Had to get one before the ban ends over there and these are all in backorder. his
I like the Crane stock alot! It offers good cheak weld in all positions (this has the LMT five position receiver extension) and is really comfortable to use. The fit is tight so you need quite a bit of force to adjust the stock. That's the way I like it, I find it extremely unlikely that I could accidentally adjust the stock. There's is no rattle or looseness evident. The battery compartments are, in my opinion, easily accessible. Just remove the stock by pushing the lever away from the stock and pulling the stock off the receiver extension. After that you can easily access the compartments.

In my opinion there's no such situation where you would actually do a battery change in such a hurry that you don't have time to remove the stock. The BUIS are there if batteries fail in the mids of action. Changing batteries is slow even if you have them ready at hand, so it's not a smart move anyway in competitions or actual combat use. There's always time to change them later. YMMV.

Here are some pictures, enjoy!

http://www.kotiposti.net/mritala/MuzzleSmall.jpg

http://www.kotiposti.net/mritala/AngledSmall.jpg

http://www.kotiposti.net/mritala/StockCollapsedSmall.jpg

http://www.kotiposti.net/mritala/StockIntermSmall.jpg

http://www.kotiposti.net/mritala/StockExtendedSmall.jpg

Nice.  Refreshing to see a KISS application.  Wish I could do that.

Great looking carbine!!
Since you used the LMT tube- did you screw it all the way in to use the cutout for the plunger? It seems that you didn't because your stock still engages the first position. Any fears of it coming loose?

Quoted: Great looking carbine!! Since you used the LMT tube- did you screw it all the way in to use the cutout for the plunger? It seems that you didn't because your stock still engages the first position. Any fears of it coming loose?

The receiver extension is screwed in so that the buffer retainer fits in the small slot at the end of the receiver extension. There's simply no way that the retainer could come loose, if that was what you meant. When the castle nut is properly tightened (read: very tight) the stock easily snaps in the fully closed position. I believe the lower receiver tolerances have a part to play in this, I'm not sure if this will happen without exception on all lowers with this stock.

Anyway, the installation was a breeze, really straight forward!  I can whole-heartedly recommend this stock, it's fantastic. Range day tomorrow, I'll let you know how it is to shoot with, I also put an H-buffer in so I'm interested to see if things are different.

Humminbird, I see we have similar tastes.

I have been planning on getting the LMT Crane stock to complete the transformation of my registered M16 rifle into an M4 carbine, but just haven't had the extra money. Now when I get around to ordering it, they'll probably be on backorder due the to the AW ban sunsetting.

Do the irons, match up with the sight ?

Quoted: Do the irons, match up with the sight ?

Yup, perfect co-witness! The front sight post is in the lower third of the Aimpoint's field of view, but I usually have the iron sights folded down anyway when using the reddot.

Quoted: I noticed you removed your trigger guard.  You wear gloves while handling this weapon? Nice rifle by the way.  And that looks like a great stock.

I can see a trigger guard.

Went to the range yesterday and tested out the new stock and H-buffer. I tried shooting in prone, kneeling and standing positions and also some rapid fire drills with facing changes. First of all, the stock feels very comfortable to use, the cheak weld is simply great in all positions. The cheak weld is easy to find when raising the rifle quickly, it just comes naturally. The only complaint I have is that the stock tends to come into contact with my Peltor earmuffs when it's fully extended and shooting in prone position. No big deal, shooting position is still good, but the buffer spring becomes quite audible.

The H-buffer changed the way the recoil feels. It's not as sharp anymore, it feels kind of dampened. I like it a lot. The rifle is now better balanced than ever before. The Ace ARFX stock was a little too light when the Aimpoint was mounted and the rifle felt front-heavy. The LMT Crane and H-buffer bring the center of gravity right around the magazine well, the rifle is so well balanced that I can easily aim and use it with one hand only if I need my left hand for some other task.

Two thumbs up for this stock, it's well worth the money! hen

Good looking rifle, Humminbird

That is one nice rifle set up, now you make me spend some $$.

Is'nt the LMT/Crane nice!