Venture, Savage Axis, Browning X-bolt and others shoot as well or better than more expensive rifles is due to the stiffer closed top action. That type of rifle requires a detachable magazine for loading.

I have 3 of the Ruger Predators and a Tikka CTR. They are the most accurate rifles in my safe and I have less money in the 3 Rugers combined than I do in some single rifles with the more traditional hinged floorplate. For that kind of performance at that price I've learned to like them.

I had one Ruger magazine that wouldn't feed the top round if fully loaded. Ruger sent me another at no charge and allowed me to keep the other. The bad one works fine with only 3 cartridges in it and I use it at the range. Other than that I've never had an issue.

I am a fan of the HS Gen1 mags. Properly fitted, have had exactly zero issues with them. My "last man standing" rifle has an HS Gen1 set up. Number two rifle is LH M7 clone in ADL configuration. Go figure...

They have their place, but that's not here. I'm okay with flush-mounted ones that can be stuffed from the top, as long as they're secure, but those mostly appear in pricey Euro-rifles.

More and more, I'm becoming a fan of single-shots. I have two break-opens, and two falling-blocks now. No OAL conflicts, and they're quiet and convenient in the field. I can see more of both types finding their way into my wrinkly old hands. If I count MLs, there are four more.

I swapped out the semi-chintzy plastic mag setup on my Howa Mini with a dandy hinged-floorplate from Oregunsmithing LLC, and the appearance and handling are much better. They have models for .223 and 7.62/Grendel cartridge families now. $165. *You lose one round with the Grendel, not sure about the .223.

The Remington mags for the 7600 and 7400 series have always been problematic. My issue with detachable mags is that they are easily lost. I had a Remington 788 in .30-30 and the kid I was letting use it almost lost it several times on one hunt.

?? I way prefer detachable mags. Easy, safer and quicker to load and unload. (I hate floorplates that open.)

I have several rifles with internal mag at the moment and am planning to buy a Tikka before Fall to replace a detachable mag rifle I sold. A major factor in choice of Tikka is the detachable magazine.

I lost a mag one time in my life, and went ahead and killed a deer using the rifle as a single shot. Had to do the same with an internal mag rifle that developed a feeding problem as I stalked an elk at timberline, so the problem is a wash in my personal history.

In multi game areas, such as where I lived for years in BC, I like the option of two magazines with different bullets, though only recall switching one time after a stalk started.

Wish my Model 600 Rem predator calling rifle had a detachable mag. Our mileage does vary.

I am also not a fan of the detachable magazine, at least for hunting. I prefer to have everything firmly attached to lessen the chance of loss. Like the OP, I typically don’t carry a lot of extra ammo with me in the field when deer hunting and rarely have more than 3 or maybe 4 rounds in the rifle as I’ve found that to be more than adequate in my 50ish years of experience. Now if trying to take care of a sounder of hogs, competition or other situation where multiple targets/rounds are likely to be required, I could see where detachable magazines could be very useful but it isn’t needed for the vast majority of my hunting or shooting.

This is one area where I think the European manufacturers are ahead of American rifle makers, for two reasons. First, legal magazine capacity can vary from country to country over there, so detachable magazines are standard in many rifles, to make it easy to comply.

Second, hunters often have more income than the average citizen, because hunting over there tends to be more expensive, due to game usually being legally owned by the landowner. So essentially a hunter is buying the game. Because the typical hunter has more disposable income, they often demand better performance from their firearms then the average American--so won't put up with magazines that don't stay in place.

That said, the price of many European rifles is coming down, partly because the American rifle market is the largest in the world. Consequently they're started making rifles that can at least compete with the higher-priced range of "affordable" American rifles. Have tested several of these models, and overall their detachable magazines work very well. One good example is the magazine in my 7mm Remington Magnum Mauser M18, another polymer magazine, appropriate because the M18 is a polymer-stocked rifle.It not only stays firmly in place and works very well, but holds 5 rounds yet fits flush with the bottom of the stock--and can be reloaded from the top.

Have tested several so-called long-range hunting rifles (often pretty pricey) made by American companies that, of course, had detachable magazines that didn't always stay in place, often because the release lever jutted way below the magazine, which also jutted way below the stock. Many of those magazines did not feed very well, either, either right from the get-go or after a few dozen rounds, because they were made of relatively flimsy stampings. Which of course was often a problem with Remington's detachable magazines for the 760/7600/740/7400.

I don’t have a rifle with a detachable magazine. For me it’s just something else to misplace. If I had a semi-auto rifle I guess it should be a different story, I suppose.
I’m not a “high speed low drag” kinda guy, my main hunting rifle is a Ruger #1 in 7x57. If hunting I very seldom have more than 6 rounds on me at any time.

-3* and getting colder. Dad and I returning to the house in knee deep fresh snow after barn chores. Dark but bright stars shining. Dad was ahead of me breaking trail when he stopped and asked me, "did you hear a shot?" I hadn't. We went on and waited silently in the driveway 'till I was really cold when we heard a shot way up the river valley. Dad hurried inside, grabbed the ole 300Sav, steped out the back door and fired one. Echos returned then we hear another shot. Dad fired again, ran inside, grabbed a box of shells, yanked on his old hunting coat, took off on the Ski-Doo, 300 over his back. Later I heard another shot and an answer. Twas too cold to anylonger wait out side. Later Dad returned with a rider. He had shot a buck previous to dusk, tracked it, and "got turned around." The man had shot 17 rounds from a full box, 20, signaling his need for help. I hunted those same Adirondacks for maybe another 50 years and always wanted a full box with me. Tube, box, blind magazines at differing times all have accompanied me. My preference is the box, yet the last 3 deer I have tagged were shot with a modified single shot Ruger #3 in 6.5X55.

I am old school when it comes to a serious hunting rifle for me and mostly use new and old Mod. 70 rifles or some other flavor of a Mauser. But, a couple of years ago I picked up a Tikka T3X Superlite in 6.5 Creed and it has grown on me and the grand kids really like it. I have one 3 round flush magazine and a pair of 5 round magazines. So far no issues, but if we took a "real" back pack hunting trip I would put a piece of duct tape around the 5 round magazine and always have a spare magazine in a pack.

Other then my AR rifles and a my old Belgium T-Bolt and 10-22 the Tikka is my only experience with a detachable magazine on a rifle. I know of one guy that lost one on his rifle when stumbling through the alders on a brown bear hunt and another guy lost a bolt on his rifle climbing a hill and stumbling through alders. He blamed it on the safety not locking the bolt down, which made little sense to me. I didn't have the nerve to ask if he had a round in the chamber.

When I first took my son in law out for a hunting trip about 20 years ago his only rifle was a Savage 30-06 and the detachable magazine was missing, it still is. He used my daughters Mod. 70 Classic 30-06.

I wonder if the popularity of the detachable magazine on hunting rifles is cost driven and accepted because many of today's big game hunters don't overnight and live out of a back pack. For a whole bunch of reasons they leave in the morning or evening and the detachable magazine is inserted and removed daily when departing or returning to a vehicle. Whatever the reason, they are here to stay and I hope hunters demand a reliable magazine and release design on their big game rifles and the rifle makers answer the demand.

I also see no reason for their high costs, other then they get away with it. I hope some day Magpul or some other quality magazine maker jumps in. If they can make battle acceptable AR magazines for under 15 bucks......

One of the things I like about DBMs for hunting here is that according to our laws you can't have a loaded rifle on any public road. On public land hunting there are also areas where you may pass through but can't hunt (and therefore can't have your rifle loaded), such as picnic areas, areas where forestry workers are operating etc. On a day's hunting I might come to roads and other no-hunting areas several times. It is very handy to be able to take the mag out and put it in your pocket when you come to a road or want to cross a no-hunting area, and then pop it back in when you are back in the hunting area. It is also handy to pop the mag out when you get back to your car or camp, and then pop it back in again when you step out again.

I have multiple mags for each of my rimfires, and they are handy when spotlighting when there's lots of rabbits, as you can keep shooting rather than having to stop and fumble around in the dark to fill mags. For centrefire rifles I don't have spare mags, but I do like a mag which can be filled easily from the top. There have been a good number of times where I've been able to knock an extra two or three stragglers out of a mob of pigs after emptying the mag.

Dan,

Same sort of deal in some states here--which is one reason Remington 760s/7600s are popular in Pennsylvania. Here in Montana, on the other hand, you can legally keep a round in the chamber inside a vehicle--and many do, and once in a while somebody gets shot because of it, especially at the end of the day when guys are on either side of the vehicle, removing their rifles....

My wife also likes detachable magazines because she has enough arthritis in her hands to make top-loading a rifle magazine something of a pain in cold weather--which we get here. She really liked the system the Browning A-Bolt uses--a detachable magazine that snaps INSIDE a hinged floorplate, so it can't fall out during hunting.

That said, we have several rifles with detachable magazines, both rimfires and centerfires, and neither one of us has lost a magazine in almost 35+ years of hunting together. Eileen once thought she'd lost the magazine for her Anschutz 54 .22 rimfire, so ordered another. But then, of course, the "lost" magazine turned up....

It's a personal choice.

Of interest, the Lee Enfield rifle featured a 10 rd. detachable magazine, but it was not to be removed. The rifle was originally single loaded and volley fired to control the fire sequencing to prevent troops from wasting ammunition. Magazine cutoffs were part of the design. Oxymoronic by today's thinking, but the generals of the day came from musket backgrounds, so the old fashioned thinking stuck around for awhile.


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Times changed however. The cutoff was eliminated from the design in 1915 with the introduction of the No Mk III*. and many rifles built with that feature were officially modified to have them removed.

Just because you can remove a magazine doesn't mean you need to, or should. More importantly, it's an option that makes sense in many situations.

I don't really have any issues with them. Never have had a problem with a rifle. That said, I prefer no detachable blind magazines. IE the Mauser etc. Pistols however are a whole other issue.

I'm not a fan of them on bolt guns and don't care for any that extend below the stocks line unless the magazine happens to be hanging under an AR platform. I would have preferred if the Mossberg Patriot, Ruger American Rifle, and Savage Axis had blind magazines like the Marlin X guns rather than detachable magazines , but the designers didn't ask me.