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Fred's
FAQ
What Is The Best Stock For My M14?
That is an easy question to answer. If you are talking about a show stock, a nice walnut or birch stock will fit the bill - a nicely camo'ed synthetic stock will also look like dynamite. If you are talking about the best stock from a strictly shooting point of view, there is no competition - the synthetic stock wins hands down. Look at the facts:
Moisture
All wood stocks are subject to swelling and shrinkage with variations in moisture content, which is directly related to changes in atmospheric humidity. Therefore, a wood stock may have a zero change from winter's dry weather to summer's moist weather. Even if you live in the arid southwest, if you travel to the coast to shoot, your stock is liable to warp enough to affect your zero.
Keep your rifle in air-conditioning? What happens when you take it out into humidity-laden summer air?
Similarly, if you are ever caught in rain, your wood stock is likely to be affected even more than you are.
A synthetic stock is waterproof. It will not be affected by humidity changes, and should always shoot to the same zero. It will shrug off rain with no problem.
Strength
Wood stocks are comparatively weak when you cut out the top for the receiver and the bottom for the magazine well. The M14 wood stock tried to overcome this problem with the metal stock liner. Yet even with the metal liner, at Fred's we see numerous broken wood stocks. In addition, due to the nature of the material, wood stocks will have imperfections, weaknesses due to grain variation and stress when drying - and hairline cracks will develop over time.
Synthetic stocks get around all this. First, the polyester plastic, glass-fiber filled material is far stronger than wood. That is the reason you do not see a metal liner in a synthetic stock. We have seen only a handful of these stocks with repairs at Fred's. Second, being a man-made material, the stock material is uniform in density and stress-free - not subject to season cracking or warping. Third, because it is not subject to compression like wood, the need to leave the trigger group unlocked on a wood stock to avoid crushing the stock is not as pressing. Fourth, because tolerances can be held much closer on the synthetic material, you usually find that the synthetic stock fits much tighter as a rule than the wood stock, eliminating the need for glassbedding to get a secure fit.
Not to be overlooked is the ease with which synthetics can be repainted in various patterns of camo. A synthetic stock can get a scrape or two, but can easily be touched up with spray paint - a lot easier to restore than a wood stock with a scrape or gouge.
Lest we be accused of undue bias, the wood stock can be made more waterproof with a urethane finish, and the zero problem can be minimized with glass bedding, and - if you have a large pressure tank, you can do what the Army did and epoxy-impregnate the stock to increase strength and waterproof the stock to equal an issue synthetic stock.
But it's easier to purchase an ex-military synthetic stock! For M14/M1A@ shooters, the GI synthetic stock is the way to go!
A Story About Synthetics and Wood
Fred will be the first to tell you that before he got into this stuff, he was prejudiced against synthetic stocks. But Fred never misses that rapid fire shooting on popup silhouettes out to 500 yards at his local club, so when Riverside scheduled a "Firebase Ripcord" shoot for July 4th commemorating Vietnam, Fred started getting ready. Now, to prove the point (Fred always learns the hard way), Fred keeps his M1A out of the stock and not until just before the match does he discover that the stock has swollen in the NC July humidity (Fred doesn't have air!). The action would not go back in the stock and lock up. So he picks a synthetic stock off the pile and put his rifle in it - goes down to Riverside and shoots the only perfect score in the 25 meter rapid fire event (try hitting a postage- stamp-sized target at 81 ft, rapid-fire standing!). He also wins the "Counterattack" event and the "Ambush" event. Fred is now sold on synthetic stocks (he burned up about 300 rounds of ammo that day - it's great! - you never take too little ammo to a Riverside event!) He also likes the GI synthetics because they are cheap!
If you were restricted to wood, would you choose walnut or birch?
This is a tough one. If you ignore appearance, birch gets the nod. It is stronger, denser, and has more even grain (ie, less natural defects, cracks, etc) than walnut. It is also less subject to later cracking and splitting than walnut.
It is also a tougher wood, about 20% more resistant to bangs and 'bumps' than walnut. Because birch has better machining qualities, tolerances can be held closer, so birch stocks tend to be more uniform in fit. For an exceptional stock, consider a birch. Big Red' - a regular M14 stock cut extra thick in most dimensions for an extra stiff (for accuracy), extra strong (for durability) stock. Most of these stocks because of their red tint offer exceptional appearance.
Even on appearance, a birch stock can match - or exceed - walnut. A beautiful golden yellow, dusky orange, or 'stand-out' red will usually get anybody's attention. In tiger-stripped, birch is much more 'showy'; walnut is subdued. Our tiger stripes usually have at least 75% coverage of the stock - in other words, they are real stand-outs!
Walnut is the traditional wood for gun stocks, but it has, if you have read this far, many faults - natural defects, a tendency to crack as time goes by, and it is not the strongest wood. But a good-looking walnut stock can change your mind -looks is the strong suit of walnut. (Against this, you can stain birch to so closely to resemble it that it is hard to tell the difference.)
What is a grade 1 'Fred's Choice' stock?
Fred's Grade 1 'Fred's Choice' stock is a stock which is in excellent shape - not new, but not roughly used either - a real value. Many of these stocks are great looking - stocks that because of grain, color, or cut look outstanding. Birch will be golden yellow, orange, red, rusty brown, or black. Walnut will be tan, medium brown, mahogany, or dark brown - or even black. That's what 'Grade 1' is - an outstanding stock at a great price!
Things People Overlook or don't know about
Nylon Slings - made only a short time during the Vietnam War to replace the web sling which could not take the harsh conditions of SE Asia, hence somewhat scarce. Here is another item a lot of people, including Fred, have/had an aversion to. Yet, from the shooter's point of view, the sling is stronger, softer, doesn't chafe the skin or get heavier when wet, and doesn't rot - even the metal is coated to resist rust. Most are a tinch wider than the web sling, giving more surface area for support and to prevent digging into the hand or shoulder. Used as a hasty sling, the extra suppleness makes for more comfort and a better "grip" on the skin. And the problem of the sling swivel rusting is greatly reduced or eliminated. Fred is sold on the nylon sling - not traditional, for sure, but functional as hell. If you think of yourself as a shooter, this is your sling.
"Got any wood M14handguards?"
The military never had a wooden handguard other than during development. Due to the M14's high rate of fire - even semiautomatically - the wood handguard would catch fire and burn merrily after only 200-300 rounds rapid.
From the beginning, the M14 handguard was made of fiberglass, although in a slotted version which is somewhat rare now because it broke easily. Some felt that the slotted handguard, designed to cool the barrel, also screwed up the sight picture with hot bubbling heat waves.
At any rate, the solid handguard which replaced it - identical at first, except that there were no cutouts - was stronger and eminently satisfactory for the entire short life of the M14 service rifle. |
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