[Chainmail]

I don’t mean to imply anything negative about the reports you have gotten from those gentlemen but those of us who actually carried and used them never saw a warped stock.

I think that you need to research further. We habitually used linseed oil in thin layers over the life of our rifles. Waterproofed the wood quite effectively. I can’t imagine that the army didn’t do the same. The wood from the wrist back was too thick to warp and the wood surrounding the receiver had steel reinforcement. From the receiver forward to the stock ferrule was thick and U-shaped for rigidity. Where exactly were the warps supposed to occur?

My life literally depended on that rifle at it never failed any of us - it also never failed to drop whoever we shot, first try.

[quadrant]

I never carried the M-14, except in boot camp. I found it a fine weapon that would fire under almost any circumstances.
But I do have great faith in the opinions (and experiences) of my friends. If you say that the use of linseed oil would reduce the tendency to warp, I accept your recommendation as truth. But I also know that neither Pat (who served in the 9th Infantry Division) nor Tony (who served in the 25th) would not make such a statement unless they believed it to be true. Neither has any need to lie or misstate after all these years. Pat did say that M-14 would have been a fine rifle for Korea or the Fulda Gap, but not for the heat, humidity, and muck of the Mekong Delta.