Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Detachable Mags

The rifles I use the most all have dbm. I have managed to not drop or lose a mag since 1966. It is really not that difficult.


mike r

My concern is detachable mags for old or obsolete rifles. I had Winchester Model 88 with one magazine and always wondered how I'd get another if I lost it. I once lost a .380 caliber magazine from a High Standard pistol. Not very common and High Standard had been out of business for awhile. I sold that gun at a big discount.

I like the en bloc clips that M1 Garands use, except you can't unload them and keep all the rounds in the clip.

Hehehe....

When I started hunting rifles had internal magazines or clips. Take your pick.....

Hi, I'm a local word cop and you're sinning. Cartridges may be loaded into clips. Clips are used to load cartridges into some magazines, mostly old war mongers. Magazines are used to keep a supply of cartridges in your rifle. Lets watch that chit in the future.

Thrice approved. Wife has an A-Bolt Micro from the late '90s which uses the magazine system Mrs.MDs rifle uses. You couldn't buy that rifle from her. And she'd definitely shoot you if you tried to heist it. I have the same mag in floor plate system in an old BAR I got in 1969. Really nice deal. The old A-Bolts can be easily topped off or quickly removed for convenient unloading.And you're not going to accidently dump one while hunting. All the positives probably the reason the design was replaced.

I don't like them for hunting, yet I have quite a few "hunting" rifles with them... Those rifles tend to stay home, while the more seasoned rifles go hunting...

I applaud you, sir! I had not thoght to paint detachable mags but will do so ASAP! I'm sure I would have found the one I lost on a hillside walk to a deer calling stand if it had been painted brightly.

I have painted many hunting items in orange or white/orange stripes so I can find them quickly if dropped or put down on leaves, in brush, on snow, in poor light, etc. My campfire coffee cup is bright yellow,

Manufacturers who produce camo flashlights, camo knives, etc. for sporting use should be drawn and quartered.

I like clips.....

I'm in agreement. DM are worse than useless, and it is hard to find a current production rifle that doesn't have one. I see a parallel with fixed power scopes.

Just me- I have had and still have several firearms with detachable magazines. One is a Remington 7400 sitting right here that has yet to accidentally expel it's magazine while shooting or hunting either one. It's harder to get it out than it is to insert it. It's also never jammed or stripped it's bolt lugs as many are said to do. According to what I read everywhere, I must have the only mythical functional Remington semi auto, so I guess I could sell it for a considerable amount of money..None of the other detachable magazine fed firearms I own have ever shed their magazines accidentally either. I just can't see how it could happen as regularly as people write about. Maybe it's like the gun magazine stories where they write about a whitetail deer running away to never be seen on earth after being shot right through the heart with a lever action 30/30

Several of my hunting rifles are AR-15s, so clearly I’m not opposed to detachable mags.

However, the thing that puzzles me is why many manufacturers use DMs on “budget rifles”. If they are trying to build a reasonable hunting rifle at a rock bottom price point, why not go work a blind mag? Instead they use an incredibly cheap DM that immediately becomes the Achilles Heel of the rifle.

I like the clips I use. 8 round enbloc. Tanker Garand. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

I prefer a blind magazine first, then hinged floorplate second, then DBM last in a bolt action. My preference precludes me from owning a number of rifles but, so be it.

I have never nor will ever own one. They offer and opportunity to lose, mix up or reduce capacity and OAL. Just another example of the proverbial answer to a non existent problem.

After using a budget priced Remington ADL for a few deer seasons, I decided that hinged floorplates were a wonderful invention & all of my bolt guns since have had one. The Browning A-bolt magazine may be removable, but also leaves the option of leaving it attached to the floorplate forever if desired. Top loading is the same as most any other bolt action.

On a whim last year I got one of those plastic Ruger Predators. Besides being uglier than the south end of a north-bound dog, it's marginally (minute of deer) accurate & just a general PITA. The magazine only holds 3 rather than the advertised 4, does not allow top loading no matter how hard I try, & makes single loading a freakin' project during bench testing. The catch isn't sleek, attractive, or in the least ergonomic, & could be a real problem with gloves on. The magazine sits c. 1/2" proud of the stock right about where the back half of my hand would normally carry the rifle, so it's either unbalanced or uncomfortable in my hands while walking. If you lose one it's $30 to $40 for a hunka fuggin plastic with a spring. Not a fan. Save the detachable mags for semi-autos or as an option for the accuracy challenged who fire 6 or 8 shots rapidly without hitting anything of importance.

It all seems to be a disturbing trend. I went to Rural King with a buddy yesterday with intentions of spending part or all of my stimulus check. We both left empty handed after the 20 something clerk tried educating us about how polymer wasn't really a plastic & was much better than steel. We may be doomed.

After reading the rest of this thread I feel compelled to repost part of my earlier post, and add something else:

This is one area where I think the European manufacturers are ahead of American rifle makers, partly because 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.

The price of many European rifles is also 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.

Addition: Right now Mauser M18s are available for around $400, and are one of the very best values available. They shoot VERY accurately, and are also very well engineered.

That makes sense. It doesn't make me any happier, but it makes sense.

A detachable mag also makes sense (sort of) when you've got people shooting at you. However, I think a disposable enbloc like the Garand makes the most sense. It's stupid to have to carry around empty mags. I can also see places where it really makes the rifle. The Ruger 10/22 would be another also-ran if it wasn't for the 10 round rotary mag.

On the other hand, a simple blind mag on a bolt gun is one of the easiest things to pull off from a design and manufacturing standpoint. It is nearly foolproof to operate, and can be executed at the lowest possible cost.

Hinged floorplate? OK. I guess. If you want to spend the money. Of all of them, I like my Kar 98's. There is no way that sucker is coming open without some serious intent.

On the other side of the scales I can cite:

1) The Remington 74-whatever/75-whatever/76-whatever fustercluck.
2) All those bolt action shotguns out there on Gunbroker with their magazines missing.
3) The Ruger American Rifle-- Who in flaming Flannery's kitchen thought that was a good idea?
4) All the detachable magazines from all the big game rifles scattered all over the fruited plain, from the mountains to the oceans white with foam, just laying there rusting.

Thankfully, I can say I've never had a trip ruined by one. The closest I've come to date is a Rem 7600 mag falling out of the well 15 feet up in a treestand. I had a spare along, and found it in the leaves after I got down.

So it's a matter of taste? (!)

shaman,

"The Ruger American Rifle-- Who in flaming Flannery's kitchen thought that was a good idea?"

Sorry to tell you this, but the Ruger Americans are probably the best-selling rifles Ruger has ever made. I could list the reasons why, but won't bother. Will say, however, that it was designed by a committee, with everybody contributing an idea or two.

Generally, any time a firearms company sells a pile of particular brand of rifle, they consider it a really good idea.

Oh, no doubt! I love my Predator -- just not the mag. In fact, what got me writing this thread was trying to deal with the fact that you can't single feed an RAR, because of the flippin' magazine design.

Ruger spent a good deal of money replacing defective magazines the first few years, and they could have simply designed the RAR with a blind mag and sold it at a lower price. I would have been happier with mine for sure.

By the same logic, you could say that the Remington 742's magazine is the best idea out there because so many have been sold.