Floor plate popping off

[boomer25]

I have a late production Remington M1903 and I'm having issues with the floor plate popping off. Any ideas on how to fix this? I was also having problems loading rounds into the magazine. It seems like the follower hits on the left side of the receiver and loading more than one round is either difficult or impossible and when I try to chamber a round it usually jams to the left and will not chamber. Lastly, seeings the proper trigger guard for this rifle was stamped, do I have the option of switching the milled trigger guard out for a stamped one. If so, are there any modifications necessary or would it be plug and play.

I truly appreciate any input as I am just learning about the 1903.

[John Beard]

A common problem with floorplates popping off is caused by improper installation. The proper technique for installation is as follows. While holding the floorplate FULLY TO THE REAR, press the floorplate down until fully seated against the trigger guard. Then slide the floorplate forward until you hear a "click" which indicates that it's latched. If that doesn't work, then come back and we'll go from there.

A stamped trigger guard is fully interchangeable with a milled trigger guard. The cartridge feeding problem may be caused by a deformed magazine spring.

Hope this helps.

J.B.

[boomer25]

After many attempts, the problem remains. I am able to get the floorplate in position and hear the metallic click. However, it will pop off with minimal side to side movement.
Thanks again.

[jgaynor]

Boomer you might try dismantling the magazine box assembly. Drift out the pin that holds the floor plate catch. Give everything a good cleaning in solvent and inspect for nicks and burrs, The little coil spring should have a free length of 5/16" - 1/32". Lightly lubricate and reassemble.

Good luck. If you need it, there is a link to the 03 maintenance manual, TM 9-1270, in the Milsurps Forum sticky section. Its a pdf file - you'll want to scroll down to para 31k (pp 77)

[boomer25]

Thanks so much for the tip, I did as you suggested and lo and behold everything now stays in place! Know I just have to figure our why I can't load and chamber rounds. I will take John's advice and check out the magazine spring and probably replace it. Also, thanks for the info on downloading the TM. As I was taught as a young soldier, "when in doubt, check the TM".

[Crashyoung]

I use 'RTFM'.

Does your extractor allow the round to slide up onto the bolt face?
You should be able to slowly push the bolt forward and watch the
head of the cartridge slide up.
If it hangs up, it could be a burr or a sharp edge on the bolt face
or extractor causing the problem.

[jgaynor]

Boomer, not for nothin' but is the little switch (magazine cutoff) stamped "OFF" and "ON" in the up or "ON" position?

PS in the inspection section of TM 9 1270 there is a section on the follower spring. It gives you the dimension of the spring so you can measure it and verify what John told you.

Regards,
Jim

[Jim in Salt Lake]

Boomer, what kind of stock is your rifle sitting in? Original or repro? I have a repro stock from the CMP (Boyd's made) and had similar problems. The stock was fat, not only side to side but top to bottom. I had a gap between the magazine box and the bottom of the receiver. The follower would hang up in this gap and cause problems both loading and feeding. I had to inlet the the stock for the trigger guard to reduce that gap.

[boomer25]

It has the same issue regardless of which position the switch is in. Basically, I can load one round into the magazine, but not anymore and the round will not chamber, the bolt goes forward about an inch and stops with the round angled to the left. Should the bolt hit against the rear of the magazine follower when in the On position? Mine does and it almost looks like the rear portion of the follower is slightly higher than the front.

[Art]

The follower does indeed stop the bolt from going forward when the weapon is empty and the magazine cutoff is in the "on" position.

I once had failures to feed similar to yours caused by a warped magazine floor plate, I could load a full magazine though. I could not tell it was deformed just by looking at it but it was indeed out of line. A new floor plate fixed the problem.

The falling out floor plate was a recurring problem with M1903 rifles. The Greek solution was to pin the floor plate in place. Simple and logical solution, don't know why we didn't think of it. The stamped trigger guard/floorplate in late Remington '03s and the '03A4s also solved the problem.