Springfield armory M1A question

I'd say it doesn't matter, get what you like better.

But ... The plastic stock will be more dimensionally stable in humidity and heat. Wood tends to react to the environment. Enough to matter? Depends on your environment.

The new SAI plastic stocks are pretty flimsy. If you sling up, you will probably get better results from the more rigid wood stock. A compromise that I like is a GI fiberglass stock.

The walnut stocks on the M1A's aren't unstable or much affected by humidity, especially if oiled.

I considered buying a synthetic but my 20 year old M1A in walnut shoots well enough I never bothered. As mentioned, a well maintained wood stock will work just fine. Hell I even have an oversized wood in the white and recently picked up a sweet original GI wood with the metal at a NC gun show. Wood is just fine.

Ron

An M1 or M1A with anything other than wood furniture just doesn't seem right at all.
Unless the synthetic stuff delivered a real measurable accuracy benefit, it's gotta' be wood.

Another option would be laminated wood. All the dimensional stability of plastic with the feel and wood look.

Heavy though.

BSW

I like wood myself, esp. on one of these rifles.

I am of the opinion that your friend is full of beans. I earned my Distinguished Rifleman badge, and a Regional Gold Medal, with an M1a. There were M1a's in McMillian fiberglass stocks on the firing line, there are advantages to heavy fiberglass stocks, but any accuracy improvements due to stock material are untested claims that should not be taken seriously.

For 99.9% of the shooters out there, the wood stock would work just fine. Your friend is selling you snake oil. A standard M1A is probably going to be a 1.5~2 MOA rifle anyway. At least that is what mine does.

^^^ If thats select fire, isnt it an M14 and not an M1A?

Jackal said:

^^^ If thats select fire, isnt it an M14 and not an M1A?

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Likely an M14 stock with a dummy selector to fill the hole.

I've had both wood and fiberglass. With wood, avoid taking it down unless you have to. Glass bedding is a good idea, too. Avoid too many field strips and a wood stock will do all you ever want it to do. That's what I have on my LRB.

As to the selector, that's going to be a fake one (only the most utterly rare SAI's were built without the necessary tab). I have one to fill in the hole on mine. Rumor has it that those can cause you to be stopped at a range but I've never seen the problem.

In any case, were I to go synthetic, I'd get a USGI fiberglass. But, mine shoots well with the Walnut that is what I use (the birch ones are outstanding, too).

US GI fiberglass aren't as common as they used to be, but a fine alternative.
Just keep your trigger guard unlocked as to not apply additional stress to the stock until you shoot it and it will more than likely outlast you.
Also,
Along with oiling the stock, if you have some Johnson wood floor wax, you can additionally wax the stock after oiling and the wood will have additional protection.

In case you did not know, most of the issue M-14 did have fiberglass, not wood stocks. To me Fiberglass s more authentic. Garands all had wood stocks. Also M-14's were parkerized, not blued. However, wood and blued steel is much more attractive.

The material the stock is made of has nothing to do with accuracy. How the stock is bedded is what matters. Among a whole bunch of other factors.
Have a real, semi'd, Winchester M-14 with the fibreglass stock. Evil thing that it is. S'ok, but I find the stock a bit light for any kind of serious target shooting.
If I was buying an overpriced(they start at 2 grand up here.), semi-auto, sporting rifle that is a copy of an overrated battle rifle, it'd be a Loaded with a walnut stock.

d2wing said:

In case you did not know, most of the issue M-14 did have fiberglass, not wood stocks. To me Fiberglass s more authentic.

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That is how I see it too. The M14s I used in ROTC in college were all fiberglass. I have never seen a wood stocked M14 in person.

That aside, the walnut stocks have served me fine on my M1As.

I've got a Supermatch in walnut that shoots like a house on fire regardless of the weather or where in the the US it is.

I cannot accurately date the pictures from the book. The latest date in the book is 1966 and I know the original owner pulled a tour of Vietnam, came back to the States, and died in a motorcycle accident in 1969. However, no GI fiberglass stocks are in any of the pictures, only wood stocks.

Neither the GI wood stock or plastic stock is all that rigid. Rifle competitors used aftermarket stocks, wood or fiberglass, which were much beefer from the receiver up to the upper ferrule.

Rifle competitors used aftermarket stocks, wood or fiberglass, which were much beefer from the receiver up to the upper ferrule.

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I have one of those beefy aftermarket stocks, in walnut, and it's well made. No cutout for the selector, so it's a good solid bed for the rifle. The trouble is that you can't use it with the issue M2 bipod, since the legs can't fold back against the stock.