Before you tar and feather be for bubbafying the holy natural wood appearance of a garand, I will tell you that my wood stock was developing a crack behind the heel of the receiver, and, by installing a synthetic stock I was actually protecting the tremendous wood!
-Initial Impressions.
I got the stock from Midway on sale for approx $53. The first thing I noticed when I opened it was that is is very sturdy, probably at least as sturdy as my original stock. When I trimmed the front handguard a little to make it neater, I could hear the presence of lots of fiberglass or something similar, which should contribute to this sturdyness. The next thing I noticed was the mold lines on the plastic, which are conspicuous; see here
and here
-Installation and Fit/Finish
For the most part it was easy to install, and the parts fit well. I didn't have to do any sanding or anything, although the action fits very snugly. The only part I really had trouble with was getting my rear handguard off. Once that was done putting the stock on was easy. Once I installed the stock, the only areas which seemed to have any trouble in fit were a small clearance issue when cycling the oprod, which resolved themselves after a few cyclings, and the fit of the tigger assembly on the bottom of the stock. When fully installed, the trigger assembly sticks out past the stock like so
I don't really like this, but it is just an aesthetic issue, and I can't really complain about aesthetics if I just bought myself a black plastic stock to replace a seasoned walnut stock. ;(
-Balance and feel + misc.
With the synthetic stock installed my Garand feels about a pound lighter, and has become more front heavy. The weight shift to the front is noticeable but I don't think it is too bad, although it takes getting adjusted to, especially when unslinging the rifle. The grip on the stock is also slightly different than the USGI wood, but it is not a bad grip. Instead of accepting the steal buttplate from the wood stock, the synthetic stock has a recoil pad. This pad is about average in quality, not as good as a nice limbsaver, but a lot better than hard rubber. If you want to use a sling the synthetic stock uses the standard metal band for the front, and come with a stud but not a swivel on the buttstock. Overall I think this stock is a good value for less than $60, but none would mistake it for a McMillan stock.
-Initial Impressions.
I got the stock from Midway on sale for approx $53. The first thing I noticed when I opened it was that is is very sturdy, probably at least as sturdy as my original stock. When I trimmed the front handguard a little to make it neater, I could hear the presence of lots of fiberglass or something similar, which should contribute to this sturdyness. The next thing I noticed was the mold lines on the plastic, which are conspicuous; see here
and here
-Installation and Fit/Finish
For the most part it was easy to install, and the parts fit well. I didn't have to do any sanding or anything, although the action fits very snugly. The only part I really had trouble with was getting my rear handguard off. Once that was done putting the stock on was easy. Once I installed the stock, the only areas which seemed to have any trouble in fit were a small clearance issue when cycling the oprod, which resolved themselves after a few cyclings, and the fit of the tigger assembly on the bottom of the stock. When fully installed, the trigger assembly sticks out past the stock like so
I don't really like this, but it is just an aesthetic issue, and I can't really complain about aesthetics if I just bought myself a black plastic stock to replace a seasoned walnut stock. ;(
-Balance and feel + misc.
With the synthetic stock installed my Garand feels about a pound lighter, and has become more front heavy. The weight shift to the front is noticeable but I don't think it is too bad, although it takes getting adjusted to, especially when unslinging the rifle. The grip on the stock is also slightly different than the USGI wood, but it is not a bad grip. Instead of accepting the steal buttplate from the wood stock, the synthetic stock has a recoil pad. This pad is about average in quality, not as good as a nice limbsaver, but a lot better than hard rubber. If you want to use a sling the synthetic stock uses the standard metal band for the front, and come with a stud but not a swivel on the buttstock. Overall I think this stock is a good value for less than $60, but none would mistake it for a McMillan stock.
