Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles New Ruger Hawkeye floorplate very hard to open

So I just bought A new Ruger Hawkeye from Gallery of Guns. When I got the rifle home, I tried to open the floorplate and it will not move. Finally get it open by pushing down real hard, threw mag well. The rear stock screw is way louse the middle snug and the front is holy crap tight, the inlay is rough. Putting rifle back together, trying different screw pressures and the plate still presses to tight to trigger guard. Gallery of Guns claims to exchange problem guns,but this one has real nice wood on it, and is A 35 Whelen, so exchange or fix.

It should be easy to see where it's binding, and a few strokes with a file should solve the problem

Mag box in correctly?

Not to hijack your thread, but what is the metal finish like on your Whlen that you bought from them?
Is it the shiney "satin" finish or the old flat black (matte)?

Had the same problem with my Hawkeye African .375 Ruger. The only way I could get it open was to loosen the action screws a bit. I finally concluded that since it was going to see DG use, a blind mag rifle might not be a bad idea- at least it was not going go open accidentally or in recoil.

Then, the stock split, and when I ended up replacing with a McMillan, the problem went away.

Because the front screw is angled, the way the front screw estruchion sits in the stock alters the distance to the trigger guard (and the tension on the floor plate). You can often fix things buy making sure the front screw estruchion sits as far forward in the stock as possible and the trigger guard is afar back as it can go.

This is complicated because the vertical distance between the action and the floorplate alters the distance from the from screw estruchion to the trigger guard.

Sometimes a stock is inleted poorly (I have had this happen with a McMillan) and the best fix is bed the bottom metal so that it sits properly in the stock. Then bed the action. of course its a lot of work to fix what should be right from the factory.

Called Ruger and they told me to turn out the front screw A couple turns and hit the floorplate to the front. Yep, just smash that mother into the wood some to get the clearance. I am sending it back, it is A shame nice piece of wood poorly bedded. Matt finish is what Ruger put on this Hawkeye Unclesoapy, and it handles extra nice with that 35 cal. hole threw that thinner barrel.

I've owned many Ruger's over the years and this is what happens when the action screws are not tightened to spec. and / or they were not tightened down in the right order.

Try that first....it only takes a screw driver and 5 minutes.

From the manual:

4. To replace the stock:
a. Install magazine box on receiver.
b. Place barrel-action assembly – with magazine box in place – into stock.
c. Replace trigger guard and loosely install screws.
d. Install floorplate hinge assembly and tighten the screw to 95 in-lbs. (This
screw is angled and draws the barrel-action assembly into the bedding surface
of the stock.)
e. Tighten the two trigger guard screws as follows: Do not tighten one screw
all the way and then tighten the other. Instead, alternately tighten each one –
a partial turn at a time – so that the screws will be tightened equally until both
are snugly tightened.

Play with it a bit and you will find the sweet spot.

Worth a try before dealing with the hassle of shipping if you dont have to.

^^Thats what I'd do.^^

Then.....front screw farmer tight, rear tight, middle tight enough to not fall out.

By the way, are those slotted screws or torx head? I think they started putting torx in the newer Hawkeye.

Tried all kinds of tightening sequences and could not get it to work. If you would have seen the inside of that stock,looking like A middle school shop project. Screws are allen, not slotted.

Another possibility is that the magazine box notch needs to be opened a bit so it doesn't force the tongue of the floorplate hinge out where it interferes with the floorplate closing.

Any time you bed a Ruger Hawkeye or change screw tension you change the geometry of the bottom metal. Can be solved by shimming or bedding bottom metal, never remove metal to solve a floorplate issue on a Ruger. Fit it without screws and look at it from one side and you will see where it is high or lo.

Only have or had around 15 Rugers 77,s or Hawkeyes bedded them all and I change stocks like women change shoes.
Have to get floor plates lined up on them all if your change one thing. Never had to remove metal on any of them.

Making front stock screw hole larger will help get floor plate to fit also. I open the screw hole after I bed it making an epoxy liner.

The front angled screw affects the geometry of the floor plate fit, if it does not fit you will see from the side, that the back of the floor plate and the trigger guard are not right. Shim or remove wood to get them aligned.

This video may help. There is a set way to reinstall the three screws with torque.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KGAYS91BDk

Shorten the post on the floor plate that fits into the latch on the trigger guard. That is where it is binding...

This is the right answer.

See Kurt's post...

Ruger metal parts are all the same and the geometry is as good as machining gets on factory rifles. The goofyass angled action screw has to accommodate minor differences in stock sizes which are almost always too big.

In the rare cases where they are too small you can remove metal from that post and make it work... but that is butchering and will cause other issues that may turn into a bigger problem.

If the stock is too big and tightening sequences do not fix it the bedding job is the best answer and should be done anyway...

No, either the inletting is wrong for the floor plate, or the trigger guard. This is why McMillan makes you mail them your bottom metal when you order a ruger. You can either dick with the stock inletting, or remove a few thousandths from the metal post on the floor plate. Your choice...

[s][/s]

So, you understand the inletting is the issue and want to correct it by taking off metal...

Very curious approach and dead frigging wrong!

And just how many thousandths?

Put the metal pieces together without the stock and they are essentially perfect. Introduce a defect in the stock and fix it by grinding metal?

Laughing here...