Working rewrite doesnt work as 301, gives 403

have a working rewrite but gives 403 as soon as I add [R=301]

[gorgmd]

I have a two rewrite rules. One transforms old URLs to the new form used on my site, the second one transforms the new form to the internal server structure ->*.php?#*$!. I also use a rewrite map to map category numbers and item numbers to their real life names.

My rules work fine, but as soon as I add [R] or [R=301] to the first rule (the old URL pattern which should be updated by search engines to the new rewritten URL) I always get an 403 error (access denied). Without the R tag everything works fine. I have searched around for this, but could not find anything - sorry if this topic has already been discussed a thousand times and thanks for any feedback.

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My rules:
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RewriteEngine on

RewriteRule ^display-product_([^_]*)_([^_]*)_english_([^_]*).html english/products/${type_eng:$3}/${cat_eng:$2}/${name_eng:$2}_$2 [R=301,QSA]

RewriteRule ^([^/]*)/products/([^/]*)/[^/]*/[^_]*_(.*) display-product.php?item=$3\&shop_lang=$1\&type=$2 [L,QSA]

Old url form: [widget.com...]

New form: [widget.com...]

[jdMorgan]

gorgmd,

Welcome to WebmasterWorld!

You might want to try the suggestion in this recent thread [webmasterworld.com].

Jim