Did Canadian FN's ever come with plastic stocks?

Wrong Way said:
Just reading through some old threads, and a memory from way back dawned on me....I seem to remember seeing FN's with plastic stocks....as far as I knew they were all wood....Possible?
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I don't think they ever did. I've only seen the British L1A1 SLR's with black plastic stocks, never C1's.
 
I was in the Militia and all the FN's we had in the armoury had wooden furniture. When I was in the British Army all our SLR's had black plastic furniture but I did see older rifles from the 50's with wooden furniture and our DP rifles used for running around the town outside of the barracks were wooden stocked.

Never have I heard mention of Canadian FN's in plastic.
 
All I recall were wood stocks,back then somebody would have gotten some ribbing about that,( how can you butt stroke someone with plastic. ) Even though they were semi's(C1) nobody wanted the plastic gun (C7). Now I'm starting to think about the bipods on the C2's
 
FN C1, C1A1, C2 and C2A1 never used plastic for forestock, bipod and buttstock , only used walnut wood. the only plastic was in the carrying handle (color brown) of a C1A1 and C2A1.
 
I personally think wood is better. When doing alot of firing the forestock would get hot, but nothing like the one on the German G3's back in the 80's. Has a chance to fire just a few rounds through a G3 and it got so hot, you "had" to be wearing cbt gloves to still hang onto the damn thing... (but I still thought they looked cooler than the C1) :D
 
"...doing alot of firing the forestock would get hot..." We regularly had C1A1 forestocks smouldering. Two mags, rapid, did it every time.
 
One of the changes canada made when adopting the rifle was wood furniture, the plastic used got too brittle in sub zero weather was the reason they gave for it.
 
sunray said:
"...doing alot of firing the forestock would get hot..." We regularly had C1A1 forestocks smouldering. Two mags, rapid, did it every time.
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i like the wood much better than plastic but wondering why they removed the heat vents on the forestock for the C1A1, maybe to strenthen it?
 
Cocked&Locked said:
One of the changes canada made when adopting the rifle was wood furniture, the plastic used got too brittle in sub zero weather was the reason they gave for it.
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The wooden furniture was standard on all L1A1 until 1967,(introduced 1958) when the new furniture was approved, I'll confirm later. The wooden furniture remained on some weapons, there was at least 2 patterns rounded foreends and triangular. I left the regs with sa80 to join the TA with a wooden fitted SLR! I did like it and the temp had little to play as AMF went to Norway every winter for exercises with the plastic fitted rifles.
The Ordnance Board gave their findings on the Maranyl (Nylon) furniture tests on 10 Sep 68, and as the tooling was already available it is possible for them to have been issued just about any time after that.
However with the stock of, er, stocks already in place it would depend on the kak-handedness of the Toms or the allyness of the Armourer
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TimC said:
The wooden furniture was standard on all L1A1 until 1967,(introduced 1958) when the new furniture was approved, I'll confirm later. The wooden furniture remained on some weapons, there was at least 2 patterns rounded foreends and triangular. I left the regs with sa80 to join the TA with a wooden fitted SLR! I did like it and the temp had little to play as AMF went to Norway every winter for exercises with the plastic fitted rifles.
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Yes, but I don't believe Canada ever had plastic furniture, and that was the reason the board used for it.......anyone have information?
 
And then there were those half wood/half plastic furniture equipped FN/FAL around.

Wood furniture is heavier, prone to hairline cracks and sensitive to moisture in humid tropical climate. Plastic has its advantage.
 
Cocked&Locked said:
One of the changes canada made when adopting the rifle was wood furniture, the plastic used got too brittle in sub zero weather was the reason they gave for it.
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Canada did a lot of changes but this wasn't one of them. The original FN and the EX rifles all had wood.

The two vents were omitted when the C1A1 came about as the old C1 handguards cracked at those points. The fronts were strenghtened with wood "shims" as well as the shoulder of the butt stock. There were still some old C1 handguards in the system in the 80's and would be seen from time to time.
 
sf said:
Wood furniture is heavier, prone to hairline cracks and sensitive to moisture in humid tropical climate. Plastic has its advantage.
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true, plastic has its advantages but heat insulation wasnt one of them, it got hot real fast according to trials.
 
curtton said:
true, plastic has its advantages but heat insulation wasnt one of them, it got hot real fast according to trials.
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The Canadian trials one may have but we didnt seem to suffer in the L1A1 with the plastic compound. It also was strong enough for slapping people with as I can testify!
I did melt a GPMG gas parts and also wear a groove into the mag housing of an AR15 due to sweat and mossie rep but the slr seemed to go on and on!
 
TimC said:
The Canadian trials one may have but we didnt seem to suffer in the L1A1 with the plastic compound.
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no , this was a brits trial, stated in r.blake stevens THE FAL RIFLE book, page 149.

it state "trials reveals that the nylon handguard is less efficient for heat insulation than the wooden pattern".
 
recce said:
Canada did a lot of changes but this wasn't one of them. The original FN and the EX rifles all had wood.

The two vents were omitted when the C1A1 came about as the old C1 handguards cracked at those points. The fronts were strenghtened with wood "shims" as well as the shoulder of the butt stock. There were still some old C1 handguards in the system in the 80's and would be seen from time to time.
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We used to get the old pattern hand gaurds on rifles issued to cadet/militia groups. I still like the looks, ahhhh good times.........
 
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