M1A Advice

[alpha_romeo_XV]

Not accurate? A few years ago when my eyes could still focus on the front sight i shot a 100-5x in a 300 yd rapid fire stage of a CMP match with a national match M1A using168g hand loads.

[FeuerFrei]

Been looking at the M1A recently and was interested in acquiring it. Since i'm still in the learning process wanted to get some opinions. Is it a good all around rifle to have? Would like to eventually learn to shoot long distances as well. Not sure if I should just go with bolt action if that's my end goal.

http://www.tonybenm14.com/videos.html

Easier to learn an M1A from the ground up and bypass all the negative noise from the same squeaky wheels around these parts.
Once you learn proper care and feeding life becomes much easier.
My owners manuals are CRAPTASTIC!

There are plenty of SA M1A owners that have rifles that play just fine. Including me. Scout and SOCOM16.

If you can't decide then get a Garand from CMP. My service grade runs great too.

[GeeBee49]

Been doing a lot of research and there's so much to take in. Thanks for the advice though. Now that I own a first gun it's like I want everything :O

Get used to that. If you own one, you want ten. If you own ten, you want twenty.

[smoothy8500]

I've been playing/competing with M1A/M14's for a while. Yes, SAI has some problems...so do Ford and Chevy. I'm sure you know someone that's been to the dealership for warranty repairs, right? You want a better rifle, go LRB or Fulton, but you will pay 70% more too. Polytech/Norinco are a pretty good deal, but no warranty.

As for accuracy/shooting, stick to iron sights. If you want a scoped rifle, the M1A/M14 will leave you unhappy. Scope mounts can be iffy, and the height above the stock is less than ideal ergonomics.

[ar15barrels]

Been looking at the M1A recently and was interested in acquiring it.
Since i'm still in the learning process wanted to get some opinions.
Is it a good all around rifle to have?
Would like to eventually learn to shoot long distances as well.
Not sure if I should just go with bolt action if that's my end goal.

M1a's are NOT good rifles to mount scopes.
A scope is very important on a longrange rifle.
M1a's are also NOT good rifles for shooting tiny groups.
Tiny groups are very important on a longrange rifle.

A bolt gun is the best choice for a longrange rifle as most bolt action rifles have stocks and scope mounting systems optimized for use with a scope.
Bolt actions also do not have any moving action parts on the barrel to mess with accuracy.

M1a's are great guns to have for close or midrange range shooting with iron sights.
The stocks that they come with are optimized for use of the iron sights.
The iron sights that come on the M1a are excellent.

[17+1]

Not accurate? A few years ago when my eyes could still focus on the front sight i shot a 100-5x in a 300 yd rapid fire stage of a CMP match with a national match M1A using168g hand loads.

Yeah but those aren’t particularly small targets and the scoring ring spacing for iron sights is generous to say the least. I think that score is more indicative of your skill than the quality of the rifle. Not sure what vintage or trim level it is but my standard M1A was less than impressive.

I think my best ever score was a 99-2X I don’t recall what position but I remember the score. That was with an RRA NM AR upper which probably can do 100-10X from the bench but not with this 200 pound gorilla behind the trigger.

[GeeBee49]

If I was in the market for a bolt action I would look into a Springfield M1903. I'm sure there are better ones out there but I like military rifles. I'm not interested in shooting more than 100 yards. Beyond that it's too far to walk to change targets.

[GM4spd]

M1A never needs a scope. A great rifle as is. If you know how to shoot those iron sights are very effective out to 600 yds.

[sammy]

The M14 was my first centerfire rifle. Looks amazing, great in the hand, shoots very smoothly. My second was a custom LRB build, 18" barrel.

The Springfield gave me nothing but problems. The bolt would fly out of the gun when firing. Sent it back, they replaced the frame. When it came back it would fail to extract once or more per magazine. Sent back 2 more times, never worked right.

The LRB worked 100% but was not what I would call accurate. My best 5 shot group was using 168 Federal Gold Medal Match. Just over 5" at 100 yards using LRB's scope mount that is part of the frame. I must have spent 3 months working up loads but the gun hated everything I tried. Sold it.

Kind of sad when a bottom barrel S&W M&P 15 sport will shoot 2" with PMC Bronze ammo out of the box.

I wanted to love the rifle but it didn't work out.

[SloChicken]

M1A never needs a scope. A great rifle as is. If you know how to shoot those iron sights are very effective out to 600 yds.

[smoothy8500]

Very nice! Is that one of the James River Armory M14's with a GI heel?

[jsigone]

there are some other really good options out there if you want smaller groups and able to jazz it up with pretty scope.

Some off the shelf semis AR10 platforms or bolts still out there or you can wait til riot/kungflu season is over. Get a scope now if you're itching to burn cash.

For the price of a Fulton M1, you can get a LMT 6.5 creedmore that will shoot 1000yards and not even sneeze.

[smoothy8500]

Corrective shooting glasses still keep me focusing on the front sight despite having fifty-something eyes.

[DrewN]

Corrective shooting glasses still keep me focusing on the front sight despite having fifty-something eyes.

You got a guy? I'm in Costa Mesa and I'm way overdue for a visit.

[alpha_romeo_XV]

I had look up the SR target scoring rings. Looks like X ring for 300 rapid is 1 moa and 10 ring just over 2 moa. I always liked prone rapid better than prone slow because you didn't have worry about wind change during the string, well usually not but Coalinga never sure. Pic of a 300 pulled at camp Perry a few years ago for those that haven't see an SR3 to scale (banana not included).
For the record I'll take a good AR15 with 4x scope for best score always these days. But M1A was fun to experience and reference against.