After searching the EE and hunting through many threads on the subject I have come up with a couple kits that look all-inclusive and of genuine quality. I'm hoping some of you have experience with the kits from these suppliers. I am looking for metal buttplate and door which should be no surprise, and I'm also looking for the buffer tube to be well machined and smooth inside, because that is important to me after a few former carbine buffers.

First is the kit from White Oak. I like this company and I like the price. I cannot tell if the plate is metal or if there is a door.
https://www.whiteoakarmament.com/xcart/product.php?productid=17592&cat=282&page=1

Next is Fulton Armory which I have no experience with. They seem to have put a good stock kit together from parts they offer individually so I know the plate and door are metal.
http://www.fulton-armory.com/buttstockassemblygroupa2newblack.aspx

Then there is RRA whose price is agreeable but the specifics are not displayed and I have not heard anything other than arfcom users "liking it"
http://www.rockriverarms.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=296

Your thoughts...
Also let me know if I should have posted this elsewhere

I have the RRA on two rifles.  One came as a complete A2.  Other was a kit to build a MK12 SPR.  I can't speak to the actual specs vs. official A2 specs, but I've found both to be high quality.

Thanks for that input, I'm working on this for a MK12 myself. Can you confirm it has a metal buttplate and door or is it plastic?

Look into midsouthshooters supply... They had some a while back... Made by del-ton... I used some of the parts for my A2. Great price & even better shipping...

So, I spent a LARGE part of today researching this, and wound up buying Specialized Armament's Colt kit with the forged tube. All or nothing right? I am still interested in this though for future readers

I did find out that the RRA kit has a plastic buttplate but it has a metal trap door. Hopefully someone may confirm this.

Has anyone had a close look at this one from BCM?

BCM Rifle Stock

I recently purchased an A2 stock kit from White Oak Armament. All of the parts are high quality. The buttplate and trapdoor are plastic, but the trapdoor hinge is metal. The stock has the typical 'fuzzy' finish.

I was recently going through the same thing you are, and found a thread on here that stated 'plastic' (high-impact nylon) butt plates and trap doors are seen on many (all?) issued current M16s.

fwiw, i recently bought the UTG a2 buttstock and buffer kit from CTD. it was about $55 delivered. it has the plastic trapdoor, but seems to function fine. i may swap out buttplates and trapdoors just to be anal, but don't see any legitimate reason to do so. it's cosmetic. heck, even my colt match hbar from 1993 has a plastic buttplate.

I bought one off the EE a couple of years ago and the buttplate was plastic not aluminum GI, the stock itself was not foam filled solid like the GI stock either.  Looked the same but the quality was poor to me.  I wound up putting a Colt GI buttplate on it but any way you cut it it was not mil-spec.  I don't know who makes cheapo ones and who makes mil-spec ones but Bushmaster, Windhham Weaponary, Colt and I believe Armalite are all good.   I generally look for a Bushmaster or Colt takeoff on the EE.

Are the RRA stocks black as pictured or the more common grey color ?

Can anyone comment on the PSA or the UTG A2 stock kits ?

More gray, I have two and like them, I actually put a light coat of oil on mine when I get them and then wipe them dry and it darkens them up a bit

Don't laugh, black shoe polish works pretty well.  

I purchased the same kit from White Oak last year and I was very pleased with it too. Great price also.

ARKAR

USGI buttplate housings are plastic; the door itself is metal.

I bought an Armalite stock once because I'd heard it was black and not the gray fuzzy material. The one I received direct from Armalite was in no way even close to mil-spec and was cheap/chintzy. I don't believe it was 'foam-filled.'

Just use some oil, CLP and/or shoe polish or paint to make the fuzzy ones black if it's important enough.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Psa info.... Psa gtg from my experience, ive read that the utg ones are the cheap foam copies. Investigate more before you buy.

http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=3&f=127&t=633329

I concur that RRA stocks are gray, not black as shown on their webpage, but do have the cream colored foam lining...  I've seen A2 stocks from DPMS and they were also in the same shade of gray... Not sure if DPMS's stocks have the foam lining.  

Both the buttplate and trapdoor are plastic on the RRA stock sets... The plastic trapdoor is a little on the cheesy side.  I'm pretty sure that most of the U.S. made, A2 stocks are made by a single source and re-branded by the various manufacturers.  As for the Chinese made ones, I've never seen one, so I can't say too much about them at this point, but I simply prefer American made parts.

Dean D, I like the ideal of using black shoe polish to darken the grayish butt stock... Might try using black leather dye if black Kiwi doesn't do the trick... BTW, did you use paste or liquid shoe polish??

I'm still collecting parts to build 2 "A2"  and 1 "A4" rifles.  My initial goal was to find both or either an Alloy Buttplate or Trapdoor for these builds...  Any ideal(s) who sells alloy versions of these parts??

I do remember that my old issued M-16A2 rifle from my military days (Army) having a plastic buttplate and an alloy trapdoor.

Honestly, the whole "which is the correct A2 stock" issue has bugged me for quite some time, because I most certainly want the correct "MIL-SPEC" M16A2 stock, but unlike some of the more highly publicized specifications out there, A2 stocks are just "not that cool," and therefore there's not a whole lot of information on them out there versus commercial knock-off versions.  

For that reason, with A2 stocks, though I may end up paying a little bit more, at this point, I pretty much just stick with factory Colt or Colt take-off A2 stocks.  It seems like the simplest and easiest way to "make sure" that you get the correct stock.

That being said - surprisingly to me perhaps, I've heard a lot of good things about DPMS' A2 stocks, and I say this not as a DPMS fanboy, I consider DPMS rifles a low-end, but serviceable entry-level commercial offering.  

However, my suspicion - with nothing to back it up, mind you - is that for better or for worse - DPMS' name does in fact stand for "Defense Procurement Manufacturing Services," and they have supplied parts to the government on occasion in the past.  I wouldn't be surprised based on what I've heard about DPMS A2 stocks if one of their contracts "back in the day" when their primary business was in fact Defense Procurement and Manufacturing was as a subcontractor for M16A2 stocks.  

Like I said - this is all speculation, and I do not own a DPMS A2 stock - but what I've heard here and there about them along the way is that they are actually seem to meet the "MIL-SPEC" pretty well in all the ways that can be verified from a visual inspection of USGI M16A2 stocks.  

~Augee

The stock and handguards on my mostly FN A2 were new USGI replacements (still in the packaging with NSN/CAGE markings on the label), but I'll be damned if I can remember who made them. I did look them up via CAGE code at the time, and both were small companies I'd never heard of.



 

I have two Dpms A2 stocks. Both are the gray fuzzy material with plastic buttplates & doors. Both are have the light cream colored foam fill. I've been happy with both so far. They've been just as solid & sturdy as the colt A2 I was issued in the army. I'm not a Dpms fan either. Junk ass piece of shit barrels & bolts that might be worth their weight in scrap value. Just my personal opinion of their rifles. Some small parts are ok.

Took some pics. Hopefully they'll help.



On the C7




& the A4

I think I used black paste shoe polish.  Then rubbed it with WD-40 to blend and soak it in, I think I tried paint thinner too.  I also have used Gun Kote on a rag and wipe/swipe quickly, not too much, just enough to dye the plastic, too much it will glaze over shiny. Anything to make it black, I can't handle that gray.