Sparta Kit review
Well HiCal said it would ship Monday and I figured it would arrive Wednesday and sure enough there was the tag in my mail box today. Thanks, Dave. So here are my first thoughts on the stock.
Instal Portion
The instructions are clear and there are diagrams. It isn’t that difficult to put together, and certainly won’t be to disassemble for cleaning. I noticed on my Marauder kit they don’t tell you in the instructions which allen wrenches you will need. They don’t in this kit either. Obviously you can figure it out but I like to lay everything out beforehand and it is a little annoying to have to try some out when they could just tell you. Just so you know: You will need a .125 inch allen wrench. They said you might have to do some tapping and fitting but that wasn’t an issue for me. You remove the horseshoe shaped piece at the end of the heat shield. I recommend angled needle nose pliers. Just bend them enough to get the end piece off as you have to tap them back into place to fit the new channel. I also used a plastic mallet to remove the rear sight on the Mini and to remove the heat shield.
There is a plunger that fits between the handguard and the trigger guard. You have to depress it to get the trigger assembly in the rifle. It isn’t a problem. Everything snapped in tightly.
They say that there are spacers supplied “with this stock”. I assumed the spacers were to help you fit the action in the stock depending on the calibre. They don’t. They just identify the calibre of the rifle since it is no longer visible. I panicked because I couldn’t find them anywhere and thought they forgot to put them in the kit. Just before I was about to call Dave at HiCal I remembered there was a storage space in the grip. They were there.
I was happy to see there wasn’t any issues with the MoRod I had installed. No interference at all.
Fit and Function
A couple of things and some people might say I am nitpicking but I thought they were important.
The stock is adjustable for LOP. There are some indented squares on the stock that act as stops. There is some slop there and you can push the stock back and forth somewhat. I guess that won’t matter as you pull the stock into your shoulder but it’s there.
The cheek riser is adjustable but I found it finicky. It has seven stops but when you depress the plunger to raise it, it’s difficult to get it to stop exactly where you want. I actually lifted it right out of the stock a couple of times trying to adjust it. I guess once you have found the sweet spot it won’t matter. I’m just noting it.
The completed package is definitely heavier than the factory configuration. It does seem balanced however and who knows- maybe it will make a more stable shooting platform. The aluminum top rail is strong and rigid. I decided to go with the Eotech and the Aimpoint magnifier for now. We’ll see how it works but certainly there is plenty of room for them both.
I am going out to the range tomorrow so will let you know how it performs. The Eotech is sitting over the ejection port so I hope that isn't an issue. It is looking more like a chopped M14 than a mini right now. I like that. That particular rifle is accurate so it should be fun.
Note: Some pics make the stock look grey. It is black but I had to adjust the contrast because it was just so bright outside.
The elusive spacer: It is the tab that shows the calibre.
Stops on stock- somewhat of a loose fit
Plunger that spaces between the grip and trigger guard
Comparison of Mini Sparta and Chopped M14
Well HiCal said it would ship Monday and I figured it would arrive Wednesday and sure enough there was the tag in my mail box today. Thanks, Dave. So here are my first thoughts on the stock.
Instal Portion
The instructions are clear and there are diagrams. It isn’t that difficult to put together, and certainly won’t be to disassemble for cleaning. I noticed on my Marauder kit they don’t tell you in the instructions which allen wrenches you will need. They don’t in this kit either. Obviously you can figure it out but I like to lay everything out beforehand and it is a little annoying to have to try some out when they could just tell you. Just so you know: You will need a .125 inch allen wrench. They said you might have to do some tapping and fitting but that wasn’t an issue for me. You remove the horseshoe shaped piece at the end of the heat shield. I recommend angled needle nose pliers. Just bend them enough to get the end piece off as you have to tap them back into place to fit the new channel. I also used a plastic mallet to remove the rear sight on the Mini and to remove the heat shield.
There is a plunger that fits between the handguard and the trigger guard. You have to depress it to get the trigger assembly in the rifle. It isn’t a problem. Everything snapped in tightly.
They say that there are spacers supplied “with this stock”. I assumed the spacers were to help you fit the action in the stock depending on the calibre. They don’t. They just identify the calibre of the rifle since it is no longer visible. I panicked because I couldn’t find them anywhere and thought they forgot to put them in the kit. Just before I was about to call Dave at HiCal I remembered there was a storage space in the grip. They were there.
I was happy to see there wasn’t any issues with the MoRod I had installed. No interference at all.
Fit and Function
A couple of things and some people might say I am nitpicking but I thought they were important.
The stock is adjustable for LOP. There are some indented squares on the stock that act as stops. There is some slop there and you can push the stock back and forth somewhat. I guess that won’t matter as you pull the stock into your shoulder but it’s there.
The cheek riser is adjustable but I found it finicky. It has seven stops but when you depress the plunger to raise it, it’s difficult to get it to stop exactly where you want. I actually lifted it right out of the stock a couple of times trying to adjust it. I guess once you have found the sweet spot it won’t matter. I’m just noting it.
The completed package is definitely heavier than the factory configuration. It does seem balanced however and who knows- maybe it will make a more stable shooting platform. The aluminum top rail is strong and rigid. I decided to go with the Eotech and the Aimpoint magnifier for now. We’ll see how it works but certainly there is plenty of room for them both.
I am going out to the range tomorrow so will let you know how it performs. The Eotech is sitting over the ejection port so I hope that isn't an issue. It is looking more like a chopped M14 than a mini right now. I like that. That particular rifle is accurate so it should be fun.
Note: Some pics make the stock look grey. It is black but I had to adjust the contrast because it was just so bright outside.
The elusive spacer: It is the tab that shows the calibre.
Stops on stock- somewhat of a loose fit
Plunger that spaces between the grip and trigger guard
Comparison of Mini Sparta and Chopped M14
