custom Socom stock build SHE'S DONE!!!!!!!

[cruzerlou]

Hey Folks, I guess y'all know by now that I swapped my A.K. for a Socom 16 about a month ago now . I came across this website called the instructables and low and behold there was this custom stock made from an old U.S.G.I. fiberglass stock and a Knoxx coloasable shot gun stock for a Mossberg.
Just so happens I had an old U.S.G.I. stock and the shotgun stock layin around here collecting dust .Well this after noon I got started on it . Here's a few pics,
My Socom 16 as it came stock, with her big sister


Initial cut,





stock with new butt



factory stock next to build stock



Here's what it will look like when I'm done with it,



I'll drop about 1/2 pound in weight and shorten the gin up with the stock collapsed it will go from 37 1/2" down to 35".
I'm gonna mount 3" Picatanny rails at the fore end of the stock on both sides ,one for a light, one for a laser and one on the underside of the fore arm about 1/2 way between the mag well and the end of the stock for a vert. for grip.
Throw in a cool camo rattle can paint job on the stock and a spare hand guard I'd already cut for the scout rail scope mount, and I'll have one mean slrobrin Rottweiler of a CQB 7.62X51 battle rifle .
So your hidin behind that cinderblock wall 200 yards down range? no problem this little bad boy will go through that wall, you and the guy behind you LOL.
I'll keep y'all posted on how I'm doing this , and how it's comin along.
Lou

 

[Viking Queen]

Wow, looks pretty ambitious to me, Lou, but then anyone putting together their own gun has me in awe.

Have fun!


VQ

 

[Kevin]

Lou, how will you fasten the new butt to the main part of the stock?

 

[cruzerlou]

Hey Kevin, here's the link to the instructables website where the guy built the stick.
One of the guys over on the M14 forum has shot one of these rifles and said that it's a very solid build.
I'm just going to follow the directions and I think this will work just fine .I have every thing I need except the fiberglass cloth and resin, but a buddy of mine owns a marine business and he'll hook me up with the little resin and cloth I need. The liquid epoxy, putty epoxy , the T-Nut, spare bolt and nut I'll pick up at Lowes.
Total cost to me for the build is the 70 bucks of so I spent 2/3 years ago for the shotgun stock and fore end , that after installing on my shotgun I didn't like .These work great on a shotgun with the safety in the trigger guard. I didn't like on my Mossberg with the tang safety .
I've shot Remington 870's with both this stock and the recoil absorbing version of it and it did well made for a very nice handling shotgun.
The least expensive stock like this out there for the M1A is the VLTOR and new their 500+ and you still have to do quite a bit of fitting, in fact from what I've read quite a bit more work than this whole build
Lou
http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Custom-Stock-for-the-Springfield-M1A/

Here's some pics of the Vltor and you still have to buy the buffer tube and whatever adjustable stock you want




BTW did some tradin around and I'm getting this stock to glass bed my M1A "Loaded" action into.
This will be my long range precession rifle
here's the rifle now


Here's the stock it's going in, this is a m14 A1e2 Squad Automatic weapon stock. There becoming very hard to find and the original hard ware is almost impossible to find. This stock is a new [ made in 1968/69 ] but never issued and has the front rail insert in it .I have a line on some repo parts like the rubber butt pad and flipper, rear sling mount , bolt and nut . I'm gonna swap my U.S.G.I. fore end insert for a whole aftermarket kit of the parts mentioned above .
Here's the stock I'm getting for the "loaded" M1A. It's hard to tell from these small pics but this stock if highly figured in the grain , almost fancy grade although not the coveted "tiger stripe birch" but VERY close .




Guys building correct replicas pay big bucks for original parts there's also a special fold down forward hand grip, special muzzle device and H.D. bipod

Here's what an M14 A1 E2 SAW lookes like

I'm basically building a sniper rifle in the stock I'm getting .I'm gonna glass bed the action, put some internal goodies that help with accuracy and add short Picatanny rail with a sling mounting stud and light weight bipod and I"ll have pretty much a one of a kind M1A sniper rifle .
Lou

 

[Kevin]

Lou:
Hey, thanks for the pictures. Those look like fun guns to shoot. I suppose your right, you wouldn't need too much fiberglass resin or cloth for that size stock. A good paint job and it will blend together seamlessly. Good luck and keep posting your progress!

 

[WendyZXZ]

Looks like you are starting out on a fun project Lou!

 

[cruzerlou]

Hey Folks,
today I went by my buddies marine repair shop and got a 12"X 12" piece of fiberglass to make the strands out of that will go in the 2 part epoxy that will go in the recess in the donor stock to secure the T-Bolt that mounts the pistol grip butt stock .
I milled out the foam and fiberglass out of the donor stock to make room for the t-Bolt and I went by the machine shop and used their big belt sanded to square up the cut I made in the donor stock . I also completely disassembled the pistol grip butt stock to do a bit of fitting and installed the T-Bolt so I can fill in the void in the donor stock and mount the T-bolt into that stock.
My next step will be to take my Dermal and mill 3 small locator slots in the two stocks at the 3 , 12, and 9 O'clock positions to make sure that every thing lines up right .
The next step after that will be mixing the 2 part liquid epoxy and the fiberglass strands and filling in the and mount in the T-bolt .
Then the final step using the 2 part epoxy putty to make the mating surface between the two stocks. after that just some sanding, Media blasting the whole thing , prime and paint .I've dropped the action into the stock with the butt taped in place and the alignment is spot on.
The drop of the comb is much less than the factory stock, much like an M-4 and that should make recoil even more manageable than the factory stock which wasn't a problem anyway .The muzzle break on the Socom does a great job of this and I haven't shot the Socom and the M1A side by side , but I think the Socom has less recoil than the M1a even though it has that short bbl on it and weights 2 pounds less than the M1A.
Here's the pics of todays work,
The recess in the donor stock ,



The pistol grip stock with the T-Bolt installed



The two stocks taped together just to show the alignment of the two



I'm also gonna use the two part epoxy putty to fill in the selector cutout to help keep dirt and dust out of the action once the action is mounted in the finished stock.
I'll be posting in the title of this thread UPDATE 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 1.3,.... as I go through each step of the build
Your Friend,
Lou

 

[cruzerlou]

Hey folks,
I'm gettin my butt handed to me on a platter by the flu right now, hope to get going on the build again in a day or two.
Lou

 

[Don Lovel]

damn flu about killed me off in December you take care of yourself, it is hell to get that dehydrated and cannot keep anything in you or spend the days repainting the porcelin with a flamethrower for a butt, I do feel sorry for ya buddy, play your guitar, it really does help

 

[cruzerlou]

Yes Don playing my guitar helps , but when I get to that thrashing lead part I get all excited and have to make a mad dash to the crapper LOL, guess I should just stick to the rhythm parts for now :lol:
Lou

 

[cruzerlou]

Well I went and got the two part epoxy ( called Z- Poxy) commonly used for R.C. planes and cars ,that is the epoxy I need to mix with the fiderglsaa cloth choked into 1/2" leinghts to make the paste to anchor the t bolt into the stock .
I'm gonna try 5o day that step tomorrow ..I've ordered the two part epoxy putty that it used for the final!fill in and setting of the butt stock.
When that gets here I'll do that .then all that's left is prep and paint ,so I should he done in a week or two .
Lou

 

[cruzerlou]

I've got all the final fitting done and just need to cut the spikes off the t bolt tonight and tomorrow I'll be starting the epoxying process , to anchor the t bolt in to place with the two part Z-Poxy/ fiberglass strand mix . I'll post pics of how this goes . I ordered the two part epoxy putty that is used to do the finial finish of mounting the butt to the stock today, it should be here in a week or so . That part is also the shaping process , then it's sand and paint , so be lookin out for more updates in the next week or so.
Lou

 

[cruzerlou]

Here's a few pics. I've filled in the selector cut out with this two part epoxy called
Magic Sculpt . You clean your prepared surface[ sanding with 200/ 220 will be fine ] that you mix equal parts and of the Resin and hardener, the easy way to do this is to take a small amount say a ball about the size of a marble [ for small jobs like this] and roll each ball into a snake on a piece of wax paper , be careful here because once mixed this stuff will stick to anything, roll each ball out and then flatten it worth your palm and lay one on top of the other and then just tare off little chunks until you have a stack repeat a few times , you'll see when it's all mixed right and then just mold it into what ever you want . In my case I just filled in the cut out and once you think you have enough in there to do the job , just wet your hands with water and begin to smooth it out .
I put a little too much in to cut out which meant ALOT of sanding , so go light at first . you can always scuff it up a bit and add more . Tomorrow I'm going to use the two part liquid epoxy mixed with the fiberglass strands to mount to T Bolt into the recess I made in the back of the stock . I'll post pics of how this is done . Here's the pics of the cut out filled in with and without the action in it . I just need to do a little fineness sanding to get it real smooth but it would work just find like it is .

 

[cruzerlou]

A last little bit of putty work. I filled in the cut out for the front sling mount as I'm going to mount it on the left side of the fore end near the end of the stock, just behind a 2/3" piece of pic rail that my laser will mount to . Here's the cutout filled in and filled woth Magic sculpt and sanded, ready for paint .






now this cutout is smooth and follows the contour of the fore end .
This Magic Sculpt is great stuff but be for warned, if you use it , when it cures it's VERY HARD and will take a LOT of sanding . 220 won't hardly cut it .I've sped things up a bit by using my vibrating dry wall sander with some 100 grit to do the biggest part of the shaping and then hand sanding with 220 to get my final shape and smooth everything out

 

[cruzerlou]

Last deep breath be fore the plunge,
Here I've cleaned the T Bolt with Denatured Alcohol and coated the allen bolt, washer and stock mount with petroleum jelly as a release agent and I've filled the end of the T Bolt with hot glue to prevent the two part epoxy/ fiberglass strand mix from getting into the threads and from sticking to anything but the T bolt it's self . In a bit I'll be mixing the epoxy and glass strands and packing the hollow in the fore end and mounting the stock mount .



Here's the stock mount and the pistol grip and extension that the standard M-4 style butt stock goes on .

 

[cruzerlou]

Now the sweating starts. I cut the fiberglass, mixed the epoxy and the glass strands and fitted the stock mount . It takes 30 minutes to cure, but I need to let it set for 24 hours before I can put enough toque on the allen bolt to remove the stock mount . I put plenty of jelly on the parts I don't want to bond and used Gorilla duct tape to hold every thing in place . I've got it set up vertical so the mount won't move , now I wait . If I did every thing right , the prep , and the jelly in the right places so I can get it apart again then it will be smooth sailing , just mounting the stock and the two part putty epoxy to shape the two and then the paint . Here's some pics
Lou

The glass strands,



The Z-Poxy mixed



The glass and the Z-Poxy mixed and packed into the hollow of the fore end



And the two parts mated together



If all goes as planed I'll be shooting the rifle in this stock this weekend!!! wish me luck,
Lou

 

[cruzerlou]

Houston, the Eagle has landed ! well it ain't rocket science , but I did stay at a Holliday Inn last night!!!


Well I tried but I couldn't wait 24 hours , so I had to do a test fit, and all is well .
The allen screw came loose just fine as did the stock mount ,so I put the stock mount back on tightened the allen bolt and slid the stock into place . MAN I LIKE THIS!!!!
I shortened the OAL with the stock fully collapsed by 2 1/2" just what I thought it would be and drops a good 1 1 /2 -2 pounds in overall weight . Best of all is the balance of the rifle . For those of you that own a Socom 16 and think it handles well . which it does, but you don't notice it but the Socom 16 as it comes from the factory is just a little butt heavy . With this stock the balance point is the magwell with a loaded mag in place . The gun comes up to the eye quicker and swings much better .
Here's a couple pics ,I still have the putty epoxy to do to sculpt the lines between the stock and fore end and then it's paint time . But cost to me was 30 bucks for the beater stock, 80 bucks for the shotgun stock and fore end [which I already had 38 bucks in the two different epoxies and less than 5 bucks for the t bolt , and finish bolt which you'll see in the next set of pick . So for less than 150 bucks and maybe 10 hours total of my time my Socom is a whole different gun ,to me a better handling more compact rifle . If you have the skills[ it ain't rocket since LOL] and the tools [most guys have a hack saw ] I highly recommend you build your self one of these stocks .
Lou

 

[cruzerlou]

Today I did the final fitting and puttied everything up . Tomorrow I'll do the final sanding and shaping . Then comes prime and paint and when I get about an 8" piece of Picatanny rail, I''ll cut it into 3 pieces that will go at the 9,3,. and 6 O'clock out near the end of the stock .One for the light, one for the laser and the one at the 6 O'clock will get one of those vert for grips with the bipod built into it. The rifle is only 34 1/2"s OAL with the stock sucked up all the way and the balance it way better than it was . Here's a couple pics .
Lou

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

Wow. Amazing work.

 

[cruzerlou]

She's ready for paint.
All the shaping and sanding is done, didn't get a chance to go get the primer today, hopefully tomorrow , but this is the last time you'll she her naked!!!