why floorplate mags?

I own both types, I prefer floor plate, I have a browning blr pre 81, and I'm terrified of loosing that mag! I'd need a tampon to stop the bleeding if I had to purchase another one! Here they are expensive and very hard to get!
wes.
 
There seams to be a concern about cycling bolts to unload rounds.
This is understandable. If indeed the rifle needed this to be done. Then I would say it is a design error.
A case in piont.

And before I make it. yes it is a R93 I am talking about.

The mag cannot be removed from a R93 while the bolt is in place.
Now you can remove the bolt with a push of a button. So with the rounds still in the mag you can remove the whole shabang. In the case of Hornet6's R93 it was a 243 so had a second button needed to be pressed to let the bolt come out(not so neet in my view). Very safe but your bolt will need a holder. Their are some being made for them now. So no problem there.

The other way to achive a unload is just to push the rounds forward to the breech. Very safe. Of course you could just leave the safety on. A R93 is not cocked so is as safe as if it is unloaded.

I know other models of rifle have the same kind of features.
My piont is rifles should not be discounted because they don't have a detachable mag. In fact as some one else said, how fast do you need to load any way?

In fact if there is any one on here that has a R8. And up for a laugh. There is a experiment I wish to try. A friendly challenge just for the interest of it.
 
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I think that the big advantage of non detachable mags, whether with a drop plate or a solid base, is the fact that the guide rails are part of the action and therefore a lot more likely to stay straigh and feed well.

David.

Excellent point

AB
 
I own both types, I prefer floor plate, I have a browning blr pre 81, and I'm terrified of loosing that mag! I'd need a tampon to stop the bleeding if I had to purchase another one! Here they are expensive and very hard to get!
wes.

To true , I've been trying to find one for an SD member for months with no luck . They are expensive and hard to find .

AB
 
So why do the cognoscenti prefer floorplates?

Because Mauser 98 Sporting Rifles, Winchester Model 70s, 1903 Springfield sporters come that way.

Blind rotary magazines like the Mannlicher Schoernauer and Savage 99 are accepted into that group, as well.
 
Because Mauser 98 Sporting Rifles, Winchester Model 70s, 1903 Springfield sporters come that way.

Blind rotary magazines like the Mannlicher Schoernauer and Savage 99 are accepted into that group, as well.

So really it's nothing to do with the mechanism itself, and is simply because it is associated with what people tend to regard as the best sporting rifles?
 
As a side issue I do sometimes think that the detachable mag on sporting rifles could be something to do with providing the manufacturers the opportunity to sell the owner more stuff at a later date. After all a decent rifle won't require a replacement for a few years !
 
As a side issue I do sometimes think that the detachable mag on sporting rifles could be something to do with providing the manufacturers the opportunity to sell the owner more stuff at a later date. After all a decent rifle won't require a replacement for a few years !

Certainly there can be no possible explanation for the horrifying cost of replacement mags than out and out profit gouging!
 
I suppose the real reason behind floor plate magazines is that all the early bolt action rifles were based on military rifles which all have their basic design from the late Victorian era, and were replacing single shots. The though process I assume was the cartridge is the disposable bit but the magazines were a fixed part of the rifle and charging of magazine was by a stripper clip. Many early bolt actions also had a magazine cutoff, to allow single loading - theory being that you single loaded, keeping mag full for when a volley was required. Aimed shots were the order of the day.

Even early semi autos - aka the Garand used clips and fixed magazines.

Detacheable magazines came into use with machine guns, and only when the assault rifle / smg cecame widespread were they adopted more widely.

Most at military bolt actions have the means of opening the magazine for cleaning purposes. Mannlichers and Mausers use a bullet to depress a plunger in the floor plate, whereas the enfields have a mag release. The enfields have a detacheable magazine, but they were issued with clips (3up, 2 down) rather than spare mags.
 
Rifles with magazines! I suppose they load from the breech too!

What on earth is the world coming to?

Next thing you know people will be using thermal imagers to find game!

:old:
 
Next thing you know people will be using thermal imagers to find game!

I did recently convince someone that hunters were using specialised, hyper-sensitive, semi-autonomous chemosensory drones to locate game.

It took himm a while to twig that I was talking about dogs...
 
So really it's nothing to do with the mechanism itself, and is simply because it is associated with what people tend to regard as the best sporting rifles?

Yup.
And that heavy floorplate makes a nice canvas for engraving.
I own lots of rifles with detachable magazines, as well, but the older rifles, based of original designs for infantry, have more warmth for me.
 
I have Abolts in 22-250 and .270 & love the mag' system. As mentioned earlier in the thread, it's the best of both worlds really. And I think I've seen replacements for around the £60 mark, so not that scary a price. I've yet to lose one though
 
Just to muddy the waters. I have an engraved detachable floor plate on one rifle which was temporarily lost. I also managed to temporarily lose the magazine from a Sako 75 when I fell over in the snow.

Regards JCS
 
My howa magazine decided to self-eject while I was out stalking last saturday. Luckily I noticed it happen and managed to find all the bits of mag and rounds when the magazine decided to separate into its constituent components.......

im now hoping to convert the rifle back to its original floor plate configuration.
 
If a detachable magazine is used, it has to be a double-stack (so you can reload a round from the top without removing the magazine), ...

Why? Might be slightly more convenient but of little consequence. Loading a removed magazine allows you to visibly make sure the cartridges are all loaded fully to the rear unlike loading either a fixed magazine or a detachable through a loading/ejection port. If it were a concern modern infantry weapons would still be fitted for stripper clips.

As far as forgeting a magazine, I have found more people forget their knives than their magazines. Me personally, I keep my hunting gear all together. If I leave ammo in a magazine it goes in the ruck with the knives, rope etc when I leave the hunting area. If I unload the mag it goes back in the rifle and stays with it. If one is too distracted to round up one's gear perhaps one should pour a glass full of whiskey and sit by the fire.

BTW: The AI uses a single position feed magazine, could there be a reason for that?

SS
 
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