I have a featherweight with a steel magazine floorplate on it. My dad had this put on sometime in the past and had it engraved. The floorplate catch on the trigger guard does not look like it makes much contact with the floorplate. Are the Aluminum and Steel floorplates normally interchangeable without any issues?

If someone has the time can you post up a picture of how much contact your catch makes with the floorplate. I'm trying to find pictures of mine on my computer because my camera just died on me.

Thanks

You mean like this?




This is one of the most recent pictures I've taken. This is my buddies 308 fwt. I have an aluminum floor plate on my 375 H&H and custom 338 win mag, so I guess they are somewhat interchangeable..

You should be fine as far as the size of the floorplate/catch...same/same

Hmmm looks like I have a bit of a problem. Ill try and get a picture up and see what you guys think.

I have a pretty big gap in there and not much meat holding onto the floorplate.

Looks pretty gappy. Have you tried an aluminum floor plate? You sure that is a pre 64 floor plate? Looks more like a post 64 floor plate to me. It may not be, but my (I'm not saying all) pre 64's are all beveled where they latch and the post 64 is squared off like the one in your picture....


Post 64 floor plates:

It very well could be a post 64 floorplate. I inherited the rifle from my father years ago and do not know much about it other then what my mother can remember about it. She thinks he bought the rifle new and later had the floorplate engraved.

I thought (wrongly) that a post 64 floorplate would not even fit on the gun so I was assuming it was just a steel pre64 plate.

I'm going to try and dig up a pre-64 aluminum floorplate off of one of the auction sites and see if that will fit better.

Thanks for the help this has been driving me nuts trying to figure out why the fit was so bad.

Guys, a post-64 floor plate is longer than a pre-64 floor plate. Ask me how I know?

Thanks Model70man. I'm going to pull the floorplate off later today and measure the OAL. Maybe mine was a post64 and cut down to fit?

I've shot the rifle with the Floorplate the way it's shown in the picture and it's never sprung open but now that I noticed it I'm paranoid about hunting with it. Hopefully I can locate an Aluminum soon and see if it is a better fit.


OAL of the floorplate with the hinge piece = 5.433

OAL of the Floorplate only = 4.641

Centurion75: Your Rifle has passed THE test - if it holds position under recoil then you should be fine.
Good luck in finding the aluminum floorplate.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

CENTURION,

There is no physical difference between the pre-64 aluminum floor plate/trigger guard and the steel units. I detest aluminum on a fine rifle and I have several Featherweights that I have put the steel units on.

One other thing I wanted to ask if you had tried and I'm going from memory here...have you backed out the middle screw any for the floor plate to bottom out on. It only needs to be snug anyway and it should IIRC let your floorplate bottom out without any gap between the floorplate and the floorplate release button. Thanks...Bill.

Not a damn fu cking thing wrong with an original aluminum floor plate. I run them on other rifles other than fwt's too.... ... You can lose 1/4 pound by switching out your bottom metal and not hurt a damn thing.

Wow! I wasn't trying to make an enemy here, just expressing my opinion on the subject. By all means stick with the aluminum if that is your preference.

BSA- Thanks for posting up your pictures

Model70- I tried backing off the screws and it made the fit a little better but I am still going to try an Aluminum to see how that works. I have one on the way and should have it in a few days. I'll let you guys know how that goes!

Thanks!

Good luck on that Centurion. I guess I must have a tendency to piss people off for expressing my opinion on a open forum. Guess I will just be a lurker from now on. I didn't know that 4 extra ounces caused a heart attack. Thanks...Bill.

You can't reblue it. I suppose you can shoot a coat of black paint on it to cover up the scratches. That always looks nice.

4 ounces is pretty insignificant. Lose the steel scope mounts for a set of Talleys if you're worried about weight. I'd rather have the steel FP/TG unit.

I wouldn't lose any sleep over pissing off bsa.

Thanks PrimeBeef! I won't I promise. It makes me think of another "Nimrod" from "Virginia" who also was a self ordained expert on everything. They never last. Sooner or later that worn out copy of Roger Rule's book will be beyond reading and another expert will come along.

Well my replacement Alum floorplate came in today. It's slightly longer then the steel one that was on my gun and it mates up to the trigger guard end better (more engagement on the mag catch). I'll try and get some better pictures up showing the difference between the two when I get a chance.

Thanks everyone for the help

Good the hear that the FW floorplate made an improvement of the fit and latch engagement. As in all parts that are manufactured to interchangeable fit tolerances once in a while you run into a stack-up in tolerances that produces a less than optimal fit.

I just compared steel and aluminum floorplates and the ones that I have are exactly the same length. The section with the notch where the floorplate engages with the release is a little thicker on the aluminum version 0.130 in. vs steel version 0.120 in....

I will have to measure thickness on the two I have. I didn't think to do that when I had the gun out of the safe.