Just ordered a "big red" from Treeline... looking forward to this as a winter project.
So... I'm wanting to fill the selector hole and have two options.  A dummy selector or a wood plug.  I'm ALSO thinking of eventually having the stock bedded.
My question... I'm thinking that a wood plug will never match perfectly, where the dummy selector kit will drop in and look good.  BUT... if I bed the stock, is it wiser to go the wood plug route... epoxied and glassed in place?  Basically,  does it defeat the purpose of bedding the stock if i install a dummy selector kit?

I guess it really depends on what you want out of the rifle. Do you want it to be a match grade target rifle that’s bedded as a priority or do you want a as issued looking infantryman’s tool. Matching the wood plug would be difficult if you wanted it to blend in but on the other hand you could intentionally use a different type of wood to make the plug stand out. Having The plug in place would make bedding it a little easier. You maybe able to use the selector switch only style without the longer piece  and still be able to bed the action with the help of modeling clay to dam the open area around the switch itself.

The rifle is an early "loaded" model with a Douglass medium contour stainless barrel.  I don't see myself competing (at 51, my eyes arent what they used to be)... but still, I'd like to bring it as close to its potential as possible.  
Again... the selector hole is gonna bug the shit out of me.  A mis-matched wood plug will only be a touch better.  A dummy selector lock will look like it's supposed to be there... but has anyone successfully bedded a stock with that chunk of metal in place?  Is it worth even bedding the stock?

Plug it with wood then go get some model paint at a hobby store. If you can match the colors you can make it really hard to see.

You will need a couple of fine tip brushes to add grain lines to the patch

Another trick to add grain to plain wood is a soft lead pencil.
Draw a grain line, then smudge it as required.

A trick they use in the Beretta factory, so I was told by the UK importers when I was employed at Browning UK

No, it would be fine to bed the stock and use a dummy selector kit (or just leave the hole). You'll need to make sure the dummy selector parts are locked down tight also, but that shouldn't be much of a challenge.

The back of a dummy kit is secured inside the stock with 2 screws, right? Just bed the connector arm to the stock if it exhibits any movement (or utilize a dummy kit without the connector arm). No problem.

I've never been a fan of plugging the selector switch hole.  Unless it is on a fiberglass stock, because it can then be painted to hide the fix.  No matter what you do, the wood won't match.  If you must fill the hole, get a fake selector switch stub and install.  Or, get a commercially made Boyd's stock without the selector switch cut out.  Boyds recently had a sale on their stocks and those were included in the sale.

https://www.boydsgunstocks.com/product-configurator

Added a fake selector on mine. I did not add the bar.

Attached File

Real M14's were glass bedded and the GI full-auto lock was installed for tournament rifles and sniping units. The cutout doesn't hurt a think.

Currently a company is selling fake full-auto switches for M1-A's if you want that "look".

It would be easy to fill the gap with Devcon steel epoxy or Marine-Tex if it bothers you too much. With the last 20 years of people painting their rifles you could finish it any way you want.

Yes it's worth bedding the stock. M1-A's don't really live up to their potential without bedding. It can make a world of difference on target when shooting match ammo.

Plugging the selector switch void is always a good idea, if only to reduce the crud that can enter the innards of the rifle.

Plumber's epoxy putty on GI fiberglass stocks.  File/sand and paint to match.  If done right, there should be no issues if subsequently bedding the fiberglass stock, but some folks have found scant need to bed a decently-fitting GI fiberglass stock.  Most wooden stocks are likely to show an improvement after bedding.

To clarify... it's a birch "big red".  My question about bedding... if I installed a dummy selector,  would bedding be worth the trouble?  Adding a wood plug would provide a solid backing for an even bedding job... but said plug would aesthetically look like ass (in my humble opinion).
So has anyone ever successfully
glassed a stock with a dummy selector (which would look a whole lot better than a mis-matched plug)?

Can't definitively answer your question.  Don't know of anyone who has done a bedding job "over" an installed dummy selector, but willing to bet that someone has tried it.

As long as the dummy selector is set well into the existing hole for it, and well-secured, I can't see why its presence would be much of a problem when doing a bedding job.  IOW, the surfaces of the fake selector should be very slightly depressed compared to the wood surrounding it  If the fake selector is plastic, it can be "channeled" for bedding compound, just like the wood on either side of it.  But I'm no expert.

I have seen wooden inserts, carefully made of same exact wood as the stock, whose installation was surprisingly hard to see after the entire stock was re-finished.

I once had a Fed Ordnance M14.   The stock was USGI walnut with a walnut plug.  The grain didn’t match but the color was excellent and the patch craftsmanship was good.  

I would do the same on a Big Red. sadly I returned my Big Red because it was jacked up and was already crayon marked defective and Fred’s never replaced it or refunded me.  F the old Freds.