The CTR stock, particularly with the Enhanced Recoil Pad added, is much more comfortable than the M4 style stock. But my cheek is half on the stock and half on the RE tube. With each shot, it felt like there was a little sting, just enough to be annoying. I wanted a stock with a more comfortable cheekweld. As much as I like the UBR, it's expensive and heavy. The MOE rifle stock would require swapping out the RE and adding either doing something clever with the buffer & spring or adding a spacer.
The MOE Fixed Carbine Stock however, is another story. It has a full length cheekweld and simply clamps to the carbine RE and it looked like I could swap the Enhanced Recoil Pad over. It's also cheap. I found one at the LGS my wife gave me a gift certificate for and bought one in FDE. Off came the CTR to go back on my AR carbine and on went the fixed carbine stock. Installation is as easy as it gets. It comes with two caps, one for a standard RE plate, the other for the ASAP. Slide on the cap you need, then the stock, pushing everything as far forward as you can. Install and tighten the cross screw and viola'! Done!
Problem is, the fixed carbine stock has a really short length of pull. I pulled it as back as far as I could but with the first shot, the whole assembly will slip forward again. The second problem is the fixed carbine stock uses a different type of buttplate and the Enhanced Recoil pad won't fit. Contour looks to be a bit different and the hole spacing is changed. I like Magpul gear I have to ask- What were they thinking? It would make more sense to make the recoil pads the same.
I went to the hardware store and bought a length of 3/4 PVC tubing and cut it just long enough to fill the space between the stock cap and the end plate. I made a split in the tube so I could stretch it over the RE and slide it all the way up to the end plate. I fitted it so there was just enough room to slide the cross screw into place. The spacer was given a rough contour job to match the cap. I didn't take into account the fact that the threads of the milspec RE are a little larger in diameter than the tube, so when the finished spacer was slid into place, it stood a little proud. That's okay, the charging handle clears it and it gets the job. I hit the spacer with a bit of paint so it would match. I didn't take any photos while I was fabbing the spacer, but here it is painted and installed.
The LOP is still shorter than I'd like, but the cheekweld is much improved. I'm going to look for a generic recoil pad to fit to the stock which will soften the recoil more and hopefully increase the LOP enough. If not, I'll make a longer spacer and cut a groove in the RE for the cross screw.
As it turns out, the painting didn't stop with the spacer. First, I painted all the black parts with Krylon Khaki, then got two darker shades and added them. The idea for the paint job came from the wolf. Wolves are stealthy and hard to spot when they are hiding. Their coloration is very pale underneath and darker on top. That's what I went with. I didn't get exactly what I wanted, but I'm no painter and at some point, you have to just stop and let the paint dry. Still, I really like how it came out. The bottom is very light and as the rifled is rolled to it's side, then to the top, it looks like a shadow is making it darker.
Not your usual camo job, but I think it'll work and it's certainly better than all black
The MOE Fixed Carbine Stock however, is another story. It has a full length cheekweld and simply clamps to the carbine RE and it looked like I could swap the Enhanced Recoil Pad over. It's also cheap. I found one at the LGS my wife gave me a gift certificate for and bought one in FDE. Off came the CTR to go back on my AR carbine and on went the fixed carbine stock. Installation is as easy as it gets. It comes with two caps, one for a standard RE plate, the other for the ASAP. Slide on the cap you need, then the stock, pushing everything as far forward as you can. Install and tighten the cross screw and viola'! Done!
Problem is, the fixed carbine stock has a really short length of pull. I pulled it as back as far as I could but with the first shot, the whole assembly will slip forward again. The second problem is the fixed carbine stock uses a different type of buttplate and the Enhanced Recoil pad won't fit. Contour looks to be a bit different and the hole spacing is changed. I like Magpul gear I have to ask- What were they thinking? It would make more sense to make the recoil pads the same.
I went to the hardware store and bought a length of 3/4 PVC tubing and cut it just long enough to fill the space between the stock cap and the end plate. I made a split in the tube so I could stretch it over the RE and slide it all the way up to the end plate. I fitted it so there was just enough room to slide the cross screw into place. The spacer was given a rough contour job to match the cap. I didn't take into account the fact that the threads of the milspec RE are a little larger in diameter than the tube, so when the finished spacer was slid into place, it stood a little proud. That's okay, the charging handle clears it and it gets the job. I hit the spacer with a bit of paint so it would match. I didn't take any photos while I was fabbing the spacer, but here it is painted and installed.
The LOP is still shorter than I'd like, but the cheekweld is much improved. I'm going to look for a generic recoil pad to fit to the stock which will soften the recoil more and hopefully increase the LOP enough. If not, I'll make a longer spacer and cut a groove in the RE for the cross screw.
As it turns out, the painting didn't stop with the spacer. First, I painted all the black parts with Krylon Khaki, then got two darker shades and added them. The idea for the paint job came from the wolf. Wolves are stealthy and hard to spot when they are hiding. Their coloration is very pale underneath and darker on top. That's what I went with. I didn't get exactly what I wanted, but I'm no painter and at some point, you have to just stop and let the paint dry. Still, I really like how it came out. The bottom is very light and as the rifled is rolled to it's side, then to the top, it looks like a shadow is making it darker.
Not your usual camo job, but I think it'll work and it's certainly better than all black
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