jmc

Begin by turning $3/7$ and $1/4$ into fractions with denominators of 56 to get $$\frac{3}{7}=\frac{24}{56},$$$$\frac{1}{4}=\frac{14}{56}.$$We can see that $14<M<24$, so the average of the possible values is $\frac{15+23}{2}=\frac{38}{2}=\boxed{19}$.