1903 Springfield floor plate won't stay latched

[DaveTN]

My magazine floor plate on my 1903 Springfield won’t stay latched. Just operating the bolt can send it flying.

But I’m not sure what part I need to fix/replace.

It appears to me that there should be a slot in the catch on the rear of the floor plate instead of just the 90 degree corner.

It doesn’t appear that there is anything there for the latch to snap into. Is this what it should look like? Any ideas?

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Is the bottom right edge(indention) there for a detent? I'm just guessing but it looks like

a detent ball ought to fit. May be missing on the gun. That's one of those "I wish I had

one" guns. I saw another floorplate on Gunbroker. com and it looked identical to yours.

[DaveTN]

Is the bottom right edge(indention) there for a detent? I'm just guessing but it looks like

a detent ball ought to fit. May be missing on the gun. That's one of those "I wish I had

one" guns. I saw another floorplate on Gunbroker. com and it looked identical to yours.

I’m not sure how it’s supposed to work. The angle appears to be a little less than 90, so it is catching a little bit but not enough to hold if I tap the floor plate.

[gregintenn]

I once had a model 70 Winchester with the same problem. The stock had swelled due to moisture, years of oil, or whatever. Relieving the necessary areas on the stock solved the problem. I'm not sure that is your problem, but it would be something to look at. Will it stay closed if the barreled action is taken out of the stock?

[MCSCOTT]

The floorplate and catch that you have don't look worn out at all from the pics. I'm no expert on it so about the only other thing I would know to look at may be the catch spring or the catch pin. If the pin is worn out or the hole that the pin goes through it might allow enough play for the catch not to work properly.

Also I don't know if it makes a difference on the 1903, but just in messing around I found that how the floorplate gets closed makes a difference on another rifle I have. I once held the catch while I closed the floorplate and then let it go, and it didn't latch properly.

I think the main thing I would look at first would be the catch pin or a good cleaning and oiling on the catch to make sure it isn't getting stuck and not latching fully.

[Guest dark.lightning]

I just fixed the one on mine, It seemed like it would stay but then when I filled it with 5 it would drop out, or if it was banged on something or moved around the floor plate would drop out, and I fixed mine by changing the spring that was on the...not sure what it is called, but there is a piece that holds the floorplate in, and if you take your receiver out you will see it, and it puts pressure on the floorplate so it doesnt fall out, and sometimes the springs are in bad condition because people dont usually change them. They are easy to change, you just take the peened rod/rivet out with a centerpunch and a small trim nail(or something like a small nail) put in the new spring(probably costs about a dollar, a bought a full spring kit for $4 online) and then replace the piece and put the rivet back in.