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I've been reading some very interesting old Gun Digest issues, and one of them has an article by Jack Lott on the 425 Westley Richards. Lott says that Leslie Taylor at Westley Richards designed the round with a rebated rim not just in order to make it work on a standard length Mauser action, but specifically to make it work with a modified charger clip. The thinking was that with the extended magazine that W-R put on their 425 rifles, more rounds could be loaded into the magazine in an emergency then single loading into the magazine. While I do not foresee the circumstances under which people hunted in 1909 ever coming back, and, while there are detachable magazine options available on most current hunting rifle models these days, I'll start a debate here - flame suit on

- saying that there might be a very good place for charger clips on current rifles for very good reasons: the explosion of pigs being the main one. US hunters can use AR 10 and 15 rifles in many pig overrun states, but some of us still like old fashioned boltguns. In many other countries, semi autos might not be an option at all. I am not at all convinced that a detachable magazine would work reliably for as long as the far simpler charclip system would. Buy the new R 8 Blaser, and when the magazine works loose, the trigger will also come out with it. In any case, a charger clip allows for a slimmer rifle because a detachable magazine means more thickness around the magazine well.

Perhaps, this is a time to bring a very practical old idea back. Now, let the opinions and arguments roll in.

Good hunting, everyone!

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The Ark was made by amateurs. Experts built the Titanic.

Mehul Kamdar

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