My memory is failing. I believe American Rifleman did an article on M14's in Sage chassis stocks and saw fantastic accuracy. I'm day dreaming about my retirement rifle. I already have a Springfield M1A Loaded so I'm half way there.

After reading that article I wondered if anyone had any before and after comments or comparisons to share?

I've never done a side by side comparison, but the SAGE is the most accurate chassis currently in production.

I say "currently in production" because the only other chassis system that was better was the JAE, which is no longer in production. MDT picked up the tooling and patents, but have yet to deliver their version of the JAE.

I don't think I ever saw a rifle in a SAGE that shot over 1.5" groups. The average I've seen is between 3/4 MOA to 1.25 MOA. I should also note that I've never installed my SOCOM into a SAGE, so I can't comment on that chassis/rifle combo.

This rifle is about a 1 MOA gun and I shot it out to 700 yards already.


This was one of my better shooting builds. The Kreiger barrel really shined on that one.



I do have a dealer account with SAGE and I just had two delivered this week (spoken for). I can order another for you if you like.

Tony.

We had a bunch of M14s we (the USCG) turned into M14T models by putting a ss barrel and the Sage chassis. Took a standard M14 from ~4MOA down to ~1.5 MOA. But I think it was a combination of a better barrel and the chassis.

I was issued a NM M14, and it would group 1MOA. But it was glued into the stock and had a NM heavy barrel and NM trigger and sights.

I have 2rem 700 that I put into XLR element chassis and it did wonders for those rifles. I wouldn’t hesitate to throw a standard M1A into a chassis. I know it would make a difference, but might not make that much difference if you have already gotten the rifle up to NM standards….

That is my dream rifle right there!!!!

Note those who said they had rebarreled to get up to NM standards. A barrel can only shoot its best accuracy - a new stock won't add anything to that other than looks. Its why Im not bothering to install a free float on my latest AR project - the effective accuracy improvement is incremental at best when shooting at an 18" center of mass live target. With a 1MOA barrel, it's a 1" group at 100m, all the way to a 3" group at 300m for the cartridge I've chosen, and that is with the best possible handloads. Typical off the shelf ammo won't be quite as good mass produced.

The barrel is the #1 item needed for accuracy, then ammo, optics, trigger, then stock. Stock is actually last. Quickest way to mess up is get a cheap GI barrel then build it out; best way is research who makes the best barrel and expect it to be over $400. Last I checked.

OK, that is a cool looking stock. Sorry I can't add anything to the topic but that does wonders for an older platform, aesthetically.

Gents,

Tony Ben built my Sage stocked LRB rifle. While I have yet to shoot it some more initial testing showed it was going to be a solid sub-moa shooter.
Time to break it out and give it some more range time.

Wes

FWIW We had M14s in sage stocks with springfield scope mounts and super sniper scopes. they were ok, but not great. I think we weren't installing the rifles into the stocks properly or mounting the scopes correctly. Pay attention when you are doing the install. I'd listen to Benny6 I'd written off the M14 pattern until I saw some of the things he's done with them.

Folks,

Listen to Benny 6. Around the M-14 community we know him as Tony Ben. He's a wealth of knowledge and does all his work to perfection. How his rifles shoot shows his attention to detail. He's also one of my best friends (disclaimer).

Spent last Saturday with him at the range and lunch after...a good time had by all.

Wes