JAE G2 vs. Sage Mod 1 Build Review


I've finally put enough rounds through the Sage setup to feel comfortable to do a little side by side comparing of the two. Lisa, stop cringing. Now, this is based on my wants and needs as well as physical build so your situation may be different. The direction I wanted to go with the rifle changed about a year ago so it's been a long road getting it there.

First and foremost, JAE has some stellar customer service, delivery times might be spotty but what new production item isn't? My G2 took a year to get to me, and I bet I didn't whine nearly as much as some of the people waiting now...

Sage's customer service, well, let's just say if you're in CA, don't plan to get any. I couldn't even get some damn screws from them, how petty is that? So in that respect I still have a bit of a sour taste.

Ergonomics of both are great, but the JAE does have a slight edge with the trigger since the hand is still in a similar position as a USGI stock. The pistol grip on the Sage landed my finger right on the tip of the trigger, not the most comfortable position. The only way I could address this with the Sage was to get a custom trigger shoe made.

Modularity, the JAE has rail options galore, but they are options, where as the Sage comes with them whether you want them or not. The Sage's side and bottom rails can be removed if desired, but you're stuck with the top rail, something the JAE doesn't offer, but how many people really need it? Well, I might later if I decided to get a forward mount NV setup.

Weight, this depends on the setup, if you go with a fairly stripped down JAE, it's not bad, but the more goodies you put on, the heavier it gets. The Sage Mod 1 is about 4.2 pounds by itself, but that includes all the rails. However if you go with the Mod 0 you're going to tack on about 2+ more pounds due to the different rear end.

Adjustability, Something I've always ran into with stocks is my length of pull (LOP) changes from prone to standing/sitting. With the Mod 1 a quick squeeze of the CTR lever and pull or push it back a notch and the LOP is perfect for me in either position. My girlfriend also likes it since she's not as big as me and can shorten it to fit her perfect. The JAE, unless you like messing around with the spacers and allen wrenches, it is what it is, just like with my McMillan M3A before it. JAE does offer a thumb wheel cheek riser, pretty cool item, I got it. What I found though was that I'm a set and forget kind of guy. With the thumb wheel, even with the new QR setup, you have to remove the saddle then turn the riser down to get on the irons. It's tool-less, but not the fastest. I managed to get a hold of a 1.25" riser for my CTR that pops on and off in a second or two. With it on I'm right behind my scope, with it off I'm right behind the irons, for me a perfect setup.

Storage, my Sage Mod 1 has an Vltor storage compartment receiver extension on it. It's water tight and pretty easy to access by removing the CTR (tool-less). Personally I don't use it, but it's there. I also installed a MIAD grip which has internal storage, this I do use. I have a 3mm allen wrench inside for removing my scope to go to iron sights. I couldn't find any QR rings I liked in a size that would work so I went this route. The JAE didn't have any storage that I could find, however it never bothered me either, obviously since I'm not using the Sage's storage either.

Comfort, the JAE has the edge on this, nice molded rubber grip with their polymer skin is nice to wrap your hands around. Sure I can get an Ergo Grips rubber grip but I'm still grabbing aluminum on the front end. The only saviour I have is the tan Mod 1 doesn't attract much heat in the sun, but it does get chilly in the cold.

Cleaning, this is where I hear a lot of people piss and moan about the Sage, "You can't break it down easily to clean it after every fifth round." Okay... I'm guilty of breaking down my McMillan M3A after each range trip and cleaning it, gasp now all you "never breakdown a bedded rifle" naysayers, three words; steel bedding block. What I learned from this is the rifle takes a bit to settle back in, so for about 20 or so rounds I'm not seeing the accuracy I was before breaking it down. With the JAE, never broke it down, just cleaned the bore and greased what I could when needed. The Sage gets the same thing so this isn't an issue for me. Now if you have to clean it all the time, don't even bother getting either stock, you'll get annoyed removing and installing the JAE's lug slides eventually and you'll definitely get annoyed breaking down the Sage. I prefer to think of it as a bedded match rifle, only break it down when you absolutely have to.

Now the knitty gritty, accuracy... yeah, no difference between the two, they both out shot me. Even surplus ammo shot great out of both. Worst group was 1.5" and it was all me, maybe a little bit of the wind. 600 yard shots in the wind with surplus ammo, if you dial it in, it'll hit it every time.

Being in CA I've had to make a sacrifice to have the Sage, but I can live with the sacrifice and it's something that can be undone in a few minutes. I'm sure GunRider will be along shortly for a tongue lashing for changing to the Sage, different wants and needs brother. I still have a lot of love for the JAE and would get another for a long range precision setup in a heart beat.

So what's all this boil down to? I dunno, buy what blows your skirt up. I've tried USGI synthetic, McMillan M3A, JAE G2 and now a Sage Mod 1. Personally I like the Sage the most as it suits what I want from it better.

Now for the SureFire MB762-213F... This is a direct connect muzzle brake that's sound suppressor capable. It comes with a shim set to index it just right and rockset to keep it there. Recommended torque is 20 to 30 ft-lbs (depending on indexing). This brake is GREAT! The only one that beats it in recoil reduction is my huge JP recoil eliminator. The brake has three ports with one upward port to reduce muzzle rise and they do a good job of taming it. The rifle would come back on target after every shot, and follow up shots as well as double taps were no problem. 250 rounds wearing a t-shirt and my shoulder couldn't tell. Even my girlfriend who was shooting a rifle for the first time said the recoil didn't affect her. Now, I can't say that for the guys to the sides of the rifle... I could see a three foot blast going out each side and blowing their hair around as well as causing them to flinch a bit, okay one just all out jumped. Because of this I'd take long breaks between strings to give them a chance to recover.

Now I know someone out there is going, "stupid CA laws requiring a brake." Just so you know, because of how my rifle is configured I can have a flash suppressor on it if I want. I chose not to since I just prefer to have a brake as it makes the rifle more comfortable to shoot (shoot, not sit next to).

Another thing that got changed is the scope. I had a US Optics SN-3 1.8-10X44, nice scope, but big and heavy. I decided to sell it and move to a US Optics SN-3 1.8-10X37. Doesn't sound like much of a change huh? Well, the optics package lost .75 pound changing the scope and rings, 2.55 pounds to 1.8 pounds. The rings only went down .05 pound so the rest was the scope, pretty big difference. Also the new scope seems more clear and refined compared to the previous one. I know US Optics made some revisions and it seems to have paid off. This was all mounted on an LRB/Sadlak 20MOA rail I had modified to drop some weight from it. I figured better to have than to want and it made setting up the elevation zero stop much easier.

Other than that, no real changes to the barreled action, I did add one of Hawk's dummy kits which does seem to just finish it off. It also holds the op rod snug when locked forward and takes the play out of it, not sure if that helps any, but I like it.

In a few months I'm going to do the unthinkable and pull my medium weight Krieger barrel off and install a standard weight SEI barrel which will be melonite treated after chambering it.

Well, that's all there is to it, a lot of patience and I'm almost at the final goal. Should be 100% done by my birthday in June if all works out.

Here are the specs for the build:

LRB M25 receiver
LRB/Sadlak 20MOA extended rail with lightening modifications
USGI SA bolt
USGI SA op rod (melonited)
USGI SA trigger group tuned by SEI (melonited)
USGI SA gas cylinder with M25 vent mod (melonited)
USGI piston (melonited)
USGI NM rear sight with 595 hood
USGI connector lock and solid pin
Tubb chrome silicone op rod and hammer springs
SureFire muzzle brake MB762-213F
Krieger medium weight, 18.5", stainless steel, 1:10 twist barrel
Changing to an SEI standard weight, 18.5" chrome moly, 1:10 twist barrel (melonited)
SEI GLFS dovetail for 18" barrels
SEI socom gas plug
SEI extended bolt stop
XS USN hooded front sight
Sadlak NM hollow spring guide
Sadlak tactical magazine latch
Sage EBR Mod 1 Gen 2 chassis
Vltor receiver extension with internal storage compartment
Magpul CTR stock
Magpul enhanced .70" butt pad
Magpul 1.25" riser
Magpul MIAD grip
Magpul XTM rail covers
Tango Down ACB-4 bipod
Eagle Industries Mk14 EBR sling
US Optics SN-3 1.8-10X37
ARC M3 Gen 2 34mm medium rings
Echo Grunt's stainless steel roll pins
Hawk's AMBI dummy kit with button lock installed
Eagle Industries HSRC LE 44 case
Eagle Industries HSC with muzzle protector
Eagle Industries SR-25 mag pouches
Condor T&T pouch
Pelican 1720 case

USO scope specs:

Model: SN-3
Parallax Control: ERGO Upgrade
Power: 1.8-10x
Objective: 37mm
Objective Cover: U.S.O. Flip-up
Sunshade: 37mm 2"
Honeycomb: Anti-Reflective Device (ARD)
Tube: 34mm
Color-Cerakote: Cerakote - Solid Color - Magpul FDE H-267
Eyepiece: Lo Profile - Rapid Focus
Eyepiece: Internal Level
Eyepiece Cover: U.S.O. Flip-up
Reticle Option: Mil-Scale GAP
Reticle Lighting Type: Digital Push Button (Red)
Knob - Elevation: EREK 1/10 MIL
Knob - Windage: US#1 1/10 MIL LEFT HAND SIDE
Knob - Windage: US#1 M40 Style 1/10 MIL LEFT HAND SIDE
Rifle S/N engraving on tube: M25-10026
 
By NoExpert (M14Forum.com)

Posted by M1A96819 at 2/16/2012 3:27 AM
Categories: uncategorized

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