Marstar M14 Stock Review.

EricCartmann

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Just want to thank Canada for this kick a_$_$ stock. I would recommend this stock, especially for Poly's since they drop right in (I had problems getting the Springfield in)

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Had my M1A in the Marstar stock for about about 6 months now. All in all I am very satisfied with it. It was a pain to get it to work with the Springfield, Click here for the install process, but once we got it to work, it has been rock solid since.


I had a plain jane M14/M1A that worked pretty well. But I wanted something different and more modular... and I wanted something to look cooler. Being the Mall Ninja that I am, I am all about looks.

I chose the Marstar over the Sage because:
1) I did not like the cheek weld on the Sage Mod 0. With the Marstar it appeared from the pics that the cheek weld seemed pretty decent, and at the time, it appeared no riser was necessary.
2) I could choose whatever butt stock I pleased with Marstar.
3) Marstar comes with an integrated scope mount that sits lower. With the Sage I would have to dish out an additional $200-$300 for a quality scope mount that sits higher.
4) I got a good price on the Marstar.

Like I said, my M1A worked well. I had a cheap Chinese Famous Maker scope (paid about $150 for it) that worked great, and it sat on a Chinese copy 3rd Gen Scope mount. Paid $30 for this scope mount and it also worked great (once I shimmed the mounting bolt and put red loctite to it). Nothing was wrong with this set up and it got pretty good groups with South African (about 5-6" for 20 shot groups).

Here was my M1A before upgrading to the Marstar
M1A2-vi.jpg


20 shots with South African Ammo @100 yards, this is pre-Marstar and Leupold upgrade.
100meters3-vi.jpg


One note I should add about my synthetic stock in the pic above, is if you take the M1A apart to clean, it will takes about 40 rounds for the stock to settle in and get zero back. I do not have this issue with the Marstar.

I also got a Leupold Mark4 3.5-10x illuminated TMR for my M1A. Thought I would put that on the same time I put on the Marstar.

I wanted to get a Magpul CTR buttstock, but none were available for commercial tubes (the butt tube that came with my Marstar was Commercial). So I put on a complete Vltor Modstock (which I originally bought for one of my M4's).

Marstar with Vltor Modstock
ECmk142-vi.jpg


Marstar at it's baptism at the range. 1st couple or range session went well.
case-vi.jpg


I ran into 2 problems with the Marstar:

1) is the rails are smaller than milspec. So certain accessories will not work with the Marstar. I know this because all these accessories fit on my other railed rifles without issues. With the Marstar you will need accessories that clamp down smaller than milspec (the current foregrip, bipod adapter mount, and scope rings currently on my Marstar all clamp down smaller than true milspec mounts). I was kinda bummed I could not use my milspec scope rings on the Marstar though.

2) The Scope mount sits too low. Low is a good thing as you get the proper cheek weld, but in this case the mount caused some shells to get stiuck and jam the weapon between the mount and the op rod handle (sample pic below).

In this pic (this not my rifle): is a M1A with ARMs mount that I got off the web, basically the Marstar scope mount had the same problem as this.
Stuckshell-vi.jpg


My rifle did not get stuck shells with USGI CMI mags, but with my T57 mags I got about 1 out of every 10 rounds stuck like in the pic. These T57 mags always worked before. Someone told me to get a USGI extractor and ejector spring, but I had not issues with CMI mags, and I already had a complete TRW USGI bolt, so getting a new ejector and spring might not have have fixed the issue for me, also....

It bugged me that my 8 T57 mags were now useless. Most of all I hated the fact that I had a finicky battle rifle. So I thought what the hell, why not just relieve the scope mount like the way LRB does on their M25 receiver.

Once I did this, no more stuck shells! I like my guns to work even if it means I have to sacrifice looks a little. A battle rifle should just plain work when you asked it to.

LRB M25 Receiver
600_M25_with_rail-vi.jpg


Here is how it looks on my Rifle after I made the relief cuts on the mount:
groove-vi.jpg



I big plus to the Marstar is it basically free floats the barrel by screwing the barrel to the stock via the gas block (provided by Marstar). For Surplus ammo this will not make a difference, but for Match ammo, the Marstar is about a 1/4 MOA more accurate than what I had before. Also another plus to the Marstar is it seems to all come back and align properly when putting it together after a cleaning. I know this because I do not really lose zero that much each time I clean (less than 1" at 100 yards).

Here is my Marstar in it's final configuration. With Magpul CTR buttsock. I finally found a commerical CTR for my commercial butt tube that came with the Marstar. I like Vltor a lot but it is better for a carbine and too short for the Marstar. The CTR is long enough so I am not putting my cheek/chin on the tube part. After much shooting I now know I will have to get a 1/2" riser from Magpul for my CTR to make the Marstar even better.
familydayrange-vi.jpg



For my Marstar I get about 5-6" 20 shot groups with South African, 3-4" 20 shot groups with Prvi 168 gr, and I am sub MOA with Federal Gold Medal Match with 3 shot groups. I can't afford to do 20 shot groups with Federal Gold Medal Match =)

South African @ 100 yards, between 5-6" for 20 shot groups
M1ASA100m-vi.jpg


Prvi 168 gr HP @100 yards, 3-4" for 20 shot groups
M1APrvi168gr100m-vi.jpg


Federal Gold Medal Match 168 gr @100 yards, Sub MOA for 3 shot groups (everytime)
M1Amatch100yds-vi.jpg
 
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Great review. I second the experience you are having with the different ammunition. Its like night and day when you find a cartridge that works well in the gun.
 
I chose the Marstar over the Sage because:
1) I did not like the cheek weld on the Sage Mod 0. With the Marstar it appeared from the pics that the cheek weld seemed pretty decent, and at the time, it appeared no riser was necessary.
2) I could choose whatever butt stock I pleased with Marstar.
3) Marstar comes with an integrated scope mount that sits lower. With the Sage I would have to dish out an additional $200-$300 for a quality scope mount that sits higher.4) I got a good price on the Marstar.

I do believe that on the Sage, the rail mount similar to that on the Marstar stock is an optional piece(not expensive). There is no need to go out and by something like a 3pt mount.

I wonder why the Marster rails were sized smaller than standard Picatinny.... :confused:
 
Great review Eric :D

I had a chance to evaluate this Marstar stock before it shipped to Eric.
When compared to the CQB SAGE that it emulates I found it solid, a
little chunky, it uses a few more screws and it weighs a bit more.

All in all it is a very good option if you can't get or don't want the SAGE.
 
Great review Eric :D

I had a chance to evaluate this Marstar stock before it shipped to Eric.
When compared to the CQB SAGE that it emulates I found it solid, a
little chunky, it uses a few more screws and it weighs a bit more.

All in all it is a very good option if you can't get or don't want the SAGE.



I don't think it weighs that much more than a Sage, as a matter of fact, I think it is lighter.

I am at 15 lbs unloaded.
- I have a heavy barrel on there now, if I go lighter barrel I would lose about 10 oz.
- If I go Eotech instead of Mark4 I would lose another 10 oz.
- If I ditch the Harris Bipod I would lose another 11 oz.
- If I ditch the Foregrip that's another 5 oz.
All in all that's a full 2+ lbs. I don't see many Sage hitting the 13 lb mark.

There is a planned M14 shoot in Vegas sometime soon, I will bring my fishing scale and try to get weights of Sages, Troys, and my Marstar to see how they all compare.
 
just installed a marstar on my old norc - a very early one that has served me for years. Had similar instillation issues as eric, solved with a dremel. The op rod guide retaining pin stuck out and the stock had to be relieved for it.The scope rail section over the bolt was to long to fit and match up with the front rail , but ovalling the stripper clip mount holes in the rail allowed it to move back enough on the stripper clip mount to fit the front rail.No other grinding was needed and the stock locked up tight. I would have liked to see a larger hole and retaining roll pin on the op rod guide though , for a tighter fit on the barrel , but this may be a non issue because the op rod guide is mounted on each side through the stock with allen screws - thus aligning the op rod and free floating the barrel. Will shoot it that way then locktite the barrel to the op rod guide and see if there is a difference. Other than the weight of my norczilla - very impressed with the quality .
 
added thought

the competitor stocks seem to have a tuning screw at the front of the hanguard putting pressure on the barrel, a simple thing to drill and tap a marstar aluminum upper for the same thing and experiment with tension , barrel harmonics etc.:cool:
 
NORCZILLA - range report

malaysan milsurp shot like it was belt ammo - nice tight group then a flyer 6 inches away. fnm (1980) shot just under one inch at a hundred yards ALL DAY ! And yes the scope rail caused stovepipes - time to get out the dremel again. Other than a dlask brake , I'm not doing anything else to it - under 1 inch with milsurp out of my 15 yr old norc is good enough for me.:D:D:D:D:D
 
How and where did you get a hold of a Dlask brake, I didn't think they were producing them.

I should call them tomorrow to see if they are going to become available.
 
dlask muzzle brake

How and where did you get a hold of a Dlask brake, I didn't think they were producing them.

I should call them tomorrow to see if they are going to become available.

got it from lazarus - last one - contact Joe see iffn he will do a run of em - I'm sure they will sell out -
 
Good to hear the Dlask brake is working well. If they are no longer available, look at Smith Enterprises USCG brake. They are around $125.00 and will hold down a full auto m14.
 
accuracy with dlask brake

Seems to be no change with the new brake but it was so cold I was starting to shake and shiver so I couldnt do a fair test to compare - goin out sat. and gonna try again - shoot several groups with , and without the brake and compare. Will bring out my bald eagle rest to make sure.:evil:
 
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