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For the first time ever I have a blind magazine in my deer rifle and actually find it quite good. One less thing to clean and of course with no floor plate nothing to get scratched or worn in the bluing from carrying. Cosmetic things I know but I haven't found anything that would make me not want a blind magazine. Easy with a push feed to slip the bolt back and forward allowing the rounds to roll out into the hand when reloading, can probably achieve this as fast as a hinged floor plate unload.

I don't know if it was just an affectation like several other things when it comes to dangerous game rifles but I understand that in earlier times the hinged floor plate was glued or taped shut to prevent accidental opening in the heat of the moment. My Mauser 404 came from Rhodesia in that state and I can't imagine it was the only rifle thus modified.

There are stories around, one of a famous American film star who faced a charge when on safari in Africa who dumped his cartridges on the ground, and of another who racked the bolt and emptied the magazine without firing a shot. I suppose these things can happen to some in the heat of the moment.

Back to blind magazines on a DG rifle, I guess if you have a monumental jam up in the breach and magazine then being able to open the magazine to help clear the jam may be an advantage but of course you are not going to do this if facing a charge i.e. where the dangerous game bit enters the scene.

Once you do open a hinged magazine you lose your rounds and the ability to feed a single round from the magazine if it is a controlled feed rifle which has to feed from the magazine, unless the extractor has been modified to snap over the cartridge rim.

When you consider all this it seems that in terms of a dangerous situation i.e. facing a charge or an imminent one, then neither magazine type offers any advantage over another.

As for cleaning I imagine most like me remove the action from the stock after gnarly hunting conditions e.g. dust, rain, snow or marine environment, and give our rifles and stock a good clean out so the magazine type again doesn't make much difference.

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