I picked up an ATI Fibreforce stock on the w/e for my number 2 Russian SKS. I thought - hey the skeleton stock is different, and the cheek riser might be good if I scope it.
Got it home and I am NOT impressed at all.
First off, the overall design concept is flawed big time - they assume you are going to remove the trigger group and remove the rifle from the stock each time you want to clean the bolt. There is a big half circle lump of plastic that extends up behind the dust cover that makes it impossible to install or remove the dust cover with the rifle actually installed in the stock. You must remove the TG and pop the gun at least partially out to get access to remove the dust cover. Once I figured this out, I cut off the extra material behind the dust cover to make it accessible. Strike one.
Second, the actual fit was not good. The gun went into the stock OK with a mallet, but the TG would not snap back in properly. Had to file down material on the stock where the TG sits to get it down to where the TG can snap back in. There's also no spring there to keep tension on it. Strike two.
Next, I had to carve some material out of the side of the stock to be able to pull out eh dust cover pin. wtf - strike three.
Next, it covers the rear sight block almost completely including the piston retaining lever. To get that open requires a screwdriver jammed down in there to swing it up (or down) - guess they didn't actually look at the operation of the SKS before the whizzed up a cad/cam drawing and sent it to production. Strike four.
Next, there is a spot near the rear sight block where it needs to get filed down so as to eliminate the stock bulging outward. Sure, a file and a few minutes fixed that, but seriously - with all the other stuff?? Strike five.
Lastly (and I know this one is whining, but at this point it's just annoying), when I grip the stock, the seam above the grip (think where your thumb would rub) is quite sharp and scrapes across the top of my sensitive thumb
. Yeah - I know, some more sanding will take care of it, but it really should have been taken care of at the factory. Strike six.
Why keep it you say?? Well, the first thing I did when I took it out was drill holes up front to mount a small section of rail for a bipod. No taking it back after that. (insert dumbass remark here). If I had test fitted it before drilling for the rails and seen the stupid block behind the dust cover, it would have gone back.
Prolly took me 3 hours of cutting/filing/trimming/yelling/ to get this thing together. By comparison the Tapco that I put on Russian No 1 last w/e took less than 10 mintues.
If you're looking at this stock - be aware of these things and make your decision as you see fit.
Got it home and I am NOT impressed at all.
First off, the overall design concept is flawed big time - they assume you are going to remove the trigger group and remove the rifle from the stock each time you want to clean the bolt. There is a big half circle lump of plastic that extends up behind the dust cover that makes it impossible to install or remove the dust cover with the rifle actually installed in the stock. You must remove the TG and pop the gun at least partially out to get access to remove the dust cover. Once I figured this out, I cut off the extra material behind the dust cover to make it accessible. Strike one.
Second, the actual fit was not good. The gun went into the stock OK with a mallet, but the TG would not snap back in properly. Had to file down material on the stock where the TG sits to get it down to where the TG can snap back in. There's also no spring there to keep tension on it. Strike two.
Next, I had to carve some material out of the side of the stock to be able to pull out eh dust cover pin. wtf - strike three.
Next, it covers the rear sight block almost completely including the piston retaining lever. To get that open requires a screwdriver jammed down in there to swing it up (or down) - guess they didn't actually look at the operation of the SKS before the whizzed up a cad/cam drawing and sent it to production. Strike four.
Next, there is a spot near the rear sight block where it needs to get filed down so as to eliminate the stock bulging outward. Sure, a file and a few minutes fixed that, but seriously - with all the other stuff?? Strike five.
Lastly (and I know this one is whining, but at this point it's just annoying), when I grip the stock, the seam above the grip (think where your thumb would rub) is quite sharp and scrapes across the top of my sensitive thumb
. Yeah - I know, some more sanding will take care of it, but it really should have been taken care of at the factory. Strike six.Why keep it you say?? Well, the first thing I did when I took it out was drill holes up front to mount a small section of rail for a bipod. No taking it back after that. (insert dumbass remark here). If I had test fitted it before drilling for the rails and seen the stupid block behind the dust cover, it would have gone back.
Prolly took me 3 hours of cutting/filing/trimming/yelling/ to get this thing together. By comparison the Tapco that I put on Russian No 1 last w/e took less than 10 mintues.
If you're looking at this stock - be aware of these things and make your decision as you see fit.
