Forum rules
Welcome to the Leverguns.Com General Discussions Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here other than politics... politely.
Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
I have relatives who are from out of state are visiting my family for the holidays. Yesterday we decided to drive over to L.L. Beans and do some shopping. At first I cringed at the idea because I knew it would be a mad house at this time of the year but my relatives never been there. Anyway, I shot over to the hunting area just to check things out and on display they had a few Browning Xbolt micro hunters. I'm not in the market for a bolt gun but I heard good reports on them. One of the sales clerks came over asked me if I wanted to hold one of them and I said sure. When he handed me the rifle it was surprisingly light, the caliber was in 308 and sported a 20" barrel. Everything looked good until I flipped it over and saw what the magazine clip was made out of...PLASTIC! . I couldn't believe it! The sales clerk asked if I was interested in it and I said no, handing the rifle back with a disgusted look on my face. He asked anything wrong with it and I replied back "Plastic magazine clip" he smiled back and said "I know what you mean".
When Browning had a writers forum at the SHOT show a few years ago when the X-Bolt was introduced one of the things they toted as a plus for the plastic magazine was that is is less noisy to load in the field and a spare doesn't make a metallic clink in your pocket or case. They also said stuff like rust and dirt are the enemy of proper magazine function. It looks odd and feels kind of cheap but it was also described as being stronger than an equivalent sheet metal or aluminum magazine. They work - I've not heard any complaints about the functioning. I'm not a Browning bolt fan for a lot of reasons personal to me, but the X Bolt does take some classic designs and mate them with modern technology in a user friendly, advantageous way.
Don't let that plastic scare you off. You'll find it on a surprising number of quality rifles. I have several Tikka rifles with plastic magazines. I wouldn't want to step on one, but so far they held up great over several years of hunting use.
I think we'd better get used to seeing more & more plastic. Bottom metal used to be steel, then aluminum, now plastic. Manufacturers claim that it is actually stronger, & it may be. one thing is certain, it is lighter weight. So, it's not all bad news.
most of my "pretty guns" are range guns or safe queens. I've pretty much gone down the dark path with hunting rifles.
I like plastic because it doesn't show scratches or dings near so much as metal does, nor does it corrode.... It's lighter so it's easier to carry.
Even though I'm a old fanny burp and old fashioned in many ways, I've taken too much of a beating selling used rifles that have actually been through the thick brush hunting... Or a rifle getting wet and having to completely take it apart, which of course means a trip back to the range to re-zero it.
Scratched up stocks, thin bluing, or scratches, nicks etc in the metal quickly turn a thousand dollar rifle into a 4-500 dollar one.
I still buy pretty guns for my collection or to play with at the range but I'm all about stainless and plastic when it comes to taking them into the brush. Of course that doesn't count some "beater" lever guns that I still hunt with.
I've got one old Glenfield model 30 that although it still looks fairly good (have no idea how it's stood up) that has to have several thousand rounds through it, has been dropped, stepped on, used to push limbs out of the way etc... that shoots wonderfully... But I'd be lucky to get 150 bucks for it.... so I keep using it.
Your post reminds me of my own experience. I have a pretty little 700 Classic in 6.5x55, that seems to show every day afield in some way. I've spent hours restoring it to pristine condition, & now use it only sparingly.
Meanwhile, my old 94 Trapper gets no special treatment, literally begs to be used, & is smoother & better each time out. I guess that's why they are called "working guns".
Triggernosis wrote:Do you mean the magazine itself was plastic.....or some kind of "clip" holding the magazine in?
The entire magazine is made out of plastic.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the way it looked and felt but I was caught off guard when I saw it. When words such as "plastic" and "rifle" come up in one sentence right away I think of AR-15 or such, but not on a bolt action such as a Browning. It's going to take some time for me to get used to it I guess
Nothing wrong with using high-strength plastics in non-stressed areas of a firearm. My wife is going to pick up one of those Brownings in 7mm-08 in fact. She really likes the lightweight and smoothness of the action.
But as a fellow "blued steel and walnut stock" shooter, I understand where you're coming from, brother.
Some people just need a sympathetic pat on the head.....with a hammer. Repeatedly.