bulldog563
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Reged: 21/10/05
Posts: 1153
Loc: California
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What do you guys think of having a drop box mag on a custom Mauser project? It seems like some really like the drop box and others don't.
Most people I have talked that say they don't like the drop box say that it is for aesthetic reasons or that it is uncomfortable to carry if you use the Africa carry.
I guess I am asking what are the pros and cons of the drop box besides the extra capacity?
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500grains
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Reged: 16/02/04
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Loc: Salt Lake City, Utah USA
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I like a drop box much better than a blind magazine. And make mine a Rigby style drop box. Functionally, a drop box lets you empty the cartridges out in case you would need to, such as due to faulty loading of the magazine or getting sticks or mud in it. And it looks good.
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bulldog563
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Reged: 21/10/05
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Loc: California
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Does anyone have pictures of a Rigby Drop box vs a standard one?
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DoubleD
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500grains,
Your comments make think you are confusing a hinged floor plate with a dropped box magazine...
A dropped bax as I know it is deeper than a a regular magazine and extends down in front of the trigger guard.
-------------------- DD, Ret.
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500grains
.416 member
Reged: 16/02/04
Posts: 4732
Loc: Salt Lake City, Utah USA
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Here is a rifle fitted with the Rigby box (the bottom of the 2 rifles):
http://www.johannsen-jagd.de/classicsafarisafari.gif
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bulldog563
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Reged: 21/10/05
Posts: 1153
Loc: California
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Picture was kind of small and hard to see the box. Does anyone have better pics of the Rigby box vs standard box?
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4seventy
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Loc: Queensland Australia
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I always thought a "dropbox" was where the magazine capacity was increased by extending the mag box below the stock so that the mag box metalwork (not just the floorplate) actually protrudes out of the bottom of the wood. Westley Richards did this a bit. Practical but a tad ugly IMO. I once owned a custom 458 with this set up but never enjoyed the look of the protruding magazine!
Edited by 4seventy (25/04/06 06:49 PM)
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NitroX
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Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Not a "Rigby" box but a "Westley Richards" one, from this new archive tthread - Westley Richards .425 WR
-------------------- John aka NitroX
...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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500grains
.416 member
Reged: 16/02/04
Posts: 4732
Loc: Salt Lake City, Utah USA
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Here is another rifle with a Rigby floor plate.
http://www.mitchellsales.com/rifles/mauser_m98/m98.gif
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rigbymauser
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Loc: Denmark
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Here is the bottom of my .416 Rigby!

Edited by CptCurl (22/11/10 12:13 AM)
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NitroX
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Isn't that just what is usually called a hinged floor-plate?
I thought a 'drop-box' is one which extends well below the stock?
-------------------- John aka NitroX
...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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shakari
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Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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Sounds like a case of two nations (or now I'm posting, three nations, divided by a common language)
Where I come from it's a floor plate magazine when the bottom of the magazine is flush with the bottom of the rifle and is hinged to allow bullet removal.
OR a fixed plate magazine when the bottom of the mag is flush with the bottom of the rifle and is fixed and rounds have to be cycled through the bolt for removal.
OR an extended magazine where the mag extends below the line of the rifle and may or may not be hinged for bullet removal.
OR a removeable magazine where the entire mag bay be removed with it's contents intact.
To illustrate my definition, here's a picture of my non mauser (sorry guys!) with an extended magazine which incidentally does have a hinged floorplate. To compensate for my sin of posting a non mauser rifle here, I'll admit to just having bought a new custom built .404 Jeffery by Sabi Rifles (WITH A MAUSER ACTION!), mercury recoil arrestor and floor plate magazine to use as a DG loaner to clients! - Just have to do the paperwork now!...... some might consider that a little over the top for a loaner, but I figure a client pays a shed load of money for a safari and if he needs a loaner, he should have a good 'un. It's also topped off with QD mounts and a Swarovski 1.5 - 6 x something or other. 
If it's of any interest, the extended mag was made for me by a good friend and hunting buddy and it's made the world of difference to the rifle...... it even carries better now than it did with the standard floor plate magazine......
-------------------- Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
Edited by CptCurl (22/11/10 12:13 AM)
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shakari
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Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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Let me add to my previous post:- Someone referred to the extended magazine as a Rigby magazine....... I'm dredging up from memory here, but I seem to remember the extended magazine was first used or made popular by Gibbs and not Rigby...... not that it makes any difference! - Perhaps Alf might be able to advise us on this one......... He's the real rifle fundi and has forgotten more about rifles than I'll ever know.......
-------------------- Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
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bulldog563
.400 member
Reged: 21/10/05
Posts: 1153
Loc: California
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How did the extended mag make it carry better... I was under the impression that it went the other way around.
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shakari
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Guess I should have made that clearer...... I mostly carry "PH style" and the rifle lays on it's side with the extended mag laying along the top of my shoulder....... if that makes sense.
It somehow feels a lot more comfortable that way. Guess the weight of the rifle is now spread over a larger surface area.
-------------------- Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
Edited by shakari (10/05/06 10:49 PM)
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500grains
.416 member
Reged: 16/02/04
Posts: 4732
Loc: Salt Lake City, Utah USA
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I gotta respect a man who is not ashamed of an ugly rifle.
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shakari
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Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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Very functional though....... and if you think that's ugly you should have seen my first wife ! and her mother was even worse!
-------------------- Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
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EricD
.416 member
Reged: 27/02/04
Posts: 4636
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Steve,
Although I can see that shoulder carry might be more comfortable with the greater load bearing area, I would think you're rifle is maybe quite uncomfortable to carry in one hand (assuming that the point of balance isn't forward of your mag. box)?
Erik
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shakari
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Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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Erik,
not really, I just hold it under the extended magazine. ........ although Mama Susan tells me I have the hands of a gorilla ! - I'm also fairly short but she reckons my knuckles almost drag on the ground....... 
BTW, The mag is about the point of balance........
-------------------- Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
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bulldog563
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Reged: 21/10/05
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Loc: California
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How much of a gain in capacity did you get from this box?
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EricD
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In reply to:
I have the hands of a gorilla !
That explains everything!
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shakari
.400 member
Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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I used to have 2 in the mag plus 1 in the chamber and now have 3 +1. I've had the rifle as a 500 for about 5 years now and so far, have never needed a second shot - but that isn't to say that one day I might not need as many extra shots as possible .........
Erik, I just explain that it's not that I have big hands it's that she has small ones........ but as women are the master race she always seems to win the argument!
-------------------- Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
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wffHein
.224 member
Reged: 23/12/03
Posts: 17
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When we talk drop box versus standard, it has to do with the depth of the magazine box in relation to the trigger guard and the capacity. The box does not necessarily have to extend past the stock. Below are two photos, first a 300 WSM with standard magazine box (capacity 3 rounds), notice the bottom of the magazine is even with the inside top surface of the trigger guard. The second picture is a 404 Jeffery with a drop box (magazine capacity of 5), notice the bottom of the magazine box is lower than the inside upper surface of the trigger guard and the stock 'wraps' down in front to match up with the bottom of the magazine box.
-------------------- Karl Webber
Waffenfabrik Hein
www.rifleactions.com
karl@rifleactions.com
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starman
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Posts: 53
Loc: nsw
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I remember seeing some Blackburn Bottom metal for a std98/std length magnum case,that was the extraWide version. ie; it looked the same as a std BlackburnM98 metal when installed on the mauser,but actually had extra capacity, due to its wider internal box dimensions. It came with a dedicated magazine follower to suite.
Edited by starman (14/05/06 10:49 PM)
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