I recently picked one of these up for dirt cheap from an old trapper type guy I know locally, he wasn’t planning on hunting any longer and his kids have no interest in guns.

I’ve got the manufacture date on this thing at 1978-79 it’s got some honest wear on it but nothing major, it has a gloss fixed power leupold and an old leather sling. This was the only hunting rifle this guy had for over 30 years and according to him has taken at least 50 moose over the years between him and his now deceased wife.

I had this gun at the range today and with some basic Remington core lockt 180g rounds it kept a 1.5” group at 100yds and I wasn’t really trying all that hard, just sent a few down range for fun.

Here’s the issue....there’s a gap between the floor plate and the bottom of the stock maybe 1/8th of an inch, I can’t seem to figure out why it’s there, the latch in the trigger guard seems seated and in place, the metal dosent seem bent, what am I missing and why isn’t this floor plate sitting flush? Any guesses or past experience???

Not sure if I’m selling or keeping this rifle as I doubt I’ll ever really use it but I’d like to get this issue solved.

Thanks!!!

I would start by taking off the rear bottom bolt that holds the back of the box magazine. Most likely the tang that holds the rear of the box magazine is out of alignment and not seated in the notch in the magazine.

Big

Are you actually seeing 1/8" of the side of the magazine box, or is this a daylight gap?

To expand on MNSIG's question, is it just the floorplate protruding below the stock, or are you seeing a true daylight gap, or seeing the sides of the magazine body protruding below the stock?

On my tang safety M77, the sides of magazine body itself sit flush with the stock, but the thick floorplate protrudes down below the stock. However, there's no actual daylight gap.

If it's an actual gap or you're seeing the sides of the magazine body, check the three action screws (in front of and behind the magazine under the floorplate, and behind the trigger guard) to ensure that they're properly snug.

Here's how the floorplate should look:

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Are you actually seeing 1/8" of the side of the magazine box, or is this a daylight gap?

Daylight. I can push it shut but it just springs back to the gap.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
To expand on MNSIG's question, is it just the floorplate protruding below the stock, or are you seeing a true daylight gap, or seeing the sides of the magazine body protruding below the stock?

On my tang safety M77, the sides of magazine body itself sit flush with the stock, but the thick floorplate protrudes down below the stock. However, there's no actual daylight gap.

If it's an actual gap or you're seeing the sides of the magazine body, check the three action screws (in front of and behind the magazine under the floorplate, and behind the trigger guard) to ensure that they're properly snug.

Here's how the floorplate should look:

It’s a daylight gap, it can be closed but the spring just pushes it back to where there’s a gap.

Snug all the action screws. If the gap remains but the weapon feeds properly, fires safely, and is no danger of dumping rounds on the ground, I wouldn’t sweat it.

Maybe post a photo?

Is there any chance that a chunk got knocked out of the wood and the previous owner sanded it out?