The MagPul MSS
Richard Fitzpatrick, CEO of Magpul Corp., took me
to the Boulder Rifle club to shoot the experimental version of the MSS M93
stock. Richard had the MSS M93 mounted on a full auto lower and he also had a 4
position CAR stock mounted on a 3-round burst lower so we could make a
comparison between the two. Upon arrival at the range, I had a chance to handle
both rifles side by side to compare the feel and ergonomics of each stock.
Mounting the M93 in the shoulder, I noticed that it felt much more comfortable
than the CAR stock. The buttplate of the M93 felt noticeably wider, and the more
gentle curve on the area around the buffer tube felt much more comfortable in
the cheek than the cold round aluminum tube of the CAR stock.
We then loaded up some magazines and shot both rifles in semi-auto mode. I
switched back and forth between the two rifles a couple of times to compare the
feel between the two. One of the first things I noticed is that with the CAR
stock having 4 positions and the M93 having 8 positions I could get the M93 to
the exact length of pull that I wanted. I use a 6 position M4 stock on my
carbine for work and the M93 was able to give me a much more precise length of
pull. I have never had a problem with the M4 stock, but was amazed at the
difference the extra 2 positions made. Richard informed me that the distance
between each stock position is 0.6."
The other thing that I noticed about the M93 is that the buttplate felt wider
and the wider part of the buttplate extended for a longer length than on the CAR
or the M4 stocks. The CAR / M4 is shaped more like an egg and tapers very
rapidly, while the M93's buttplate tapers more gradually. While shooting in the
semi-auto mode the M93 seemed to disperse the recoil over a wider area in my
shoulder, thus making it feel like there was less recoil. Richard stated that
"The reduction in felt recoil is in part to the tail unit but also the fact that
the cams teeth engage the buffer tube from both sides, and the buffer is more in
line with the buffer action than the regular M4 locking system."
I did have to learn to lock and unlock the ratcheting system, it didn't take
long, but it does take a bit of getting use to. I also noticed that the M93 is
more rigid, due to the ability to lock out the ratcheting mechanism. When you
lock out the ratcheting mechanism the stock feels as rigid as the A2 stock in
your shoulder.
Then we loaded up some more mags and went full-auto and 3-round burst. I started
shooting the carbine that had the CAR stock on the burst mode. I did the same
with the M93 and all the things that I noted about the M93 in the semi-auto mode
were amplified in the burst and full auto modes. I switched between the CAR and
M93 stocks frequently and again I noticed that the M93 felt much more
comfortable in the shoulder and against the cheek. The M93 felt like the recoil
was distributed over a greater area in my shoulder, and the M93 felt like it was
doing a better job at controlling recoil. The rifle that had the M93 on it
didn't seem to rise as much as the rifle with the CAR stock on it, again this
could be due to the ability to lock the M93's stock out for more rigidity. We
were using the same upper on both rifles, so that is not something that came
into play. The M93 was a blast to shoot, especially in burst and full auto
modes, where there was a notable difference in performance with the M93 over the
CAR stock. Needless to say I was very impressed with the M93, it brings the
ergonomics of the collapsible style stock for the M4 into a whole new league.
Instead of listing much of the technical data about the M93 in this review I
have attached the MSS M93 spec sheet provided to me by Richard. This includes
the technical information and pics of the M93.
Technical info on the MSS M93 can be found here:
http://www.magpul.com/mss/mss_handout_3.pdf
Semper Fi,
Jeff