Floor plates vs detachable mag

[Big Mat]

Whilst I'm waiting on certificates getting back, I'm looking around and trying to figure out what to purchase.

The spec is a .308 at the budget end of the market.

As I've been looking around, alot of the cheaper guns are floorplate magazines. Am I right in my understanding that I'll have to cycle the action to unload the mag Every time?

Every thing I've ever used has been detachable mags so a floorplate would be something new to me.

Other than the safety issue when unloading is there any disadvantage to them? Obviously I'd rather a detachable mag for ease but budget is tight.

Thanks
Mat

 

[Border]

Floorplates you can push a button and dump rounds into your hand, or manually cycle the bolt. Blind magazines, you must work the bolt to empty the mag.
Can't forget or lose a floor plate or blind mag.
Bit more fiddly but not really a disadvantage imo.
I have both detachable mag, floorplate and blind mag rifles.

 

[User00003]

I’d go floorplate every time. I never use the floor plate to unload, just put on safe middle position and cycle out in my hand.

since I’ve had floorplate guns i have never forgot the magazine at home

 

[Big Mat]

Floorplates you can push a button and dump rounds into your hand, or manually cycle the bolt. Blind magazines, you must work the bolt to empty the mag.
Can't forget or lose a floor plate or blind mag.
Bit more fiddly but not really a disadvantage imo.
I have both detachable mag, floorplate and blind mag rifles.

Ah right I understand now, so when I go look at a rifle, there will be a release button or catch on the underside of the action on a floor plate and nothing on a blind mag?

 

[VSS]

Ah right I understand now, so when I go look at a rifle, there will be a release button or catch on the underside of the action on a floor plate and nothing on a blind mag?

Yes.

 

[jcampbellsmith]

..Can't forget or lose a floor plate....

Not correct. I owned a .308 Win with a detachable floor plate and on one occasion my father misplaced the floor plate. It was reunited with the rifle fairly quickly.

On the general question of floor plates v magazines. I own both types, both work. I'm much more concerned about other features of a rifle, rather than the magazine type.

Regards

JCS

 

[VSS]

Not correct. I owned a .308 Win with a detachable floor plate and on one occasion my father misplaced the floor plate. It was reunited with the rifle fairly quickly.

On the general question of floor plates v magazines. I own both types, both work. I'm much more concerned about other features of a rifle, rather than the magazine type.

Regards

JCS

Good point above about the detachable floor plate. I have 2 identical model rifles, one of which is 243, the other is 270. The 270 is, I believe, slightly older, and has a detachable floor plate. It is taking a bit of getting used to.

 

[Woodsmoke]

I guess it's what you get used to? I have A-bolts, with detachable magazines, and I can't imagine changing to a floorplate. Both have their pro's and con's.

Edit: None of my rifles (apart from my .22) cost me more than £300, so budget shouldn't be too much of a concern

 

[Big Mat]

I guess it's what you get used to? I have A-bolts, with detachable magazines, and I can't imagine changing to a floorplate. Both have their pro's and con's.

Edit: None of my rifles (apart from my .22) cost me more than £300, so budget shouldn't be too much of a concern

Its not just buying a rifle though, got to get a moderator and a scope and a couple of types ammo to try out, soon starts to build up!

 

[enfieldspares]

Like the old revolver v pistol argument I guess. With a revolver (like a floorplate rifle) if you had any of it you had all of it. With a pistol bar some exceptions unless you had the magazine you had only a clumsy single shot weapon.

The nowadays universal use of telescopic sights and how it has eliminated the production of rifles with ability to clip load through the top with a charger is a factor to consider.

I still have one iron sighted rifle. A Czech Mauser 98 in .270 WCF that still has the Mauser "hump" so I can in fact reload quicker that even the shooter with a spare detachable magazine as I simply load with a clip of five.

So modern rifles even if based like today's re-born Rigby on the Mauser 98 don't have that "hump" any longer. For example the last Winchester hunting rifle AFAIK to have the ability to clip load was the Model 54 of the 1920s era.

So all modern floorplate magazine rifles are loaded one round after another. They offer no longer that advantage of clip loading through the top. But neither modern detachable magazine hunting rifles. So at start of the stalk or hunt BOTH are as slow to load as the other. Thus the merits of the two different designs are simply this:

1) Do you see a need to rapidly reload the rifle with a full compliment of cartridges after you've fired off all the five or four that are already in it when you started the hunt?
2) Do you have the funds to spend on that additional magazine as some are near one hundred pounds from some makers? So is it just "nice" to have an extra but not necessary?
3) Do you have trouble remembering your bolt and your cartridges without the addition of having also to now remember your magazine?
4) WHICH IS EASIER TO TOP UP WITH ONE SINGLE ROUND OR TWO ROUNDS AFTER YOU'VE TAKEN A SHOT/SHOTS?
5) WHICH IS EASIER - FLOORPLATE DESIGN OR DETACHABLE MAGAZINE - TO CLEAR A JAMB?
6) The worst design IMHO is the so called "blind floorplate" magazine rifle and should be avoided at all costs.

The unloading argument is IMHO irrelevant as you can on most modern rifles "short stroke" a round and extract it without having to fully chamber it or close the bolt on it. Detachable magazines are best on any and all .22 Rimfire rifles as it makes loading easier. On most stalking rifles if the maker offered a choice I'd choose the floorplate style as it is more robust....a detachable magazine on a stalking rifle is but moments away from clumsy handling crushing its feed lips.

 

[Woodsmoke]

Its not just buying a rifle though, got to get a moderator and a scope and a couple of types ammo to try out, soon starts to build up!

It sure does! If I could offer some advice though, unless you really need (or want?) high-end optics a budget 'scope such as the latest offerings from the likes of Hawke are seriously hard to beat. My 8x56 was under £200 and is actually a lot more scope than I need. Hawke come with lifetime warranties, so they're seriously worth considering if you're buying new? Simmons Whitetail Classics are another great scope, and the Bay of E has a lot of them at around the £100-£200 mark. There are a few others, but I have personal experience of these and am really impressed. As for a mod', you'll probably find something to suit you in the classifieds for, again, possibly around the £100 mark. Gunstar, Yorkguns, etc have a lot for sale too. Happy hunting

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

Other than the safety issue when unloading is there any disadvantage to them?

There is no safety issue
I much prefer floorplates unless I have a rifle that I require several magazines to be full and ready for use....rimfire
otherwise I can count on one hand the number of times I have managed to shoot enough to empty the box mag (5+1)

by far the more relevant question in my opinion is
can you feed the mag through the action or do you have to fill it out of the rifle?

if that latter I really don't see the point
If I remove a live round from the chamber I want to return it to the magazine (internal or detachable)

If i have to remove the mag in order to do that it seems a waste of time.

Floor plate designs allow for a live round to be withdrawn and pushed straight down into the box mag.
Close the bolt and you are as safe as you would be if the detachable mag was in your pocket

ammunition proximity to the rifle is not a factor when making the rifle safe
chambered or not ...is

 

[enfieldspares]

There is actually one advantage of the detachable magazine rifle that in fairness should be mentioned. If travelling to stalk or where there is no gun safe it can be secured by a security cable passed through the open frame of the receiver once the magazine has been removed. Although, but slightly more fiddly, one can do the same with a floorplate rifle by removing the bolt and passing the security cable through the rear receiver ring and then out the top or side of the receiver.

 

[Kalahari]

I prefer floorplates personally. You can still pass a cable through the cartridge well with a floorplate just by dropping the floorplate.

David.

 

[Big Mat]

It sure does! If I could offer some advice though, unless you really need (or want?) high-end optics a budget 'scope such as the latest offerings from the likes of Hawke are seriously hard to beat. My 8x56 was under £200 and is actually a lot more scope than I need. Hawke come with lifetime warranties, so they're seriously worth considering if you're buying new? Simmons Whitetail Classics are another great scope, and the Bay of E has a lot of them at around the £100-£200 mark. There are a few others, but I have personal experience of these and am really impressed. As for a mod', you'll probably find something to suit you in the classifieds for, again, possibly around the £100 mark. Gunstar, Yorkguns, etc have a lot for sale too. Happy hunting

I've been keeping my eyes out for a decent fixed mag, 6x42 ideally, I saw one in the sales for £155 but it was already sold.

I've no desire for fancy kit, I just want a solid dependable workhorse that will last a long time

 

[nun_hunter]

There is actually one advantage of the detachable magazine rifle that in fairness should be mentioned. If travelling to stalk or where there is no gun safe it can be secured by a security cable passed through the open frame of the receiver once the magazine has been removed. Although, but slightly more fiddly, one can do the same with a floorplate rifle by removing the bolt and passing the security cable through the rear receiver ring and then out the top or side of the receiver.

I do this with both floorplates and detachable magazines but with the floor plate just open it and pass the cable through.

This doesn't affect your application (I think) but usually an internal magazine will accept ammo with a longer coal than most detachable magazines will. This is one reason for not getting a magazine for my varmint Howa 1500 in 223 as I can hand load ammo with a longer COAL in the internal magazine than I could if I used the cheaper detachable magazines.

 

[Tom D]

Never used a floor plate rifle, but the Sako double stack mags work in a similar way, I often load mine through the top as the ejection port on the 75 is quite large. Also as Ed says you can withdraw a round from the chamber and push it back down into the mag, it’s also easy to push the top round down and close the bolt on an empty chamber. With my Tikka 590 on the other hand the ejection port is tiny and much harder to get your fingers in, plus the single stack mag can not be fed from the top, it has to be removed to feed.

Given that the floorplate designs work in the same way same way as the Sako double stack mag, (I think) I would be happy with the floor plate. I would take a floor plate over the single stack Tikka design..

 

[spannulman]

I have a one detachable mag rifle and one floor plate. I used to thing floor plates were a faff before I used one but am now a convert. I only once have wished I had a 2nd mag to reload when culling from a herd of reds. Otherwise as someone else said, you can feed a couple more in from the top easily and quickly, especially with an open , Mauser action.

It did take a few u loads to realise I should place my hand further back towards the trigger guard. I no longer drop them all each time!

 

[Minto]

Of all the rifles i’ve had I much prefer the ones with a hinged floor plate. Find them so much easier to work with, you can top load or you can turn the rifle upside down and put 4 or 5 rounds in at once, or place a single round in from the top without needing to faff about with a mag.

 

[Edinburgh Rifles]

you can turn the rifle upside down and put 4 or 5 rounds in at once,

often overlooked method of bulk loading