RASE “Extra 30” Stock
Text and Photos By Al Paulson
The RASE “Extra 30” Stock for AR-15 and M16 rifles stores an extra aluminum or Thermold 30-round magazine where it is always with the rifle and quickly accessible at all times. Designed by Ralph Seifert for the law-enforcement and home-defense markets, the “Extra 30” Stock only costs about $15 more than an OEM A2-type fixed stock assembly. As I learned from my youngest brother, having a few extra rounds can spell the difference between victory and defeat during an armed confrontation.
This particular brother is a full-time chief. His days off, he works as a patrolman in a small rural town about 30 miles away. One of the first important lessons I learned from him related to carrying ammunition. He learned early on that it was utterly irrelevant how much ammunition was in the patrol car or “close at hand.” When things went south, an individual could only draw upon ammunition already on his or her body. Since his auxiliary weapon was a shotgun, he added a two-round shotshell carrier to his duty belt, even though that violated the approved uniform dress code of the day. Nevertheless, other officers who carried two extra shotshells on their duty belts vindicated his strategy. Now that M16 carbines are replacing shotguns as law-enforcement auxiliary weapons and 5.56x45mm carbines are becoming more popular for home defense, the issue of having a reload handy is more relevant then ever.
When an officer grabs and snatches a carbine from the patrol car to deal with an immediate threat, he may only have the one magazine’s worth of ammunition with him. An officer really doesn’t want a 30-round magazine pouch on his duty belt, which is already overloaded with impedimenta. Likewise, a homeowner is unlikely to have the time to put on a belt or vest with extra magazines if there is an intruder. The RASE Stock for AR-15 and M16 rifles is a brilliant solution to this problem, since it stores an extra aluminum or Thermold 30-round magazine where it is always with the rifle, does not subject the magazine to fouling or damage, and is quickly accessible at all times.
The RASE “Extra 30” Stock easily replaces a standard fixed or telescoping stock. When replacing a fixed stock, only a large screwdriver is needed to replace the original stock with the RASE (pronounced “race”) upgrade, using the old buffer assembly and action spring for the upgrade. When replacing a telescoping stock, you’ll need a tele-stock wrench to remove the old stock and a longer action spring and buffer assembly for the fixed stock. These extra items, unfortunately, are not available from RASE, which only sells the “Extra 30” Stocks, so any wrenches, springs or buffers must be ordered from another vendor such as Bushmaster.
Using the “Extra 30” Stock couldn’t be simpler. It works with either metal or plastic 30-round magazines, and both loading and unloading work in an ambidextrous fashion.
Loading the RASE Stock
1. Pull out magazine retaining latch from inside bottom of stock with weak hand.
2. Insert the magazine “ammo end” first, with the bend of the magazine facing away from the stock. Wiggle the magazine as necessary to clear the sides of the stock and the tip of the magazine retaining latch.
3. Fully seat the magazine into the pocket to clear the magazine retaining latch. This may be difficult the first time it is attempted with a Thermold plastic magazine, but the proper motion, once discovered, is easily remembered.
4. Release the latch to secure the magazine base, and the job is completed.
Drawing Magazine from RASE stock
1. While keeping the firing hand on the pistol grip, use the nonfiring hand to grasp the base of the magazine adjacent to the magazine retaining latch, and pull the magazine (and thereby the retaining latch) forward.
2. Pull the magazine down to clear the spring-loaded retaining latch, which retracts into the stock staying clear of the operator’s way. This prevents the latch catching or snagging on gear or other items when the RASE Stock is not loaded with a spare magazine to add rigidity. With the spare magazine out of the stock and magazine retaining latch retracted by its captive spring, the beefed-up stock shell has little flex and maintains a look and feel very similar to an OEM A2-style stock.
3. Pivot grasp of magazine to cover magazine base while continuing to pull base forward until the magazine clears the stock. Ideally, the magazine base plate should rest against the palm and the fingers should be relatively parallel to the length of the magazine.
4. The magazine is perfectly oriented for insertion into the rifle’s magazine well. Insert the magazine into the mag well. This is the most natural and trouble-free reloading method I’ve ever found for the M16. Elapsed time from dumping the empty magazine to ramming home the spare is circa 1 second, which is faster than I can do a tactical reload from a GI magazine pouch, tactical vest, or any other practical carry method I’ve yet discovered.
Unlike add-on soft pouches attached to a rifle stock, which may also be used to provide backup grab and scoot ammunition, the “Extra 30” does not interfere with rapid target acquisition, obtaining a proper sight picture, or slipping through underbrush. Unlike belt pouches, the RASE stock will always be with the operator to provide a spare magazine.
The magazine retention latch of the “Extra 30” Stock is spring loaded and able to retain a fully loaded magazine even under the harshest conditions, while still providing the operator with a lightning fast reload. The RASE stock is very well suited to its intended law-enforcement and home-defense missions. Furthermore, the RASE Stock is not only handy, it is fast.
It is worth noting that audacity can be used in defense as well as offense. Consider, for example, home defense. Don’t simply establish a “safe room” for everyone to gather if a home invasion occurs. Think outside the box. Vacuum the carpet on your way out of the house when you leave so you can see the footprints of anyone who has broken into the house in your absence. Recharge your cell phone in the safe room, not in the kitchen, so outside communications are always available. Have a weapon(s) secured but readily available inside the safe room. Replace the hollow core door with a much stronger solid core door, and install a deadbolt as well as a lockable door latch. Consider installing manually operated bolt-type gate latches at the top and bottom of the door for further reinforcement. Have a local machine shop make a two-foot to full-door-height single strike plate approximately 1/4-inch thick for the deadbolt and door latch, and install with extra length screws (this custom plate may cost $100 at the machine shop and another $100 for a carpenter to install if you can’t inlet the door frame to accommodate the steel plate yourself). In the meantime, reorganize the room so you can tip over a chest of drawers or dresser to block the door after it’s closed.
The $89.95 cost of a RASE stock is money very well spent. That’s less expensive than a good collapsible stock. I can recommend the “Extra 30” Stock from RASE Industries, Inc. with enthusiasm.
Bushmaster
Dept. SAR
999 Roosevelt Trail
Windham, ME 04062
Phone 800-883-6229
Fax 207-892-8068
E-mail Techsupport@bushmaster.com
Website http://www.bushmaster.com)
RASE Industries, Inc.
Dept. SAR
P.O. Box 120757
West Melbourne, FL 32912
Phone 321-544-5141
Fax 321-984-5419
Website www.rasestock.com
E-mail: info@rasestock.com
This article first appeared in Small Arms Review V6N8 (May 2003) |
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