New Savages, Box Magazine

[slughammer]

Not sure when Savage came out with their detachable box magazine, but there it is stareing at me in the catalog. I've been looking for a 30-06 bolt gun to play with. I'm considering their Weather Warrior series 116; specifically the 116FHSS or 116FCSS. The diference between the two is hinged floorplate vs detachable box magazine. This rifle will be used for offhand practice at the range and hunting. The other possible use is to try it in Manually Operated Rifle competitions, and that is where a working detachable box magazine would come in handy.



Does anyone have experience with the new Savage detachable box magazines?

http://www.savagearms.com/116fcss.htm


Thanks

[Lloyd Smale]

I was never a fan of detachable mags. Just something else to loose or leave home and ive never had a need in the field for a quick reload with a bolt gun.

[slughammer]

I was never a fan of detachable mags. Just something else to loose or leave home and ive never had a need in the field for a quick reload with a bolt gun.

For hunting I agree. I have hunted with a Rem 7600 and making sure I have the magazine and knowing what pocket or where in my pack is one more thing to think about. But by getting the detachable box I was hoping to leave myself open for MOR competitions, and there it would be an advantage for sure. For a range rifle and hunting, the hinged floorplate would suit me best.

[watkibe]

I love both my Savages, a centerfire and a rimfire, very accurate and a joy to shoot. BUT...they both have problems with the detachable box magazines. I have always favored DBMs because of the quick reload, but I'm wondering if these were good choices. The rimfire 93 will only feed when I hold the magazine up. It had other problems, which I have solved, but the solution to this one still eludes me. On the centerfire 111 (338 win mag), sometimes upon firing the back end of the mag comes loose . When pushed back up into place, the top round is then too low for the bolt to catch it. The latch is on the front of the mag, so it seems a little odd.
I know I could send them to Savage under warrantee, but it is just my nature to try to understand the problems and fix them myself first.
Anybody else experience these problems ? If you solved them, how did you do it ?

[watkibe]

RE: my previous post
As sometimes happens, my understanding of the problem improved when the problem got worse. On my 111, I compared the magazine that comes loose with another one that doesn't. The latch on the front catches on a cut out tab in the front wall of the mag. No problem there, its the same on both. The back of the mag is fixed in place by a tab which is an extension of the back wall of the mag that is bent 180 degrees so that it catches on a ledge in the well. On the good mag, the tab was springy, and was away from the mag maybe a 16th of an inch. On the bad mag, the tab was almost completely flat against the mag. No problem, I thought, just bend it out a bit. I got my smallest screwdriver out and before I even got it under the tab, the tab snapped off ! However it got bent in (factory or me ? of course I think factory...) like that, the metal was work hardened and brittle and would have probably broken soon while full of cartridges in the rifle.
So today I did call Savage to get a warrantee claim started, and it turns out they are on summer vacation (who knew the whole factory goes on 2 weeks vacation ?!?!?!) when I need their help for the first time. Oh well...btw, the mags cost $50 and up, of course I am filing a warrantee claim !

[watkibe]

I called Savage again today about the magazine with the broken tab. She seemed to recognize the problem, and told me to send them the old one and they would replace it under warrantee
I learned something else from my phonecall today: you can have warrantee work done by a local gunsmith if he gets the price approved by Savage before starting work. Good to know...