Alternative to Essential Arms CAR stock
We've discussed our options for repro aluminum CAR stocks for retro builds a number of times in this forum. The Essential Arms stock is a popular choice as a substitute for the vinyl-acetate coated original. I have not seen Colt's or Troy's repro stocks for sale anywhere by themselves.
A couple of years ago, I put together my retro-ish GAU-5A (-ish) carbine, using the EA stock. My one complaint with it was that it was very loose on my mil receiver extension even though I was assured that it wasn't a commercial diameter stock:
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapon...ccess6.html#xm
In 1979, my father bought me a book - "Modern Small Arms", which was a British publication (1978) with photos of arms from the Weapons Museum at the British School of Infantry in Warminster, England. I spent many hours studying the pistols, rifles, machine-guns etc in the book, and of course, the 'Colt Commando' (Colt model 609) was one of my favourites. The sample shown in the book had an uncoated aluminum stock, and to me, looks better than the shiny vinyl-coated one, and seems to be less common. Never mind that the vinyl coated one matches the other 'furniture' on the rifle - it was just my personal preference. Here's the picture in the book that I lusted over as an 11-year old in 1979.
https://i.imgur.com/cmRTHfn.jpg
Here's a photo from Vietnam showing a well-worn uncoated stock on a 609:
https://i.imgur.com/8f5m4kC.jpg
That particular carbine in the book has always been in the back of my mind, so I've always kept an eye out an uncoated CAR stock that looked like it. Colt fiberite N1 stocks just aren't right for a retro build of that era IMHO, and those cheap eggshell-finished aluminum CAR stocks made by Bushmaster or other companies just look atrocious.
Recently, I stumbled across an 'XM-177 Style Carbine Stock Aluminum "Colt N1 Style" at Top Notch Top Ends: https://www.tntesales.com/xm-177-sty...colt-n1-style/
It looked decent in the website photos but I couldn't tell if it was black or grey. I also didn't need anything but the stock but it was only available in kit form with the receiver extension (black), spring, buffer etc. I decided 'what the heck' and ordered it.
I was pleased to see that it had a matte grey finish when I received the kit. It did, however, have a non-standard latch pin (easily replaced). Here's how it came:
https://i.imgur.com/K4vGEQo.jpg
It fits perfectly on a mil-spec diameter receiver extension, and there are other minor differences, so it's not just an uncoated version of the same casting as the EA stock which is wobbly. Here is it next to the EA stock:
https://i.imgur.com/pZSaExi.jpg
I promptly replaced the latch pin and took some scotch-brite and sandpaper to it, so that it'd match the rest of my carbine:
https://i.imgur.com/hEpMUGR.jpg
Here it is on my rifle. Some may prefer the coated stock, but at least now I have the choice to swap them back and forth, and I'm pleased with it. My rifle is retro-ish; not in any way a clone or repro, so the overall look/feel of a rifle from that era was what I was going for. If anyone is looking for a decent uncoated repro for a Colt Model 609/Commando retro build, the TNTE one isn't a bad choice.
https://i.imgur.com/AhzoMne.jpg
