By Joe W Gorman
After 30 years of shooting at very distant and very small objects with a glass-bedded, walnut-stocked national match M1A, built for me 30 years ago by Clint McKee at Fulton Armory, I decided that I would try out one of the new precision stocks that all the kids constantly talk about these days. I had managed, over thousands of rounds, shot prone with my rifle supported by my ruck, to hit prairie dogs at 550 yards with my Clint M1A and a trusty Leupold Mark 4 LR/T scope held up by steel Mark 4 rings. While the walnut stock has marks from living its best life, it still works perfectly. The glass bedding, installed 30 years ago, still provides a precision fit for the action.
However awesome the old school walnut stock is, I would like a mounting point on the bottom of the stock for a bipod. And having a cheek piece that supports a cheek weld would be nice. It would also be better if I could adjust the length of pull to actually match my arm length.
The Archangel Precision Stock seems very stout and rugged, especially considering the price. It offers enhanced comfort and places to attach stuff!
I have a sentimental attachment to my Clint M1A rifle as, even after 7K rounds, she’ll shoot MOA groups if I do my part. Plus, he’s the only guy to ever work on this rifle and for a long time I thought any mods to the masterpiece he built me would be sacrilegious. But for all the reasons I’ve mentioned before, I wanted to try a modern stock. I chose the ProMag Archangel Precision stock for modernizing my M1A.
The Archangel Precision Stock is a well made and reasonably priced piece of gear.
The ProMag Archangel M1A precision rifle stock is a fully adjustable synthetic stock, constructed of lightweight and durable carbon reinforced polymer. The Archangel stock features a thumb wheel adjustable cheek riser. The length of pull is also adjustable from 13-5/8″ to 14-13/16″. The Archangel precision features 4 quick-detach push-button sling swivel mounts and two standard QD sling swivels on the bottom of the stock. The pistol grip features a cool storage compartment (great place for a pair of foamy earplugs and a luck round of ammo) and the forend has an integrated picatinny accessory rail with a supplied cover.
The grip has a handy storage compartment to keep small stuff in.
I will spare you the details of installation of my action in the Archangel stock, but I will say it was uneventful. I lightly oiled the sides of the trigger group legs and I needed to only remove a tiny bit of material from the trigger group pads on the stock. I could close up the action with just a bit of force. I did not have to break out the clown hammer.
The Archangel stock allows generous adjustment of the cheek riser and length of pull.
Once installed, I threw on a S-BRM Harris bipod with picatinny mount, adjusted the cheek riser and length of pull. I set out to the range with a wide assortment of target, hunting and ball ammunition. Shooting the M1A action in the Archangel stock was a radically different feel from the walnut stock. The pistol grip allowed for an almost AR-type straight back trigger pull and grip purchase while the cheek pad provided a cheek weld that was far superior to anything I could get with an old school stock. The quick detach points on the stock for sling mounting seemed perfectly placed and I could carry this heavy rifle more easily.
The modestly priced Hornady American Gunner 155gr BTHP ammunition consistently shot at MOA or under through the M1A/Archangel. Very impressive!
Comparing the accuracy of my M1A mounted in the Archangel versus being mounted in the bedded walnut stock, I would have to say, the M1A seems to be a bit more accurate in the walnut. Looking back at the data I have gathered in the last two years, in the walnut stock, shooting Hornady 168gr AMAX BTHP Black ammo, my best groups were 2.0” at 300 yards.
Some of this ammunition turned in sub-MOA groups when fired from the Archangel stock bestocked M1A. All this ammo functioned flawlessly, and all this ammo could hit a paper plate at 500 yards (minute of whitetail) when shot through this rifle.
Federal Gold Medal 168gr BTHP ammo just missed that make with a 2.1” group. The Winchester 168gr BTHP Competition Supreme match ammo and Hornady’s 155gr BTHP American Gunner ammo printed 5-shot groups into 2.5”. Hornady’s 168gr BTHP match shot right to minute of angle with a 5-shot group at 300 yards measuring 3.01”.
Out to 300 yards, the M1A in the Archangel, shooting Hornady’s 155gr American Gunner turned in sub-MOA 5-shot groups!
After installing the Archangel stock, I did notice the group size increase a bit in my testing. To make a long story short, my accuracy was similar, but overall group sizes increased roughly 12% average over what I was shooting with the walnut stock. What does that mean to a hunter or casual shooter like me? Well, your 5 shot group with Hornady 155gr BTHP American Gunner ammo will measure 2.8” at 300 yards instead of 2.5”. In other words, that’s just noise on the wire. The steel target or critter you’re shooting at won’t notice. To be fair, when you throw humans into the mix, it’s hard to tell if an experiment, with the results this close, is more affected by the human operating the weapon or the stock change.
Federal’s 168gr Gold Medal match has earned a reputation as world-class ammunition. From the M1A, mounted in the Archangel, the Federal Gold Medal shot a 2.1” 3 shot group at 300 yards. Yeah, I’ll take that.
The Archangel stock did, however, make the rifle a lot handier to use in the field. Further, the Archangel stock is unaffected by humidity. That last part is a big deal where I live, in the state of Iowa. If I sight in my walnut stocked M1A in July, when temps are in the 90s and humidity is 70%-80%, I’m bound to get a significant difference in point of impact when I pull it out of the safe to shoot it in January and it’s -10.
Hornady’s Black AMAX turned in stellar groups too. At 300 yards this ammo turned in sub-MOA 5-shot groups. Excellent.
All in all, the Archangel stock seems to be a reasonably-priced precision stock that offers ergonomic and accessory benefits to the casual shooter of M1A rifles.
My Clint McKee-built M1A. from Fulton Armory in younger days. This is the tightest 3-shot group I have ever fired with this rifle. I was going for a 5-shot group but upon seeing how tight the first three shots were, I thought about it and said, “Waiter, check please!”
https://www.springfield-armory.com
https://www.federalpremium.com
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