A New Project

Many years ago I bought a gunstock at a gun show. I initially thought it was an M14 E2 stock but now that I'm working on it I realized that it is different form an E2 stock. It IS for a M14 or M1A but it has a couple of differences that make me wonder what the hell it really is.
 First off, it does have a selector cut out plug so it is a military stock. It uses a normal M14 butt plate. The pistol grip has more of a curve to it than an E2 stock does and the butt does not have the swoopyness that an E2 does.

Here is an M14E2

And here is what I have.

Now I suspicion someone has cut off the top of the butt of a real E2 stock as the bottom of the butt has the same profile as that of an E2. There is really not much difference in the pistol grip but there is some. I have posted pictures on http://m14forum.com/ to see if anyone there can figure what the hell I have.

I plan on putting my M1A in this and topping it with some nice optics. Optics are stupid expensive anymore so I don't know how that is going work out but it will have some glass on it. For a finish I'm leaning towards a Vietnam era tiger stripe camo. Will I do it with DuraCoat or will it get dipped? I really don't know at this time. I will probable have some nation match work done to the gun.  boring out the flash hider and welding the flash hider and gas regulator assembly into a unit, squaring the receiver(?) and some other things that increase the accuracy of these fine firearms. It already has NM sights but with my aging eyes its time for glass on the beauty.

I'll keep this project post as I go along and actually make some progress.

And by the way, yeah, I know I have been a lazy ass and not post much of anything for a long time. As I say a lot anymore,  life intervenes.

M14 Stock II. E2 modified.

Today I got pictures of the M14 stock I'm working on. It now appears to be a real E2 stock that has been trimmed up and patched up a little.




Notice the M16 A1 shape to the buttstock as well as the contoured pistol grip. This is a very good feeling stock.

Just above the pistol grip you can see a vertical line and a faint horizontal line. This is where a wooden patch has been installed. The dark blob is a filler of some sort.

In this picture you can see a narrow horizontal line that delineates the front of the patch. You can also see the selector switch plug on the right. Unfortunately the existing patch appears to be something other than birch or walnut. The stock itself appears to be a light colored walnut.
I think when I'm done this will have a DuraCoat finish in a tiger stripe pattern. In my eyes, waayyy cooool. There will be more to come as I get further along.

M14. E2?

Last night I was re-reading my copy of "Bostons Gun Bible" and that got me to thinking. What I thought was, I bought a unique M14 stock at a gun show a few years ago. So I went and dug the thing out and found I had already given it a camo job. So I dug out the M1A and put it in the "new" stock. Damn it looks good! It has the appearance of an M14 E2 stock but without the bulbous buttstock. As purchased it had a thick black coating over the entire stock. Some kind of paint or something. I had smoothed it up and did a camo job over that. The stock has a nicely formed pistol grip and the butt actually resembles an A1 style M16 butt. It's all wood and has all GI metal. When I took it to the shed to start working on a clearance issue with this stock I found that it IS an issue stock as it had a filled selector switch. Then I found that it may be a Frankenstein of sorts unless the E2 stocks were pieced together. The grain of the grip runs vertical and that of the stock runs parallel. And the wood forward of the grip is different from that of the butt/grip. Any way, the previous work had left the rear portion of the upper stock too low to make contact with the back of the receiver. What I'm doing is cutting the low portion of the stock out and will epoxy in a block of birch and make it all fit right. In the end it looks like someone took an E2 stock and trimmed it up nice and neat in the butt area, contoured the pistol grip and morphed it onto the front end of a regular M14 stock. It looks and works so good I would like to try and get a fiberglass version of this made in the future. I'll get photos of the stock posted as it comes along or maybe a complete series in one posting. We'll see what comes.