I have an unfired M1a loaded that I bought as a post-car crash settlement present to me.

The first stock went back to SA after discovering a heartwood crack at the butt plate and to their credit, they sent me a beautiful replacement. When I opened the package of the original at my LGS they said it was the best they had ever seen. Well let me tell you, the replacement blew the original out of the water.

Mr problem is, when I put the barreled action in the replacement, I cannot pull it out. I mean it is in there with a vengeance. I'm afraid of tearing up the trigger guard.

This is a bucket list gun. I'm 57 now with a C2 thru C7 fusion. This is the rifle I always wanted and I got it from RKGuns at a great price after stalking their page for month. I've read that bedded actions should not be pulled from stocks. This wood was so tight, I could not even fit the action from a top to bottom fit. I had to work the action from the front of the trigger guard relief to back and then lean on it with  my body weight to get it in the stock.

I greased the bolt with synthetic grease. Should I leave it ? Should I try to find a gunsmith to bed it? I hear I have to unitize the gas cylinder. Have shot M1's before but this gun was bought for a 500 - 600 yard steel plinker. Any thoughts, advice, words of wisdom appreciated.

I'm surprised nobody has replied so far.  I'm much more an M1 than M14 guy, but my two cents is that as long as the rifle functions properly, consider the tight fitting stock a good thing.  If the magazine latches properly, the operating rod and bolt cycle freely, safety snaps on and off, etc. you'll be fine.

People kill for such a tight fit between the stock and receiver. Shoot it.

If grease is in the right place and stays there, shoot away.

That's what I'm thinking.  Unless there is a really compelling reason to remove the action, just leave it be and enjoy.

Score one on the stock!! Tight fit is what you want and you probably don’t need to bed it at that level of snug.

I can’t tel from reading though are you having trouble getting the trigger out as well?

This

You basically never tear down a bedded match gun.....

Shoot and forget it

Re: Trigger

Not coming out. Myself & two friends tried.

Leave it in there and go shoot it a bit. Recoil oughta loosen it up slightly over time

It'll come out.  Bust out a rubber mallet and think it through.  Just get over the notion it needs to come out.  An M1 or M14 leading a sheltered life doesn't need to be field stripped as often as some people think.

Won’t unlock, or can’t remove from receiver legs?

If you can unlock the trigger guard and pivot it, open the bolt and lock open and place the gun in a rest or something sights up, with space for the trigger group to drop out. Place the end of a wood or plastic dowel or a soft punch like brass into the ejection port and on top of the mag catch and then tap with a mallet or hammer to free the trigger group.  The grooves in the receiver legs and the trigger group bosses can sometimes be rough and lock together on new rifles. When you reassemble put a little grease on those bosses that fit into the receiver legs.

Likewise to free the action from the stock. Place the rifle upside down in a padded rest giving the action room to drop free of the stock, take a block of wood or plastic on top of receiver legs and tap barreled action free with mallet or hammer.

I want to thank everyone for the replies. I got clearance from my surgeon to ski again and shoot it finally. So now, I'm just waiting on some cooler weather.