Took some pics for anyone interested in the overall differences between the 1st generation (circa 2003-04) SAGE chassis versus 2nd generation (circa 2005 and later) SAGE chassis.
Top with tan handguard has a 2007 dated Pachmayr buttpad, so I’ll call this an “intermediate” 2nd generation SAGE chassis. It will be used on a USMC M39 replica. (M39s were fielded 2008-2012).
Bottom with black handguard is what I will call a “late” 1st generation SAGE chassis. It was likely made in December 2004 (per Kevin, aka H2O Man). and it will be used on an early Mk 14 Mod 0 replica.
The biggest difference is the 1st generation chassis had a longer 13” forend. The Navy/Crane field tested these in 2003-04 and in November 2004 the Navy PM asked SAGE to lighten the chassis by reducing the length of the forend by 1.75 inches, and to add numerous round “lightening holes” to slightly reduce weight. Note different forend lengths:
This request from the Navy/Crane resulted in the so-called “chop mod” chassis which reportedly went into production in early 2005. The top cover for the forend was reduced to about 11.25” in length. The last of the long /1st generation chassis were made around December 2004, and they also included the various “lightening” holes to further reduce weight, but w/ the last of the 13” long forends.
.
The original 13” top covers all had 6 screws and were only designed for the standard profile M14 barrel. The later/2nd generation top covers came in both 5 or 6 screws, but only the 5-screw covers work with medium weight barrels. The M39s used a medium weight Kreiger barrel, so their top covers were 5-screws, and were also machined at the rear to provide clearance for the SEI scope mount (see flat area on rear of cover).
The earliest prototype 1st generation SAGE stocks had no markings on them (circa 2003 to most of 2004). I have see these unmarked chassis anodized bronze, black and Navy Seal Gray (NSG).
By the end of 2004 a U.S. patent application had been submitted, and the very late 2004 and 2005 era chassis had SAGE markings have a “Patent Pending” notation. Those were used on the Mk 14 Mod 0 rifles, but different styles of markings are seen. This is the early “dot matrix” style font reportedly from late 2004.
I think around 2006 SAGE got its official patent number, and that was added to the chassis markings. The funny thing about the circa 2007-08 era USMC M39 chassis is there is a slight typo on the markings. There is a superfluous extra space between “INTERNATIONAL” and the comma “,” as seen here. Not sure when this was fixed, but the 2007-8 era SAGE chassis have that typo. Also seen is the machining under the stamping along the lower edge is different from the 1st generation chassis. In the later chassis, more aluminum was machined away to slightly reduce weight of the chassis.
The buttpad also changed from the 1st generation “SPEED FEED” (on bottom) to the 2nd generation Pachmyar “DECELERATOR” part (top). I don’t know what year that change took place, but likely by 2006.
Here one can see some differences in the machining on the bottom edge, with the top chasiss designed to be slightly lighter than the bottom/earlier version.
FWIW, the USMC specified a stock extension piece for the M39s, which SAGE called a ‘BEK’ extension. Here’s the early version shown below. The NSG color of the anodizing often changed slightly based on the batches, as its sort-of impossible to always have perfect color match when anodizing a light gray color.
My chassis for the M39 replica still needs to have numbers laser-engraved on the top rail and side rails, but it is otherwise correct and complete. Unfortunately I had to buy an entire M1A Scout rifle just to get this old (2007-8 era) SAGE chassis, but that’s life.
The “late” or final second generation SAGE chassis has the ERGO rubber grip, which replaced the earlier style checkered plastic grip. As far as I can tell, this occurred around 2009 as the Army EBR-RIs have this final type of grip. Also seen are the final style of markings seen on the SAGE chassis.
Summing up, there were a lot of small variations and permutations of the SAGE M14 EBR chassis seen between 2003-2009, and this post certainly doesn’t cover all those small changes, but hopefully it at least shows the main changes between the first generation (2003-4) and the second generation chassis (circa 2005 and later). There were various changes after 2005, but by 2009 it seems the SAGE chassis design was finally mature…to the best of my knowledge.
Top with tan handguard has a 2007 dated Pachmayr buttpad, so I’ll call this an “intermediate” 2nd generation SAGE chassis. It will be used on a USMC M39 replica. (M39s were fielded 2008-2012).
Bottom with black handguard is what I will call a “late” 1st generation SAGE chassis. It was likely made in December 2004 (per Kevin, aka H2O Man). and it will be used on an early Mk 14 Mod 0 replica.
The biggest difference is the 1st generation chassis had a longer 13” forend. The Navy/Crane field tested these in 2003-04 and in November 2004 the Navy PM asked SAGE to lighten the chassis by reducing the length of the forend by 1.75 inches, and to add numerous round “lightening holes” to slightly reduce weight. Note different forend lengths:
This request from the Navy/Crane resulted in the so-called “chop mod” chassis which reportedly went into production in early 2005. The top cover for the forend was reduced to about 11.25” in length. The last of the long /1st generation chassis were made around December 2004, and they also included the various “lightening” holes to further reduce weight, but w/ the last of the 13” long forends.
.
The original 13” top covers all had 6 screws and were only designed for the standard profile M14 barrel. The later/2nd generation top covers came in both 5 or 6 screws, but only the 5-screw covers work with medium weight barrels. The M39s used a medium weight Kreiger barrel, so their top covers were 5-screws, and were also machined at the rear to provide clearance for the SEI scope mount (see flat area on rear of cover).
The earliest prototype 1st generation SAGE stocks had no markings on them (circa 2003 to most of 2004). I have see these unmarked chassis anodized bronze, black and Navy Seal Gray (NSG).
By the end of 2004 a U.S. patent application had been submitted, and the very late 2004 and 2005 era chassis had SAGE markings have a “Patent Pending” notation. Those were used on the Mk 14 Mod 0 rifles, but different styles of markings are seen. This is the early “dot matrix” style font reportedly from late 2004.
I think around 2006 SAGE got its official patent number, and that was added to the chassis markings. The funny thing about the circa 2007-08 era USMC M39 chassis is there is a slight typo on the markings. There is a superfluous extra space between “INTERNATIONAL” and the comma “,” as seen here. Not sure when this was fixed, but the 2007-8 era SAGE chassis have that typo. Also seen is the machining under the stamping along the lower edge is different from the 1st generation chassis. In the later chassis, more aluminum was machined away to slightly reduce weight of the chassis.
The buttpad also changed from the 1st generation “SPEED FEED” (on bottom) to the 2nd generation Pachmyar “DECELERATOR” part (top). I don’t know what year that change took place, but likely by 2006.
Here one can see some differences in the machining on the bottom edge, with the top chasiss designed to be slightly lighter than the bottom/earlier version.
FWIW, the USMC specified a stock extension piece for the M39s, which SAGE called a ‘BEK’ extension. Here’s the early version shown below. The NSG color of the anodizing often changed slightly based on the batches, as its sort-of impossible to always have perfect color match when anodizing a light gray color.
My chassis for the M39 replica still needs to have numbers laser-engraved on the top rail and side rails, but it is otherwise correct and complete. Unfortunately I had to buy an entire M1A Scout rifle just to get this old (2007-8 era) SAGE chassis, but that’s life.
The “late” or final second generation SAGE chassis has the ERGO rubber grip, which replaced the earlier style checkered plastic grip. As far as I can tell, this occurred around 2009 as the Army EBR-RIs have this final type of grip. Also seen are the final style of markings seen on the SAGE chassis.
Summing up, there were a lot of small variations and permutations of the SAGE M14 EBR chassis seen between 2003-2009, and this post certainly doesn’t cover all those small changes, but hopefully it at least shows the main changes between the first generation (2003-4) and the second generation chassis (circa 2005 and later). There were various changes after 2005, but by 2009 it seems the SAGE chassis design was finally mature…to the best of my knowledge.