Any tips/tricks for restocking M1A??

[Cougar]

I was given an almost-new early Fed Ord M1A (ser 36xx) by my wife's brother, but I'm not crazy about the ugly brown fiberglass stock it wears now. I've ordered two new stocks from Boyd's, one 'Pepper laminate' and one oil-finish walnut, both with matching handguards. Any tips/tricks to installing the new metal??? Speaking of, where is the best place to get all of the new metal??? I know this may sound sacreligious, but should I put on a recoil pad instead of the metal buttplate? Is a recoil pad even 'legal' for service rifle matches?

I'm probably going to paint the original fiberglass stock in some sort of cammo pattern. I'm thinking either a Vietnam-era tigerstripe-style pattern, or maybe a Desert cammo to honor our troops there today, still using the M-14 to 'reach out and touch someone', 147gr at a time. What's the best way to apply the paint - airbrush or rattle can? Sharp paint lines or feathered? Where to get matte-finish paint in the proper colors? What kind of paint? BTW, I'm not going to be painting any of the metal parts.

 

[BenW]

On the paint, I think a lot of guys just use the Krylon flat paints. I ordered duck boat paint from Cabelas when I did mine (4 big cans of green, brown, beige, and black) because they had it on special at the time. I applied the paint by covering the gun with the lightest color in my pattern first, then applying the darker colors by spraying through natural foliage that I held over the stock (in my case sage) to break up the remaining colors and create my camo pattern.

 

[Telperion]

Any place that sells USGI M14 parts should probably have stock hardware. Orion 7 has a deal for all the stock hardware for $36. I've bought from them before and they have great service. You'll need to get the right tool to screw in the stock liner screws. Brownells and Fulton carry it.

 

[Cougar]

Tool?

What special tool??? I don't think my current f/g stock has a liner... Then again, I'm not real sure what the liner looks like or even where it goes! Man, I can't wait 'til my Scott Duff 'Owner's Manual' gets here...

 

[Telperion]

I'm not positive, but I don't think fiberglass stocks have liners. For a wood stock, it fits into the receiver channel.

The stock liner tool is just a screwdriver bit: