After years of wanting one I finally pulled the trigger on a Socom. I know there are mixed feelings about them but I've shot friends and love them. As soon as I got it home I put it in a USGI stock that I got from Fred's over 10 years ago. I had just recently pulled the stock out of the box and ol' Fred definitely did me right. I didn't really do any refinishing, just wiped it down with mineral spirits, gave it a coat of tung oil, and then finished with the BLO,beeswax,turpentine mix. I'm happy as can be and cant wait to shoot her.



Baby with mama and papa.



A few extended family dropped by to welcome the little tyke.



I'm still toying with the idea of getting an Ultimak rail(or maybe several) but haven't had any problems with my scouts rail; so I'm not sure. I may want cowitness on the Socom where it didn't matter on the Scout with 2x7. Decision, decisions guess I just have to shoot more to help decide.

BTW sorry for the rushed pics, I had to hurry before my wife got home and found me playing instead of honeydoing. Pro tip: the cheap moving blankets from Harbor Freight  are great to keep gun grease and oil off the carpet, bed etc.

Looks good, I'm hoping to pick me up a socom next week. Just curious as to why the mixed feelings for them?

I had one for awhile and it was fun, but I can see why people don’t like them.

The front sight post is too thick for precise shooting, and that ruins what is arguably the best set of iron sights on a battle rifle. It also can’t be swapped for a plain front sight because it’s a unique height. The solution is switching the entire compensator/front sight assembly for the kit from SEI, but that can get expensive.

6” less barrel means less muzzle velocity and an increase in muzzle blast/flash. ZQI .308 threw a beach ball-sized fireball, which looked Hollywood-cool, but was a distraction.

The ‘Scout’ scope mount is an interesting concept, but mainly served as a place on which to burn my thumb when the barrel got hot, which didn’t take long. My TRS-25 withstood the heat while mounted, though it didn’t stay on too long before I sold the rifle.