It finally got here

[cruzerlou]

My stock came today . It's a N.I.B. M14 E2 Squad automatic weapon stock . It was made in 1968/69 but never had an action in it till I dropped mine in it today .
In the sale pics I could see lots of contrast in the grain , but boy was I surprised when I opened the box .This thing is way prettier that it looked in the pics. it's got quite a bit of tiger stripe in it Here's some pics of it . My cell phone camera and the overcast sky don't do it justice , but you can see some of the tiger stripe in it .









I'm going to have a guy over on the M14 forum finish the stock foe me , here's one he did









He does stocks professionally on the side for extra money and he used Stewart McDonald alcohol based stains and their very expensive and he starts sanding with 200 and finishes up with 1,000 grit and it takes about two weeks per stock . I was just gonna buy the stains and do it my self , but their so expensive that it would cost me about 300 bucks just in the stains alone.
He has all the tricks of mixing the stains to bring out the contrast in the wood and he'll do my stock for only $130 bucks so that's a no brainer .
Here's' what his stock looked like when he started on it




The man is a true artist

 

[Bucks Owin]

Gee, that's purty amigo! 8)

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

Nice upgrade. I like it.

 

[George Tucker]

Looks good Lou , George.

 

[pennsy]

Beautifull.....I love it..

 

[WendyZXZ]

That is a very nice looking set up Lou!

 

[Viking Queen]

I am excited for you, Lou.

Of course you will post "finished" pictures for us, won't you?

Viking Queen

 

[Big Old Boy]

That is just Sweet!!!!

 

[cas6969]

When I read you were having someone do it, I figured he was doing a chromium trioxide job on it. I did it to two stocks, it's scary nasty stuff.

 

[cruzerlou]

Hey Cas,
Ain' t that the stuff they used back in the 1,800 the century to stain their Kentucky rifles?
I'm building one and someone recommend I use some sort to nasty dangerous process like that for the same of authenticity. I probably would if I were building one of those high dollar kits ,but this is a CVA kit I picked up for 100 bucks.
I had the bolster remover and a flash hole installed and bought a quality flint lock.
I can make it look real nice with modern stains with out using the old method.
I've never used it before and understand you can burn yourself real good if your not careful .
Lou
BTW those are a sweet looking pair of an M1A and a Garand you have there nice job.

 

[cruzerlou]

Here's a few pics of my E2 stock with the dummy selector switch installed and if you look close in the bright sun light you can see some of the tiger striping in the wood
This is the correct type of selector switch that was used on the original M14 's as a matter of fact it IS the selector ,just the parts that would connect to the trigger sear have been removed. It took a bit of fitting to make this work , every stock is just a bit different and you need at least some skills with a dermal tool and some experience working with wood and metal is a big help . I took it slow and it took me about 4/5 test fittings before I was happy with the way every thing fit .
Lou






Look close in these next two pics at the tiger striping in this stock, this thing is gonna really jump out at you when it's finished.

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

Beautiful rifle!

 

[cruzerlou]

Thanks, my hope and goal is to build a sub MOA (1/2-3/4") 100 yard three shot group rifle .
That means at the effective range of the 7.62X51 1,000 yards center of mass hits in a man sized target every time,and with a very unique and beautiful pretty much one of a kind rifle.
There are one or two set up as precision long range platforms over on the m 14 forum but most are built as replica squad automatic weapons which is why that stock was designed and will shoot 2/3 MOA at 100 yards .
Basically the M14E2 was Devloped to replace the B.A.R. but the E2 only weighed around 14 pounds even with the heavy bipod on it where as the B.A.R. weighed around 18 pounds without the bipod.
The M14 proved uncontrollable to all but the most highly trained shooters, that's why many had their slector lever welded in the semi auto position and many were retro fited with just a knob in place of the switch so that you couldn't switch it to full auto.
I'm a big guy and have fired many full auto weapons and even with my experience and being 6' tall and when I was in shape weighed 220 the best I could do with a full auto M 14 was very short burst and keep the rounds on a silhouette target at 100 yards .trying a full mag dump got me 2-3 hits and the rest was AA fire LOL .
Lou

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

Excited to see more!

 

[cruzerlou]

Well every thing got here except for the vented hand guard and that should be here tomorrow . So I've installed the dummy selector switch, the Picatanny rail under the fore end and for mounting the bipod, the butt pad and sling mount kit , I got a Wolff service rifle spring kit and installed the recoil spring and the Sadlak National Match Recoil spring guide rod, and I'll be installing the Wolff ejector and extractor springs and I'll be cutting that rail down to just long enough for the bipod and the front sling mount so it will only be a little less than half the length it is now . I'm toying with the thought of an adjustable monopod for the butt end of the stock
Here's a few pics, I'll take some nice ones tomorrow in the bright sun shine . Between this and the Socom I'll definitely be throwing some lead downrange this week end .
Lou

 

[DA_TriggR4Ruger]

Love these guns. Just beautiful.

 

[cruzerlou]

Thanks DA, this projects need a long time coming and it looks like it's finally going to be able to finish it .
Check out my sticky in the carbine forum on my custom stock build for my Socom 16 ,that is one nice handling little sloberin Rottweiler of a 7.62X51 thumper of a rifle .that ones gonna get a different gas lock / front sight mount, a Gamma 7.62 flash hider/ comp , a Ultimak M8 full length
picatinny hand guard and a Burris TRS 25 red dot . This is a copy of an Aimpoint micro red dot sight.This red dot sight runs 110 bucks
The combo of the Ultimak handguard and this sight allows a true co witness if your iron sights and your red dot rest right on top of your front post .
But the handguard is 200 bucks, the gas lock/ front sight mount is another 200 bucks and the VG6 Gamma muzzle break is 100 bucks , so I'm looking at 600 bucks in upgrades for that rifle .
But between the Socom and the M1A were talking serous money .
Having the gas tube unitized and the action glassbeded is 200 bucks and having the stock stained and finished is 130 bucks .
So counting 300 for the stock 330 for parts I've bought I'm at around 1,300 bucks just for these two rifles + I've still got to buy 10 mags, another 300 bucks and 500 bucks for 500 rounds of Lake city surplus ammo , 2,200 bucks .That's why I'm selling my motorcycle.
I'll have enough left over for an older Honda XL 650 Enduro to putt around town on and do some trail riding .
M1A's can get expensive quick but I love them and what the hell ,you only live once.
Lou