Brno 602 mag. follower

Pounder,
If it's any help the followers on my .375 and .416 Rigby are identical. The mag box itself says .375 on both as well. It's hard to imagine that these very different cartridges would use the same follower and the .375 and .458 with the same case head wouldn't. The .458 uses the same mag box as the .375, which makes it a natural for a .458 Lott.
Whatcha builden'? I just got a Wisner floor plate yesterday to make my CZ.416 into a 5 shooter, or the .375 into a seven. I'll likely go with option #1.
 
Mag. follower

Well I had a round go off in the mag. of my 602 in .458wm back in Oct. not a lot of fun. I just now have got around to looking at it,I really did not want to play with it untill now,and my season is over so I have the time.Anyway the only thing that I can think of is that the shells flop back and forth in the mag. under recoil, i know this is not supossed to happen but it did and a bump or a piece of something in the mag. box hit the primer and well boom.I thought that if the follower did not let the shells sit the right way in the mag. that this could happen. There is a lot of room in the box about 1/2 in. for the .458 to move as the same box is used for .375,.416 etc. So I am going to blow it out to a .458 Lott to fill up the mag. box rather than try to make the box fit the shell. Is the follower that you got cal. specific?
pounder
 
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As far as I can tell the followers are identical. The conversion to .458 Lott in your rifle is just the rechamber with no other changes. It is a very popular change. I've never heard of a cartridge going off in a magazine, scarey stuff.
 
For those who missed it last time here are pics that show the results of the round going off in Pounder's 602 magazine.

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The stock is cracked at the action

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The cross bolts came loose

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The magazine box is bowed, and although we didn't get a picture of it so is the hinged floorplate.

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The ejector is bowed from gas flowing between it and the bolt body and there was a piece of brass from a cartridge between the ejector and the bolt body.

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Dented primer on the burst cartridge

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These are the 3 rounds that were in the magazine. For those who will say the problem was from an high primer, these were factory loads.

I've have not had any primers marked in my magazine from firing rounds over them in my 602, and 2 or 3 rounds are exposed to repeated firings as I often recharge the magazine without swapping out the bottom rounds. My rounds are longer than Pounder's .458, but I doubt that is the only reason for the problem. There are many 602's chambered in .458 and we haven't heard of this happening before. Given the number of these rifles used around the world, if the .458 versions had a problem we would know.
 
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