Which one you like better? Floorplate,no floorplate.DM?

[Reyn]

Just curious which you prefer on a hunting rifle. Floorplate,no floorplate or detached magazine. Why? Any bad experince that caused you to choose something different?

 

[30-06 lover]

I like hinged floor plate. It is easy to unload when you get back to the truck and is possibly safer as you do not have to "load to unload" like you do with a blind magazine. Detach Mags are very convenient, but I and my brother have had failures to feed with them because the magazine failed to work properly, or the bolt and/or slide was to far forward when the mag was inserted resulting the round not being chambered.

 

[sinistr]

+1 my rem700 dm suffers feeding problems i've heard simular complaints from other dm owners.stick with the hinge, imo.

 

[dakotasin]

on a hardcore hunting rifle, i really like blind mags. see the pic of my rem 700 in 300 win mag
to get an idea of what i mean about 'hunting rifle'.

for a rifle that isn't subject to rockslides, falls, ice-packing, rain, mud, snow, severe cold, or general rough handling, hinged floorplates are the way to go.

 

[rangerruck]

for a straight up field rifle, i like blind. nothing to catch, nothing to lose, Usually means a control round feed, usually, and a stiffer receiver.

 

[Reyn]

Thats definately a harcore looking rifle. That thing looks like its been to hell and back.

 

[kfranz]

My Browning BAR has both a DM and a hinged floorplate.

 

[dakotasin]

reyn- that rifle has had a tough life. the gun and the leupold vx-3 4.5-14 are 2 years old now, but by looking at it, you'd think it had spent 20 or more years in the field... the scope has deep gouges all over, and the factory finish isn't present anymore in a lot of places. the rifle itself doesn't have much factory finish left on it, and the stock has scratches and gouges in it... it has been in freezing rain to where the scope bell froze itself solidly to the rifle barrel, had icicles hanging off the barrel, has slid down rocky hillslides, traversed creek bottoms, fallen through ice, been snowpacked, survived 100+ degree temps, banged off of trees, etc etc, and etc. this rifle has survived every sort of abuse that a rifle can go through... and this year, i took 5 shots w/ it on deer (65 yards, 227 yards, 235 yards, 383 yards, and 410 yards), and dropped 5 deer (including my 2nd and 4th largest whitetail bucks ever). yeah, i'm pretty confident in that system.

blind mag is the way to go on a hunting rifle - there's no way i'd put my floorplate and dm guns thru the same treatment.

 

[Dr.Rob]

I've used a blind mag Savage 110 for years... in Colorado the mag doesn't have to be 'empty' in the truck, but the chamber does, to unload throw the bolt open, catch the round, re-insert in the magazine and hold the rounds down and close the bolt over them. To unload completely just cycle the action (in a real mauser you can do it with the safety on)

My replacement Savage 116 has a detachable magazine... it's never dropped out or malfunctioned in any way, nice to carry 4 spare rounds in a way that won't rattle or come loose. Easy to unload/make safe quickly.

Only floorplate rifle I've used is a Ruger M77V... never dumped the rounds by accident, easier to completely unload once I'm home.

I think I like the convenience & portability of a magazine best.

PS 3rd season & 4th season Colorado hunts aren't exactly standing in a Texas double wide blind. My rifles have seen their share of rain snow, mud, blood etc... Haven't tried the throwing 'em in a rockslde trick.

 

[atblis]

Detachable mag

Easy loading/unloading/reloading. No need to carry loose rounds.

Reliability? You guys need to quit buying crappy guns. Just because Remington screwed the pooch, doesn't mean everybody did.

D.M. don't seem to be that big a problem in combat guns, so why would they be in a hunting rifle?