Detachable magazines in hunting rifles...why?**Poll Added**

[Idcurrie]

just because it is legal to road hunt, does not mean it is legal to shoot while still in the truck. I get out.Slamming one round into the blind mag can really suck for that while simultaneously getting out of the truck, and trying to keep an eye on the game.

Yeeeeaaah....it's not legal to 'road hunt' in Alberta.

It is illegal to discharge a firearm across, along, or while on the road. You must be on the other side of the ditch or fence.t. If none are present, 20 feet from the shoulder of the road. Alberta hunting regulations, look it up.

It is unlawful to:

9. discharge a firearm from or cause a projectile from a firearm to pass
along or across:
a) a provincial highway,
b) a road that is paved, oiled, graded or regularly maintained, unless
m the road is held under any active disposition under the Public
Lands Act or under an order under the Surface Rights Act, or
m the person is hunting game birds with a shotgun under the
authority of a licence.
Note: if there is no identifiable ditch or fence to mark the outside
edge of the roadway, then the roadway extends 20 feet from the edge
of the traveled portion

 

[two-dogs]

Good evening, Jimmy Swaggert here, if you wanna lighten the load that you carry, if you wanna rinse your sins away of the DM road hunting that you have been doing, come into this thread brother, I say come in tonight, come in now and spill your guts, tell all! and if you leave a donation with your name and address, your receipt will be hand delivered to you at your door..........

 

[gtrussell]

Oh, your being rough on the wicked!I thought I would have been boiled for the clip statement.

 

[two-dogs]

Oh, your being rough on the wicked!I thought I would have been boiled for the clip statement.

oh no, not to worry Gary, those old witch hunt days are long over! clip's, DM's, they're both the same thing nowadays, real men have decided and agreed upon that, in other threads here, just search it and see. you can come out of hiding, you will not be boiled!

 

[TheTooner]

I'm loving the simplicity of my single shot break action H&R handi rifles even more after reading this thread.

I like my Handi-Rifle, too. I prefer it to a magazine rifle if the magazine isn't detachable, but I don't mind unloading one round at a time if there is only one round.

 

[burnt_servo]

I am not a fudd by any means, but like a lively conversation. I haven't seen this in a thread, and would like to know why so many people feel like they need a detachable magazine on their hunting rifle. I personally prefer a blind magazine, or a nice floor plate at most (I have owned DM's and if I like the rifle and the DM setup it wouldn't bother me), but some seem to think that a rifle without a DM is like a hockey player without a puck.

I don't like DM's for the following reasons:
-Most are unsightly
-Most rattle or make some noise
-Many reduce the capacity
-Many (IMO) poor latching systems
-I just don't see the need for a "quick" load or reload

So why not, or why so?

that is your personal opinion ......... as long as you don't interfere with others way of doing things with your opinion , everything will be kosher .

 

[Calum]

but still, would you not agree that it's easier, smoother and quicker to:

>push button
>drop DM into hand and into pocket
>prove

hat stays on head the whole time, no goose s**t, snow or rain in your hair (or shiney spot) and your seeing eye glasses are not all speckeled up!

Perhaps, then again it depends on the person and how practiced they are with their firearm.

Funny story...
Case in point I know someone that was riding shotgun in a truck on a logging road when a large black bear bolted accross the road and up the cut.

Binders on buddy jumps out of the truck rifle in hand jogs up the hill after the bear, about 200 or so yards the bear stops to see what's chasing him, buddy pops out of the brush to see the bear is about 50 yards away looking directly at him.

Reaches into his vest pocket to discover the magazine for his rifle is missing...slowly backs away with the bear now walking towards him, he manages to get back to the truck in one piece to find his friend still in the drivers seat laughing his ass off pointing to the loaded mag still on the passenger seat.

 

[Kelly Timoffee]

A dropped mag in the mud or 4 shells, what is the preference here?

Or go single shot, be a real hunter, and only loose one shell in the mud!

I will not confirm or deny my hunting actions or post them here for all to read.

As for the colored fuel, I think the CO's are running it now, thought I saw some siphoning from a farmers tank last fall, budget cuts!

What does that mean? If you are doing nothing wrong or illegal, why do you have to "unload quick" just because someone is coming?

I am swimming against the current here, right alongside the OP, because I don't want a detachable mag, or even a floorplate. The mag is just one more thing to lose/forget/drop in the mud. When I'm too old and feeble to walk away from the truck and have to road hunt...I still won't want a detachable mag! Do you guys actually have your shells flying all over the place when you cycle your action to unload? It doesn't take that much dexterity to safely catch them as you gently cycle the action in a controlled manner. A floorplate can be opened so as to dump the loads into your hand easily.

It's all personal preference. Is the detach mag more efficient from a purely practical, non-aesthetic point of view? Maybe. Is it more convenient? For sure...but it's also more convenient to buy meat than provide it yourself, in most cases. I, and 99.999% of us, don't go out with a gun because we absolutely need to kill something today in order to survive. We hunt almost entirely by choice. Under those circumstances, nobody's right and nobody's wrong.

 

[canadaman30]

Had a BDL with a detacable mag...awsome gun. Got a BDL with hinged floor plate....worst pieceOS I've ever owned....Sold, good riddens

 

[1bighead]

I have a Lee Enfield with a 10 round mag. Plenty of ammo, although, I dont carry that much in it. It is handy when unloading, and you can just pop in in your pocket. While I dont truck hunt, it would also be very handy if you had to load in a hurry. The mag is neither unsightly, or rattles.

I also have a Ruger M77 hawkeye with a floor plate. Very different rifles which I both enjoy. However, after using both, I prefer the mag. I'm in the military and I guess its just an old habit. I feel kind of odd not slapping a mag on my rifle, and, I dont really like having loose rounds after unloading.

 

[lonely_wolf]

One thing I don't think has been mentioned is weight. If one is truly counting ounces than BDL is the best option.

Badger Ord:
M4: 3.3 oz.
M5: 10.2 oz.

That's a half pound of weight saved. ADL may save more weight, but I think it is far too inconvenient with the limited chamber access.

 

[horseshoe]

it is legal to walk in the bush trail with a loaded gun before hunting hrs begin. and it is safer for the carrier! I know this ain't Africa, but it is Mb in the wild! An empty gun is absolutely useless! I hope you don't learn the hard way!

A VERY scary incident with a wolf near St. Rita forced me to read the regs closely afterwards! I now load before I start walking for the day, and don't unload until I'm at the truck at night.

 

[two-dogs]

A VERY scary incident with a wolf near St. Rita forced me to read the regs closely afterwards! I now load before I start walking for the day, and don't unload until I'm at the truck at night.

Right on! you know where it's at! we have hunted in the back of St. Rita many times in the past! now the hair on the back of my neck is standing up, after reading your post about the wolf! One time, my youngest son and I got seperated and actually lost for a while, back there. If it wasn't for the every 20 min train going by in the distance to the north, (tracks along hwy 15) and the sound of chain saws to the east (which I had took note of before we set off on foot) we may have been in trouble! If you will, please post the entire story, it may help some folks realize just what might be out there and that a empty gun is absolutely useless in every way (other than it being a club) to to anyone! One would be an absolute fool, to walk in the bush with an empty gun in your hands, morning, noon or night, period!

 

[west250]

This forum needs a poll...

 

[MetricMan]

None of my hunting rifles have detachable mags. When I'm out in the bush, I'm out all day, so a detachable wouldn't be of any use to me. I can't help but to remember the detachable magazine I found from a Savage 99 (full of 308 shells) in a cut line out in the middle of nowhere. What a great way of making a single shot out of of a repeating lever action!

 

[mossyhorns]

I've lived and hunted in 4 Provinces and now that I'm in Saskatchewan I see why so many here like DM's. No direspect meant at all but when so many seem to like "Road Hunting" I can see the attraction.

I persoanlly could care less. If I like the rifle I shoot it and load/unload accordingly.

 

[two-dogs]

I've lived and hunted in 4 Provinces and now that I'm in Saskatchewan I see why so many here like DM's. No direspect meant at all but when so many seem to like "Road Hunting" I can see the attraction.

I persoanlly could care less. If I like the rifle I shoot it and load/unload accordingly.

here's your paint and here's your brush................ I can see where it won't take you long.........
>born and raised in rural Sask!

 

[Stevebot-7]

For me at least, utility. I intend to be doing a whole lot of load development and it's very easy to load each magazine with, in my case, 10 rounds of the same load. That way I can carry multiple magazines and label the bottoms. I'm reasonably certain cartridges will not migrate from one magazine to another, whereas if I had them loose and marked with a sharpie, or separated inside a larger container, they might very well mingle.
Also, very quick loading and unloading. With practice I've seen people load a cartridge into firearm that lacked a DM faster than I would believe possible, but I'm young and impatient and a sucker for marketing. It is also very handy to have the option to completely unload your firearm in a few seconds, such as if a cease fire is called. That would be me, the slow guy who's making everyone wait while I carefully unload because I'm paranoid about hurting my precious cartridges.

On the whole though I don't think there's anything that you specifically need a DM for other than quick access to volume of fire, it does come in handy sometimes but it's ultimately an issue of personal preference.

That said, I don't plan to specifically go out of my way to get firearms with detachable magazines. It's a perk, not a necessity.

 

[Joe549]

I like the detachable mag because it is easier to load/unload. Unlike what was said in the OP, mine does not rattle, is flush with the stock, holds 4 rounds and has a solid latch system.

 

[dead meat]

I have both and don`t really prefere one over the other. I don`t like blind box mags like the Rem. ADL because of the unloading hassel.