early General Tire & Rubber M14 stocks

[RCS]

I have found two variations of the General Tire & Rubber M14 stocks and wanted to know how long the early stock (without checkering) was in use. Were factory rifles ever issued with these stocks or where they all considered to be replacement stocks ?

[Orlando]

Dont take this as gospel but as I understood the earlier smooth General Tire & Rubber M14 stocks were on production rifles.

[RCS]

You may be correct, as I have seen the smooth stock on new TRW M14's in the 1.3 million serial range in the service

[m14brian]

I am not 100% certain but I agree with Bill, I believe the smooth ones were earlier and the ones with the raised diamond texturing were later. The later ones I have seen also didn't have the heavier crimp on the front ferrule.
There was a newer government contract production run in the early '90s, and the ones I know from that time period all had the raised diamond texture sections on them.
m14brian

[RCS]

The smooth General Tire & Rubber stocks were the first used on M14 rifles - my question was: were they used on new production rifles ?

[Phil McGrath]

The smooth General Tire & Rubber stocks were the first used on M14 rifles - my question was: were they used on new production rifles ?

I don't think any SYN stock was used on New production rifle. I think they were first used as replacement stocks for rifles headed too SEA and high humidity areas where the wood was prone too warp or rot.

[RCS]

You may be correct, but I have seen the smooth General Tire & Rubber stocks on TRW M14 rifles in basic training companies, these rifles were only a few months old and it was winter at Fort Leonard wood, Mo. I would rather have the opinion they were testing these stocks in basic training companies, not all the rifles but maybe 10 % were the smooth General Tire & Rubber stocks. They could have been used on new production or changed at the when received by the army ? Just not enough information available

[Jersey Devil]

Information of TRW rifles is generally lacking, and it's very frustrating to say the least.

[Orlando]

The way I understand , the early smooth stocks were factory installed, the later checkered stocks were made as replacemnt stocks
The reason for synthetic stocks was the life expectancy would be longer and not having to rely on one source or type of material for stocks . I am relying on memory and that isnt what it used to be