Gunny dreaming

I was over at Tamara's who took me to Caleb's. He's jonesing for a rifle I've thought about for awhile. A bolt gun that takes standard magazines. How difficult would that be to manufacture? It doesn't seem that tough, but no one has done it yet.

I'd like a Savage, Remington, or Ruger bolt that takes M14 magazines. Or a .223 bolt that takes M16 magazines.

Interchangeable magazines make a lot of sense. For my 1911, I've got a couple of Kimber mags, some Chip McCormick, some Wilson mags, and a handful of GI mags. They all work because they're standard magazines. There is no reason that a rifle can't be designed to handle standard magazines. As Caleb puts it:

However, what I’ve been thinking of for a bolt action rifle is a bit like Jeff Cooper’s concept of a Scout Rifle, except with a few minor twists. I’d like to have the reduced weight and forward optics of a scout-type rifle, but in 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington instead of .308. Sure, you lose some terminal ballistics, but the reduction in weight and felt recoil make the gun even better for humping around the horrible post-apocalyptic hellscape. Now, what I’d really like would be for the gun to accept NATO magazines. A bolt action .223 that feeds from standard AR style magazines would be the berries for a defensive carry rifle. Since everyone seems to be talking about how the world/economy/social order is going to collapse soon (it’s not) I figured the best rifle for that collapse would be a bolt action .223 with an 18 inch barrel, forward mounted optic, back up iron sights, and the ability to feed from standard AR15 magazines. CZ-USA makes the closest approximation I’m going to find on the commercial market, the CZ-527 Carbine in .223 or 7.62×39. It’s pretty much exactly what I had in mind, save for the fact that I don’t think it takes NATO magazines.

That's the idea.

I'd like to have a rifle with a normal capacity magazine that takes M14 magazines. I'd prefer to have it in .243 or 7mm-08, but either of those calibers would work in a .308 magazine. Of course, .308 ain't bad either.

What would be the use for such a rifle? Well, if I have to explain it to you, I'll let Tamara have her say:

the most likely targets are going to be shy ungulates that travel in twos and threes or stationary paper circles. These can be taken with a bolt action rifle rather handily, and a six-pound boltie with no protruding crap rests in the hands ever so much easier after several hours than a nine-pound slab with grips and magazines protruding at odd angles. Plus, an anvil might be more reliable than a Mauser '98, but that would depend on the make and model of the anvil.

And that pretty well sums it up.

Savage, Ruger, Big Green! Y'all listening?