Hungry Review of TAC PRO Cheekpiece for M14/M1A

Hungry

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
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Okay M14 lovers:

I received this TAC PRO from Steve in Thornhill, ON a month ago with the condition that it be passed on or "Pay it Forward" to another CGNutter. Well that lucky CGNutter was Buzzballer and we mounted up his ProMag M14 scope and then the TAC PRO cheekpiece.

Buzzballer found the instructions super easy to read and follow, then carry out. I like how the instructions said, "1.75" from the buttplate". Then we rested the cheekpiece on the buttstock and measured it's distance.

The instructions mentioned to clamp the cheekpiece in place while getting the drilling action landmarked. Have a look!


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You will see the 'index' bumps located top dead center of the cheekpiece, they will help maintain proper alignment and prevent "diving" of the cheekpiece during the installation. That caused really goofy hole drilling in the past. I made that mistake years ago and my drill holes were not the straightest. We solved that problem by using a slightly larger drill bit and the mistake was rectified and sorted out. No problemo with these 'alignment' or 'index' bumps. :D


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While drilling, Buzzballer (did all the work while I pointed the 'Finger of Authority') observed that with the USGI fiberglass stock, watch out for the drill punching out the other side. Thankfully, the instructions warned us to start drilling from the opposite side. Awesome! :D

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Inserting the cross bolts provided was simple. I kinda liked the plastic knobs, but they are nice and large for range work. Not sure if I wanna take them overseas, but then again, I'm too ugly to deploy to a hot and sandy location. Have a look at those dimpled/bumps/depressions used to establish parallel screw holes while drilling. A very neat adaptation/improvement. I kinda liked them, but Buzzballer says that they are almost too high for his Bushnell Mildot 3200 10 x 40mm scope mounted with Millett Angle-Loc low rings. So that's a bit of a negative, but I found that height works for my fat face. :)


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Buzzballer was super happy with the entire arrangement of the TAC PRO cheekpiece agreement. You see, it's about building community and Steve was concerned that newbies get some swag (Buzzballer almost shzt his pants). :D Here is his newly installed cheek piece in his sniper drag mat used for coyote hunting adventures.

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We did have a couple of minor criticisms:

1) Why can't the bolts be parkerized or industrial finishe'd ? Hey we'll just use Tremclad... No worries there!

2) Couldn't the cheek piece come in TAN? Again, a Tremclad/Krylon solution will take care of that.

3) Buzzballer said that the contour of the cheek piece could use a little re-shaping along the bottom of the stock, that's an easy fix for the TAC PRO designers.

Hey, I'm pleased and so is a typical newbie like Buzzballer! Thumbs up!

Hope this helps the addiction! We have great sponsors on this board. And before you naysayers label me a "Fanboy", you will notice that we did provide a few constructive criticisms for the TAC PRO unit. Yeah, in summary; it is a great product but one might have to do some home tweaks like painting and then a clearcoat after the installation just to boost yer LCV (looks cool value). :evil:


:cheers:

Barney

PS: Buzzballer will add his 5 cents worth soon.
 
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Ya, I like this one too.
And also found that one portion that needs a tweak.

TacPro can correct me if they feel this is bad advice, but Kydex is quite shapeable with heat. Blow dryer on high, boiling water, heat gun. Wear work gloves. Have a nice ice cold wet cloth handy to "quench" it.

I heated mine up til pliable then shaped it more to the stocks profile and held it there with the cold cloth.

Nicely custom shaped to the stock and no change to the finish.
I was gonna release a cheek riser a while back but when I saw the tac pro..... Well you know when you've been beat with a better design :D
 
It looks pretty good............reminds me of the old Rooster33 cheekrest........;)

My only suggestion would be to angle the bottom of the cheekrest to match the stock.........

And yes, paint will work wonders on those bolts.........

if I still had anM14 type rifle I'd buy one........:D
 
TacPro can correct me if they feel this is bad advice, but Kydex is quite shapeable with heat. Blow dryer on high, boiling water, heat gun. Wear work gloves. Have a nice ice cold wet cloth handy to "quench" it.

Yes, Kydex is easy to shape with heat, but cooling it with cold water will cause stresses that may result in cracks or product failure. We use temperature controlled moulds that allow the part to cool gradually.

I'm surprised that you had to re-shape a cheek rest that was made specifically for the M14 rifle and will only fit that rifle stock correctly. Are you sure you purchased the correct model? The ambidextrous model has only been on the market for three weeks.
 
I fit it too a rather fat chinese wood stock so the one side kinda flared slightly at the bottom front. NOT a problem with the cheekrest... It's the bloody stock LOL
And yes, I'm very familiar with mold forming kydex ;)
The tac pro I have (3 actually) may not be this new version as I think they were purchased last year.
What's important is that the product works very well ;)
 
I fit it too a rather fat chinese wood stock so the one side kinda flared slightly at the bottom front.

There is no way around this issue. Making the cheek rest fit the contour of the stock perfectly when the cheek rest is at its lowest position will not allow the cheek rest to fit correctly when its at its highest position.
 
An impressive surprise

Hey guys!

Let me first thank Steve from Tac Pro for giving Hungry the cheek rest to test out, which as luck would have it is exactly what I needed to finish off my first m14/m305.

I was very impressed with how easy the installation was of this cheek rest. Being as I'm fairly new to fabrication and modifications of firearms this project could be accomplished by just about any one with a drill. Hungry stood over me like an omnipotent being looking over his young disciple, as i read the instructions and set upon the task of drilling holes through my fiberglass USGI stock.

At first I was very nervous in the fact that the whole process requires me to add mounting holes, but with the constant reassurance and instructions to wax on.. wax off.. the whole project went very smoothly and only took about 10 minutes to install.

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Iv yet to take my 14 with its newly mounted scope on the Pro mag mount that I received from Mystic Precession and the new Tac Pro cheek rest that allows me to use said optics to the range. But I am very impressed with the build quality and the feel of it, its very simple in operation and design.

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As mentioned before the Kydex fits the stock well, with the cheek rest being at its lowest point the front bottom of the rest does stick out a little. but not much of a big deal. This problem is resolved if you raise the rest up at all.

The only improvement I would like to see is the 2 carriage bolts that are supplied with the rest to come in a black anodized finish. Unless your in to having 2 shinny mirrors on the side of your tactical rifle ;). But as mentioned nothing that a can of krylon wont fix.

All in all i would give this modification a 9 out of 10 for function and simplicity. Not to mention supporting a great Canadian business!

I would this cheek rest

Devon *buzz*
 
Nice work guys, this has been on my to-get list for awhile. Might be an obvious answer, but a lefty would just be able to slip the bolts in from the opposite side, correct?

Enjoy the new setup Buzzballer, happy shooting!
 
Nice work guys, this has been on my to-get list for awhile. Might be an obvious answer, but a lefty would just be able to slip the bolts in from the opposite side, correct?

Enjoy the new setup Buzzballer, happy shooting!

Yup, you got that right. The lefty just has to slide the bolts from the right side (starboard). :D

Cheers,
Barney
 
I got both the TacPro and CASM scope mount, and they are both Bang on together (pardon the pun). For me, it was the best combination as I cant shoot open sights anymore, otherwise I would still do the open sights.
 
Nice piece...how much are these selling for?
Shame about the chrome bolts.
What the hell where they thinking?
This is similar to the Karsten piece which has parkerized hardware.
 
The bolts are stainless to avoid having rust seize the knobs. We are looking at having them plated black.

As for other saddle type cheek rests on the market, the only similarity is that they are black and have 4 slots.
 
The bolts are stainless to avoid having rust seize the knobs. We are looking at having them plated black.

As for other saddle type cheek rests on the market, the only similarity is that they are black and have 4 slots.

Not a big issue, I just painted mine with tremclad flat black. But , if you can keep the cost down, black plating would be nice.;)
 
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