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My wife just bought a new pickup. I get a new gun.
Anyone got any good or bad input on the current crop of M1As?
I had an M-14 as my rifle for a short time in the Corps, but it's been years (or decades :p ) since I shot that style rifle. Good shooting rifle though. I'm wondering if the quality of the new ones is good.
I figure someone here has some experience with them. I was leaning towards the synthetic stock model.
Springfield Armory sells a good product. The price seems to advance about $200 per year. Others claim they do better, many are specialty rifle builders. Use good quality ammo, avoid the cheap Russian ammo. Stock up on the 20 rd GI magazines while you can get them. Aftermarket mags are usually not reliable.
I LOVE that gun.....shot expert every year I was in. Would love to have one now but they are a bit prcey. With good ammo and a decent scope, you can hit anything you want 20 times without a reload. Our boys in the stan wanted them so bad that uncle sugar bought many of the old M-14s back and refurbished them.....now the special forces guys who can buy outside the military supply chain are buying them. Better get one soon...
Car 4:D
I have a national match model. It is a very good and accurate rifle. I've never had a problem with mine
You had me all excited thinking you were selling one... I was about to come across the border.
Okay... good enough for me. :thumb:
I have read a bunch of articles saying many of the non-USGI magazines are crap. I also read about one ka-boom of a rifle. That seems to have been a bad German surplus round. Plus, that's the only ka-boom I found reported so with the number of M1As out there, the failure percentage is very low. (But based on the reported failure, it would definitely suck to have that happen :eek: )
So now the only question is the alleged increased felt recoil with the lighter synthetic stocked rifle. I can't figure out if the people who cite that concern are just purists who hate to see the rifle without a wood stock or if there's a big difference.
So, once again, I'll ask for anyone's input on that if you have experience with that.
I'm not adverse to a bit of recoil, but as I age, I have figured out it's stupid to abuse myself if a different configuration eliminates some of it. Plus too, at some point, I'd like to introduce it to my wife. She IS recoil sensitive and was pretty PO'ed when she shot my Mauser. I doubt I can ever get her to shoot it again.
I've never had a problem with recoil on mine. To me it doesn't feel much more then when I shoot my mini14 or one of my ARs. My HK91 has a little more felt recoil because of the collabsible stock.
Recoil. Compare weight of wood stock vs synthetic, more weight less felt recoil. If you are a wood and steel only type, get the wood stock. Wood will last as long as synthetic, only "what if" is exposure to moisture - wood will swell if not moisture sealed. I use boiled linseed oil on wood stocks. Many synthetic stocks are hollow, making them light, but remind me of a Daisy BB gun.
A friend has the SOCOM. With all the rails and stuff attached it looks like a Klingon battle cruiser. Yep - I prefer the wood.
Mags. Some of the shorter 5 and 10 round mags are OK in quality. The difference between good and bad is the thickness of the sheet metal, esp. the feed lips, and the quality of the welds. I saw some Taiwan military mags that were blued, but they were equal to USGI. Avoid Chinese (Polty-tech or Norinco) parts. Tough to determine if ordering by web or mail.
Ammo. I don't shoot ammo from foreign sources unless there is good info on it. "Non-corrosive" is often not how we define it. I have some old South American surplus (1975) that I will be pulling for components. The brass is developing brown and green spots, from the inside out. That means the powder is decomposing and eating the brass. The bullets will be saved for new brass. If you are a re-loader, get some brass and components. Ammo is not cheap anymore, and it will never be as cheap as it was last week/month/year.
I also like wood.....all my issue weapons were wood. I just bought 200 rounds of NEW military 147 grain .308 for 130 bucks at our local gun show. Shoots great. Look around, you can still find some good deals.
I liike the Black Hills 175 grain boat tail hollow point match round. Not too expensive but as good a round as anything you will ever find.
Car 4:D
Still researching the rifle and since you guys with the experience are still being kind enough to share, I have a few more questions if you can bear with me. :p
The M1A Standard w/Black Fiberglass Stock- has a barrel- 22”, 6 Groove, 1:11 Right Hand Twist and weighes 9.3 lbs. The M1A Match Grade M1A- same barrel and twist, weighes in at 9.8 lbs.
Not a major difference in weight, so that concern is tabled.
I know ballistics questions involve a lot of particular considerations, but is there a "better" weight bullet for the 1.11 twist barrel? I'm finding listings for both surplus and new-manufactured stuff with a bullet weight in the 145 to 150 grain range. Or does a 168 grain or 175 grain weight perform better? As an example, there's some PMC 147 FMJ out there at a decent price.
A couple of differences:
The trigger on the Standard is a two-stage Military Trigger, 4-6 lb while the Match rifle has a 2 Stage Military Trigger, Match Tuned, 4.5 - 5 lb one.
How’s the trigger on the Standard model? IMO, 4-6lb isn’t bad if it’s smooth.
The other is the rear sight with the Standard having a Military Aperture, Adjustable for Windage and Elevation and the Match grade having a National Match Hooded Aperture, Adjustable, One-half Minute Windage and Elevation.
Any major difference between the Match rear sight and the standard sight? Back in the day, I'm sure my M-14 didn't have a Match Grade sight and I was happy enough with the accuracy.
Lastly, is it worth the extra money for the Match Grade? I doubt I’ll get back into any type of competition shooting since for the next four years or so, there are limited venues for that around here, but if I do at some future point, will I be kicking myself in the ass if I go with the Standard model? And, if I go with the Standard and decide I want the Match trigger and rear sight, how easy to swap out them out? Or is there a different barrel on the Match Grade rifle that is better suited?
The gun was built to shoot the 147 grain fmj military stuff....but it works VERY WELL with the 168 or 175 stuff. Again, Black Hills makes the best (IMO) 7.62 stuff for long range hitting.
The match barrell is actually a little better than the standard...but it depends on what range you intend to shoot. My drill instructor could hit a man size pop up at 800 meters OFF HAND. Unless you can do that, I wouldn't get too excited about the barrell.
The trigger assembly drops out in your hand and thus is a simple swap out should you decide to do that.
I too liked the standard sight but there are several very good scopes designed just for this weapon and they make it a true sniper weapon.
I have no doubt that you will enjoy this gun....I know I would.
Car 4:D