magazine, bolt-action, schmidt-rubinWhen demonstrating the action for a friend recently, I discovered that the magazine either has to have at least one round in it, or be removed for the bolt to be closed once opened.
What is the purpose on the Schmidt-Rubin of disallowing the bolt to be closed if the magazine is empty?
It’s the same idea as a last-round bolt hold-open on a semiautomatic firearm. Joe Swiss in the trenches, working his bolt furiously in battle, might not notice that he closed his bolt on an empty magazine. The last round bolt hold open feature of the Schmidt-Rubin magazine ensures that he knows when he needs to reload.
When I’m trying to close the bolt on an empty magazine, I find that I can just reach my finger in and hold the follower down a tiny bit, and close the bolt (gingerly so as not to smash my finger) on that.
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