Greetings mms45,
Good question, thanks for posting it.
In my opinion yes, the belted - rimless risk in double rifles is potential but in my opinion a bit over blown.
I have owned one Merkel SxS in .375 H&H with extractors, one Franz Sodia SxS in .375 H&H with ejectors and one Heym SxS in .458 Winchester, with selector switch (in the forearm) to set on either eject or extract.
Both .375’s were / are the standard original belted rimless variety, not the also quite excellent flanged version.
Never did any of them fail to pull fired cartridges from their chambers, including when training with each, firing multiple rounds through hot barrels.
The potential for malfunction and / or damage to the extractors / ejectors, from closing the rifle after a cartridge has somehow gotten past the pawl mechanism and fully chambered itself, has definitely not been my experience with any of the above mentioned 3 rifles.
Being one who beforehand, always thoroughly rings out any rifle that I intend to hunt with, I have intentionally set up that scenario in all 3 of those rifles, multiple times with each of them.
It requires securing the rifle in a padded cleaning cradle or gunstock checkering vice or to have another person hold the rifle while you tinker around until you have set up the potential malfunction.
I had to hold down the pawls with a very thin strip of sheet metal with one hand while popping the cartridges past their proper place in line with my other hand.
The Heym had two separate pawls per barrel.
It was a little more tedious to get past that excellent design but worth knowing the outcome, before hunting with it.
Anyway, after removing each rifle from the vice, I carefully at first closed the action.
After several times, I would close the action on each rifle with more and more enthusiasm.
Not once in any of those rifles did I experience a malfunction from doing this.
Even with both cartridges placed past the mechanisms and fully chambered flush, the rifles all closed as smooth as though nothing was amiss.
The little spring loaded pawls are beveled on the appropriate side, obviously to skip past the malfunction and pop into the extraction groove like clockwork.
Upon opening each rifle, the mispositioned cartridges were withdrawn properly every single time, fired or still live, either one.
However, high chamber pressure has caused me an annoying issue with a double rifle (the Merkel .375 H&H), that I had bought brand new, in the maker’s leather bound case, with paperwork and test target, clearly indicating that Federal brand 300 gr RNSP ammunition was used to regulate it.
I suspect the right side barrel had a tight throat.
With the specified ammunition, the fired round from that barrel would every time badly flatten the primer, sometimes piercing the primer.
That right side barrel always flattened and sometimes pierced Winchester and Remington factory ammunition primers as well.
When a pierced primer would now and then leave a tiny fragment of primer cup metal (still attached to the pierced primer) bent backward into the firing pin hole, then opening the rifle required great force.
I had to hold the top lever hard to the right while slamming the rifle down over my bent knee, directly at the hinge.
Even with that ridiculous knee bruising activity, never did the little rifle fail to extract, not even once.
There are several rifles exactly like the one I had the pressure problem with, plus other same make rifles in 9.3x74R here in the general area where I live.
I’ve never heard of any of them suffering pressure problems like mine did.
However and after having said all that, I too have always and continue to generally prefer cartridges with a sturdy rim for double rifles, as that seems to me, the “more sure” design for doubles (and single shots too).
Speaking of proper rimmed or flanged cartridges for doubles, the picture attached below is of a very affordable SxS in 9.3x74R, a wonderful hunting cartridge for doubles and single shots.
I’m not saying this pictured rifle is of bespoke quality, just saying it is affordable.
And with that, it never ceases to amaze me (and disappoint me) that such affordable “knockabout” grade double rifles, with appropriate length barrels to fit grownups are virtually never offered in .303 British caliber or in .30-30 Winchester caliber, by any maker these days.
The Merkel I had an issue with is affordable and aside from that one I had, they generally are decent rifles.
For whatever reason, they do not offer it in .303 or .30-30 either one, at least not within their main production line of affordable SxS rifles.
Very likely I’d buy one if they did.
A customer can order one from some of the better makers, beginning around $30,000.to $40,000. US Dollars.
As much as I love rifles, paying $30 Thousand or more USA bucks for one is not a happy thought for me.
Chapuis did almost hit the mark with their sturdy but petit small frame .30-30 double, except for the fact that they made it with miserably way too short of barrel length.
It was affordable though so, perhaps there is a tiny spark of hope for a future offering with somewhat longer barrels some glorious day ?
I think Davide Pedersoli is now making a SxS rifle in the .44 Magnum revolver cartridge.
Again however affordable that it is, it too is sadly barrelled even shorter than the above mentioned already way too short of barrel length Chapuis .30-30 double rifle.
Well anyway, that’s about all I can think of to rant about on this topic.
And so, I will stop here.
Cheers,
Velo Dog.
