Benelli Shooter
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- Aug 16, 2005
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Which do you like better on a bolt gun used for hunting?
Blind magazine vs. hinged floorplate?
- Thread starter Benelli Shooter
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Ash
Member
It really doesn't matter. A blind magazine cannot crap its contents onto the ground if you accidentally press the release button, but they are easier and safer to unload.
In the end, I suppose the floor plate indicates quality more than anything else. Nicer rifles tend to have floor plates whereas lower-end ones tend to have blind magazines. That said, I am not saying blind-magazine guns are crap. Many are very, very accurate (I have seen blind magazine Savages more accurate than floor-plated Weatherby Vanguards). But a blind magazine usually proclaims "budget."
In reality, for the act of hunting, the blind is probably the best. When back at the truck, the hinged floorplate is certainly safer.
Ash
In the end, I suppose the floor plate indicates quality more than anything else. Nicer rifles tend to have floor plates whereas lower-end ones tend to have blind magazines. That said, I am not saying blind-magazine guns are crap. Many are very, very accurate (I have seen blind magazine Savages more accurate than floor-plated Weatherby Vanguards). But a blind magazine usually proclaims "budget."
In reality, for the act of hunting, the blind is probably the best. When back at the truck, the hinged floorplate is certainly safer.
Ash
TexasRifleman
Moderator Emeritus
I use this thing, and I have no idea what it's called, that I put on top of the follower in my hinged floor plate rifles, basically a "ramp" that guides the round into the chamber, protecting the bullet and makes the rifle single shot.
So, I prefer single shots for hunting anyway. I don't like having to shove a round into the chamber to unload, in addition to bullet damage possibilities.
I have one for a Garand too, wish I could remember what they call the things.
So, I prefer single shots for hunting anyway. I don't like having to shove a round into the chamber to unload, in addition to bullet damage possibilities.
I have one for a Garand too, wish I could remember what they call the things.
Jackal
Member
I choose the hinge. I like being able to unload my rifle with having to chamber each round.
Regolith
Member
I prefer the hinged floor plate. It makes it much quicker and safer to unload the gun.
The Deer Hunter
Member
Personally, I prefer the hinged floor plate. I just think it looks better.
Why cycle the bolt?
I can just pull rounds out of the magazine if I want to. It's not a tube-fed lever gun.
Anyway, ultralight mountain rifles can be high-end but have blind magazines. There's no particular correlation between "cheap" and "blind."
It's a bit easier to clean the gun, though, if I can open the magazine from the bottom. I like to get the grit out, and man, around here we do have grit.
I can just pull rounds out of the magazine if I want to. It's not a tube-fed lever gun.
Anyway, ultralight mountain rifles can be high-end but have blind magazines. There's no particular correlation between "cheap" and "blind."
It's a bit easier to clean the gun, though, if I can open the magazine from the bottom. I like to get the grit out, and man, around here we do have grit.
PolymathPioneer
Member.
Locking Hinged Floor Plate In Place With Shim
On a successful dangerous game hunt with my wife years ago I fired at close range (15 feet) and simultaneously felt the floor plate release dumping the cartridges to the ground from my custom Winchester Classic Model 70 Super Express chambered in 458 win mag. This is an experience I never want to have ever again. I now shim the floor plates of my DG 70s, locking the floor plate in place during DG hunts. The shim is easily removed to facilitate cleaning the magazine box. The live cartridges are removed from the magazine by pushing them forward with the bolt removed completely, then easily removing the cartridges with my fingers. This also prevents accidentally dropping cartridges to the ground by using the floor plate as an unloading system, especially at night, i.e. removing the bolt and then cartridges assures there is no accidental discharge by the firing pin. Finally, (unlike with a blind magazine), since the floor plate is still used, water drainage is also not a problem. The shim is removable if the rifle is to be sold, restoring original function.
On a successful dangerous game hunt with my wife years ago I fired at close range (15 feet) and simultaneously felt the floor plate release dumping the cartridges to the ground from my custom Winchester Classic Model 70 Super Express chambered in 458 win mag. This is an experience I never want to have ever again. I now shim the floor plates of my DG 70s, locking the floor plate in place during DG hunts. The shim is easily removed to facilitate cleaning the magazine box. The live cartridges are removed from the magazine by pushing them forward with the bolt removed completely, then easily removing the cartridges with my fingers. This also prevents accidentally dropping cartridges to the ground by using the floor plate as an unloading system, especially at night, i.e. removing the bolt and then cartridges assures there is no accidental discharge by the firing pin. Finally, (unlike with a blind magazine), since the floor plate is still used, water drainage is also not a problem. The shim is removable if the rifle is to be sold, restoring original function.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Hinged, or at least removable like the old Mauser & Springfield military rifles for me.
No, they don't fall off or open themselves!
And not to unload the rifle.
Heavens no!
You get a blind magazine full of dirt, weed seeds, water, snow, or even very rarely, gun powder from a pulled bullet during an expensive hunt?
You will quickly see the wisdom of being able to open it up and clean it out without losing your scope zero by having to take the action out of the stock.
rc
No, they don't fall off or open themselves!
And not to unload the rifle.
Heavens no!
You get a blind magazine full of dirt, weed seeds, water, snow, or even very rarely, gun powder from a pulled bullet during an expensive hunt?
You will quickly see the wisdom of being able to open it up and clean it out without losing your scope zero by having to take the action out of the stock.
rc
The hinged floorplate is more convenient for unloading, cleaning, and maintaining. It can also provide a nice place to add some detail work for dressing up the rifle a little. That being said, I don't mind a blind mag and I wouldn't let blind or hinged configuration stop me from buying a rifle I liked.
essayons21
Member
+1 to hinged or detacheable magazine for practicality and ease of use.
If the floorplate opens while firing the gun, that is either a factory defect or defective workmanship from a gunsmith.
If the floorplate opens while firing the gun, that is either a factory defect or defective workmanship from a gunsmith.
bearman49709
Member
I've used both, and now only use removeable magazine's.
Not often, but they sometimes do. Many dangerous game guides have the floorplates welded shut to prevent that possibility at a bad time.
I don't feel strongly either way. A gun with a blind magazine can be built a little lighter and makes a good choice for a lightweight mountain gun. They are less expensive and have 1 less thing to go wrong. Unloading is a non-issue. It takes about 5 seconds longer.
2 of my favorite rifles have blind magazines. A stainless Remington mountain rifle and Kimber 84M. But I have guns with floorplates that I am quite proud of as well.
I'd buy the gun I liked. The type of magazine is so far down the list of priorities that it is of no real concern to me.
PolymathPioneer
Member.
jmr40; Sorry I disagree, this is not my experience. Heavy recoiling guns (50 pounds of recoil and up) will do this occasionally but only once is too much for me. Read some of the field reports by Finn Aagaard for example. (http://www.amazon.com/Finn-Aagaard-Selected-Works/dp/1879356627/ref=pd_sim_b2).
Loosedhorse
member
This same thing happened to my .458 Lott rifle. But not in Africa; before it left the States, while I was getting to know her.
The solution was to fit a Ted Blackburn floorplate/trigger guard. Solved.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
This:
rc
PolymathPioneer,
I'm not sure I understand your post.
Just to clarify my position. Having a floorplate open is quite rare, but possible. Heavy recoiling rifles are more likely to do so. You can make a good case that it shouldn't do so if it is working properly. But even properly designed and working floorplates could open if the person carrying the rifle accidently hit the release or if it were tripped by a piece of brush.
It is not uncommon to hear of a guide having his floorplate welded shut to prevent such a mishap. I've even read of duct tape as a temporary fix when rifles have shown the ability to dump ammo when being fired.
Never had a problem either way and don't consider either type of magazine to be a deal breaker for me. There are far more important consideratons when selecting a rifle.
I'm not sure I understand your post.
Just to clarify my position. Having a floorplate open is quite rare, but possible. Heavy recoiling rifles are more likely to do so. You can make a good case that it shouldn't do so if it is working properly. But even properly designed and working floorplates could open if the person carrying the rifle accidently hit the release or if it were tripped by a piece of brush.
It is not uncommon to hear of a guide having his floorplate welded shut to prevent such a mishap. I've even read of duct tape as a temporary fix when rifles have shown the ability to dump ammo when being fired.
Never had a problem either way and don't consider either type of magazine to be a deal breaker for me. There are far more important consideratons when selecting a rifle.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Yes it is.
And simpler is a military removable floor-plate as used on a 98 Mauser or 03 Springfield.
It simply cannot come off, until you want or need it too.
And it was combat tested for half a century or more to be so.
I still contend if you pay several grand for a big-bore dangerous game rifle and the hinged floor plate opens by itself, even once?
You need to have a serious talk with whoever built the defective rifle.
rc
Frozen North
Member
I like hinged floor plates. They are more easy to open up and clean out. The Winchesters I have owned were very secure, tight, and oops proof.
I don't like detachable mags, just one more thing to loose or forget at home. I rarely have more than two rounds in the mag anyway. In this type of county you are rarely gonna get a second shot on a deer. The only rare case that a third round could be necessary is for a coup de gras, because your second shot was crap too.
Blind, dump bottom, or detachable, none would be a deal breaker for me though.
I don't like detachable mags, just one more thing to loose or forget at home. I rarely have more than two rounds in the mag anyway. In this type of county you are rarely gonna get a second shot on a deer. The only rare case that a third round could be necessary is for a coup de gras, because your second shot was crap too.
Blind, dump bottom, or detachable, none would be a deal breaker for me though.
sixgunner455
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Detachable for me, on this zombie thread.
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