We all know Vltor, LMT, and Magpul stocks all look cool and they all use the same mil-spec buffer tube. My question is about the claims made by Ace Ltd. USA on their website riflestocks.com. If you don’t know check it out- they say mill-spec buffer tubes are weak and can bend- and their version “the Super Heavy Duty Ace M4-7” is much stronger. They also claim that their M4 SOCOM stock is 6 times stronger than a standard A2- I’m thinking about getting a M4 SOCOM as opposed to getting a stock that looks “high speed”. Any body have any advice for me on getting one of these stocks(positives & negatives) other than the fact that it can’t hold batteries and it doesn’t come in Flat Dark Earth(I could care less)?
From my 4 years experience on a M.C. Recon team my M4 tube never bent, even when I used it as a crutch climing the Kahuku Mts. in Hawaii-
Thanks for the info
P.S. its going on a RRA Carbine lower-
The ability to carry batteries is a far second to the way the Crane or Vltor stock feels… After having one, a regular stock just feels all wrong.
Outside of a vehicle being involved, I have only seen a couple of milspec tubes break… in one case the butt was wedged into a ledge on a wall and used as a booster step to get up to the roof… so it takes some doing to break them.
It is far more likely that you will break a stock really… I know there was problems with one breaking during mortering. The Crane is a nice stock, but I am just not all warm and fuzzy with having to take the stock off the gun to get into the compartments.
Bottom line is shoulder them and see what you like… ask yourself how hard are you going to use it and what is the cost if it fails.
I have never used a Crane or Vltor, but I heard facial hair can get cought in the teeth on the Vltor stock…any truth to that? The Crane is just more than I want to spend because I would have to get a new tube for my AR. What about the Choate…besides the $$$?
I dont have a problem with it, but then I am highly trained in the ways of Won Duk Tape.
The older Choate used its own tube and was horribly constructed… I guess the newer ones are better, I hope they were able to knock at least three or four pounds from it anyway. If you are .mil I can send you the NSN for the Vltor, in tan 
This Grasshoppa has only mastered Ju Zip Tie- Well, anothother reason I am considering the M4 SOCOM is because I want to get a .458 SOCOM upper and have heard the standard collapsable stock collapsing under pressure from the recoil…know any thing bout that?
Ya I joined the ranks of the good ol’ IRR about 6 months ago. Contractor work is calling my name!
Maybe see if we can get Marty to chime in on that… I can tell you that this:
thumps pretty well, and the stock holds up on it fine…
eta: Marty changed his email, as soon as I find the new one I will see if he can ring in on the question.
What do you call that thing the “Dark Earth Mover”?
M32 Grenade Launcher
Point well made- Do you know if the Vltor will fit the ACE M4-7 tube?
I’ve never actually seen one, but from looking at the picture on the website, it is an aftermarket (non milspec) part… so no, the Vltor will not fit.
Well thanks for all the info, maybe i’ll sleep on it for a few months. Just wondering- what is the best carbine stock you have used and why(if price didn’t matter)?
I have the LMT SOPMOD stock on both my M4 and on a Remington 870 with an Argonaut Armament stock adapter and both work very well for me as patrol weapons and I’m rather hard on them. In fact I just bought a third one from Grant this past week for another project I’m working on.
I was thinking about putting an AR stock system on my 870- I cant find Argonaut’s website or a picture of one- got a pic of yours and/or can you give me a web link for one?
I dont know if they are around anymore? They used to be at www.argonautarmament.com – but that does not look so promising.
The only one that Brownells catalogs now is the Cavalry Arms one, but it is a nice one.
Vltor makes a tube for the shotgun adapters that uses the inside of the tube as waterproof storage, it is accesable by a threaded cap from the back.
My Remington 870 is probably a collector’s item already and I didn’t build it all that long ago. Argonaut Armament stopped making their stock adapters about the same time Mesa Tactical started up. I think that was way back in 2004. Mesa Tactical’s stock adapter is most likely the closest thing to the Argonaut Armament that I’ve seen on the market. Argonaut Armament’s stock adapter appears to sit more in line with the receiver than Mesa Tactical’s and doesn’t have the rail on top.
My rail is a Knight’s Armament 870 RAS, which may have also been discontinued. If not, they are still hard to locate in stock. It took me months of looking at websites, making phone calls, and discussing what I was looking for before locating a place that had one as a returned item.
This afternoon I had it lying on the counter at the gun store I frequent because we had changed the sling to a single point like the one I have on my AR and a man walked up and said, “That is one scary looking weapon.” I told him that was exactly the intent I had when I built it and it’s even scarier when it’s pointed at you. He agreed that it would be.
I have seen a couple Argonaut Armament stock adapters on Ebay, but they went for three times as much as they originally sold for. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more assistance.
I have seen Mesa’s products and the look pretty solid- I just really like the top rail idea. Thanks for the help.
Dave
I have an EoTech mounted on mine and it makes getting on target quickly a snap.
Just got this email from Marty, with his okay to cut n’ paste:
I just broke my ACE SOCOM stock testing a 458 upper (8.5" PSD rig with a
CAS-V) - I thought the recoil felt light until I noticed the stock had done
from fully extended to fully collapsed. One of my VA based customers
reported the same issue with his ACE SOCOM stock and indeed had his beard
stuck in it due to the collapse. Folks using the 50B and 458S have reported
that mil-spec 4(?) position stocks are working just fine. I like the ACE
skeleton as it feels balanced and as a tall skinny guy is the right length
even with lots of gearI second your comments regarding feel, I have the VLTOR clubfoot A2 and
think I like it even better than the Magpul PRS (plus the PRS is too
spendy). Forget the other stocks, the VLTOR just feels right
LMT uses a 6 position mil-spec tube and Vltor uses a 5 position mil-spec tube- are these stocks and tubes interchangable? Why not have that 6th pos?