I have a rifle that isn't produced anymore and have a chance to grab some mags at $100 a pop. I already have five 5 round mags (two are still factory sealed) and rotating through the three mags has served me well enough. The available mags are aftermarket and from what I've read are on par with factory quality while doubling the capacity to 10 rounds.


The rifle is mainly used for casual target shooting. If I can get a 2nd rifle (they do pop up every now and then) I'd be more open to use it more often and for more than just target shooting. I was planning on buying 5 or 6 of the 10 rounders but wanted to get some feedback in case I should buy more.

Question:
How many magazines are *sufficient* for a bolt action rifle?

Choices:
2
3
4
5
6+

 

I was going to say 5 min. until I saw the price.

What the hell kind of rifle is this?

Yikes. I guess being a bolt action you aren't going to exactly wear them out. I would stick with what you have, at most add one or two, maybe. That's a lot of money for a mag. Maybe apply that magazine money to the next rifle. Good news is the 2 you still have in factory wrappings. I think you are set. Save your money.

Two, three at most.

I think the five you already have on hand are plenty. Use one, and then you still have multiples in case something happens to the first one.

Traditionally, most bolt action rifles don't even have detachable magazines, and if they do they're intended for ease of loading/unloading and cleaning, rather than facilitating rapid tactical reloading for long strings of repeated fire (like on a modern defensive rifle).

Grab a few of the 10 rounders if you want the extra capacity, but for target shooting or even hunting that's not really needed. And larger capacity protruding magazines on a bolt rifle make it more awkward to carry, either in the hand or slung.

It's not like you're going to roll out on a combat patrol with a chest rig full of 10x 5 and 10 round mags for your bolt rifle.

Short answer, I'd go with 'depends'
For your stated case, I'd think 5 would be good, especially with the $100/per tag on the extras.

I only have 1 bolt gun, my Tikka T3x, and only 1 3rd magazine. Need to get a couple for it, just in case something ever happens to the 1, but it's a deer gun & shot little now that it's sighted in.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:

What the hell kind of rifle is this?

I am going to guess and say the rifle is a Steyr SBS.?.

Also - IMO five mags should be plenty.

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:


What the hell kind of rifle is this?

quote:

I am going to guess and say the rifle is a Steyr SBS.?.

SSG 3000. I was going to buy 6 of the 10 rounders but all they had was 3 so I got all 3.

I have a few bolt action rifles with a detachable magazine. For me, 2 is enough. A few times when out hunting, I’ll put a magazine in my pocket, the rest of the time, the empty magazine stays in the gun.

I think you have a better chance of misplacing a magazine that isn’t in the gun. I have a few Sako rifles, $100 for extra magazines. For those one is enough, haven’t lost one yet.

I am an absolute magazine goblin, but I wouldn’t feel bad with 5 magazines on a bolt action I wasn’t using constantly. I would however buy 4 magazines if they were available at a good price.

When I had my GA Precision .308 bolt action, I had 5 mags. For me, 1 in the rifle and 4 spares are enough.

Yikes. Why can’t most rifle makers just go to a standard. Like AR or 308 AR or Accuracy International. I have a 1940s BRNO 22 that is dead nuts accurate but vintage mags are unobtainium. Then I learned certain .22 bolt CZ mags work. So loaded up and they do all work great.

Cool rifle, but I'd be OK with the mags you have already. That being said, I'd still keep an eye out on Gunbroker or other sites for possible deals, though that may be remote.

On a high end, low volume out of production gun I'd get every mag I could reasonably afford. At least up to the point of a pretty darn big inventory, way more than 5 or 6 or 10. And my experience on this is that things like this that are for a limited market is that they will never go down in price. On an SSG if I ever saw a barrel I'd get that too, same reason.

quote:

Originally posted by ElToro:
Yikes. Why can’t most rifle makers just go to a standard.

You mean like the way that pistol magazine designs are shared among Glock, Sig, S&W, CZ, Beretta, Ruger, Taurus, H&K, FN, and Walther?

This is an interesting question and one I have been wrestling with myself. I have two bolt action rifles that have removable magazines. One is a precision rifle and one is a deer/hunting rifle. Each currently has 1 magazine. For the hunting rifle my plan is to add 2 more magazine just to have. For the precision rifle I think 5 of the 5 round mags and maybe 1 to 2 or the 10 round mags will be my plan.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
magazine goblin

I was unfamiliar with the term, but I'm familiar with the activity.

5 sounds plenty to me for a bolt gun. I have been on many hunting trips where I fired a couple of rounds per hunt.