I’m helping a friend put together a Mauser rifle and we got it all together and test fired it last weekend. The problem is that on each and every shot the hinged floorplate popped open, even when it was empty. It is one of the inexpensive cast steel units with an in the bow release. I know, you get what you pay for, but this was the first and only one of these I have bought and I figured I could clean it up and make it serviceable.

At first I thought the release might be hitting his trigger finger during recoil, but I watched on a couple shots and I don’t believe that was the case. The latch does not engage with a positive “click”, but it does appear to fully engage. The floorplate is fully seated, and the latch returns to its flush position of maximum engagement when it is closed. I may have removed some metal from the front of the bow to make the release and the bow flush with one another and polish things up, but it would have been minimal.

There are two possible solutions I have considered to fix this:
1. Add material to the release, and/or the rear of the floorplate and reshape for a more positive engagement.
2. Remove some of the mass from the oversized release button to prevent inertia from possibly causing a partial release under recoil. (I was planning to do this anyway for cosmetic reasons)

Please, you can spare me any “save your pennies and buy one of Duane Weibe’s units” advice... This is a low budget project and the rest of the components to not deserve such a fine trigger guard. Any additional work would be done by me, so I also do not need any condescending cost/benefit advice. My labor is free to me, so I will not be throwing good money after bad. I also know what milsurps, 1909s, and high end custom TGs sell for if I make the decision to terminate and follow another path. Sorry, don’t mean to sound like an ungrateful jackass, but I have seen enough shots from the internet balcony to shut down in advance advice that I have already considered due to my benevolent interest in saving trigger fingers from excessive typing.

What I am interested in is any advice from gunsmiths, professional or amateur, or anyone else who can offer tips that might help me find a way to rework/salvage this thing. Anybody dealt this before? I’ve heard stories of it happening, I just don’t recall if there have been repairs discussed before.

Thanks in advance…

I had the same trouble when I put my 9.3x62 together. Stronger spring may help, positive engagement may help.
I traded mine off for a old school one that is not hinged and not bow release.

Good call on the spring, thanks! That would probably be the most effective solution. And if I'm pulling the latch to reshape anyway that's the perfect time to do it...

I have used several of the cast ones from Sarco. Probably the same as the one you are working with. A stouter spring was needed in every one.

I had to drill both ends of the pin to get it out on each one.

Jeremy

try this... DO NOT SHOOT IT...
close the plate.. listen for it to click.. ...
if not, turn the screws 2 full turns looser, and try again.. it could be torqued/bent when putting in the action

it could also be, if a numrich cast piece, that the "tail" isn't locking under the pin

More excellent troubleshooting advice, perfect... You guys are spot on with the responses, thanks so much!

Yeah, it's one of the Sarco/Numrich models. Not sure who makes them. Think I got this one from a private party on ebay several years ago.

Forgot to mention 30-06, medium recoil...

I have taken a piece of lead shot, slightly bigger in diameter than the spring, and placed it in the recess for the spring and then put the spring on top of it, this increases the tension of the spring.

Worked great on my 338/06

I had an old MKX in 375 that I never could get to stay closed. It wasn't every time but maybe once every 20-30 shoots. Of course ALWAYS at the wrong time. I gave up. I drilled and tapped it just in front of the bow. Use a small screw mounted flush. Looked like it came from the factory. I always ejected the unfired shells anyway. Never used the release anyway.

My Voere does that too. Load with two rounds in the magazine and it doesn't pop open. Load three or more and it pops open.

The solution I'm thinking of is filing to increase the amount the latch needs to be displaced (pushing the button inside the triggerguard) to disengage it.

In other words file the part OF THE BOW that the latch contacts so that it can go further forward onto the baseplate edge that it clicks over.

I'm no gunsmith and my advice is free...

1) is there any slop whatsoever inthe front hinge pin of the floorplate? I.e can the floorplate move at all forward when closed? It might do so undr recoil.

2). Is the lug bedded tightly in the action? (possible tge action is moving rearward and torquing the bottom metal on firing)

3). I have heard the angle of the latch is critical to keepig closed. has it been modified at all/ do you happen to have another to compare?

Good luck.

I've had to fix several of those units. I little bead of tig to lengthen the plate is the route I took.
Don

Baxter:
1. A little, but I don't think enough to be the main problem. Mainly I notice lateral slop that allows the tab to get outside the slot where it is supposed to go. It shouldn't be enough to allow fore and aft travel of the plate once latched.
2. No. This was a put-it-together-and-go-shoot trip mainly to get shots on paper and make sure it functions. Root out any issues, you know... like this one! We still need to finish the stock. I will consider Jeffeoso's advice along with yours to ensure we have a good stress free bedding job to eliminate any related variables.
3. I don't have another one just like it, but I will compare to my 1909 Argie to see If I can tweak the geometry a bit. My friend and I have both done a bit of polishing on the front part of the triggerguard bow, it could be that we messed things up a bit.

Thanks again to everyone for all the good advice. I think I will try a little bit of everything to see if I can make this go away.

When I purchased my Oberndorf Sporter Mauser after it had been brought into the country from Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known then, the hinged floor plate had been glued shut. This was often written about as a common thing to do on big bore bolt actions used on DG to prevent the floor plate being inadvertently opened in the heat of the moment by the hunter and possibly to ensure the same thing didn't happen due to a mechanical problem such as your friend has discovered.

I eventually got around to breaking the floor plate free and cleaning away the epoxy glue. The floor plate locks up solid with the trigger bow catch and has never opened under recoil so the original gluing job was obviously just a backstop safety feature that someone thought should be done.

Quite frankly I would be quite happy to have the floor plate glued shut for a DG bolt rifle as it is easy enough to cycle rounds up from the magazine when wanting to empty it and when it is open to drop the rounds from the magazine it is not just a matter of slam bam to close, the magazine guide needs feeding into place so it slips up to the cartridge feed lips on the bottom of the action as the floor plate is closed. I suppose glued shut would give you some piece of mind if facing a DG charge

I bought a used 460 Weatherby that a previous owner had used a small screw to permanently close the floor plate. The screw is small, is blued to match the action and doesn't look bad at all. I have no thoughts of changing it.

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe (CG&R):
I always get a little nervous around some guy that cycles the rounds to empty the magazine box, especially when a hinged floor plate is there just for that pu pose.

The fastest fix is a really strong spring that is of the length to BARELY allow the plate to open.

Other ways are saftey blocks that must be depressed before the release lever can be operated. Hardly worth the expense and time on anything but a first class custom

I agree, which is one of the reasons I like Model 70 Winchesters and their three position safety which in one position locks the striker so it can't fall, but allows the bolt to be cycled if needed.

But no safety is any safer than the operator, and Model 70 safeties can be inadvertently bumped to the "fire" position if the operator's hand slips just wrong while cycling the bolt.

So, overall I prefer one of the original Mauser-style floor plate releases which consists of a fairly large sized lever on the bottom of the floorplate. One turns it 1/4 turn horizontally to open the floorplate. The lever snaps into place when fully closed, so it is not at all easy to bump open and accidentally dump one's cartridges...almost impossible while firing the gun.

I'm sure Duane or one of he other gunsmiths here could fit something similar to almost any bolt rifle floor plate, though it wouldn't likely be inexpensive on anything but a Mauser action Really good things seldom are.

But of course if it is a dangerous game rifle...installing one is dirt cheap compared to not having any cartridges in your magazine when one is really needed.

Cycling cartridges out of a magazine does not involve chambering the cartridge. Push feeds with blind magazines such as the latest Marlin XL bolt action is easy. A bump with the bolt and the round pops up out of the mag and is tipped out into the hand. The controlled round feed is similar, once the round is clear of the mag the bolt is retracted and the round ejected off the bolt face. Neither style of action can possibly fire a cartridge unless it is chambered and bolt fully locked.

It may sound disconcerting while someone is clearing their magazine this way but no more so than seeing someone get off the bakkie, load their firearm hot and then African carry it and sweep all and sundry throught the hunt a practice most seem to accept as just part of the African hunt experience

Having seen this in many big bore rifles the answer 99.9% of the time is a weak spring and lots of recoil..put a big ole heavy spring in there, one that requires effort to close. I suppose there are other reasons like a poorly fitted latch, a latch that's been monkied with but betcha a new heavy spring will be the fix.