[SpaceCowboy]

I tried to disassemble my M1A but ran into a snag. It is a national match and has the factory bedding job. When I tried to pull out the reciever, it didn't want to budge and I was affraid of cracking the bedding. I need help please. Do I simply need to be more persuasive with it? Any one else have this problem? What is the fix? Thanks for any help.

[larryw]

After you remove the trigger assy, turn the gun over and support the stock near the wrist and at the front of the handguard. Using a brass punch or wooden dowel and a hammer, tap the underside of the receiver to move out (do NOT hammer on the bridge or bolt!). Go slow, you don't want to move any of the bedding around.

Take your time and don't break the stock from the receiver too often.

[SpaceCowboy]

Thanks, Larryw. Is there a good way to clean my girl without removing her from the stock at all?

[molonlabe]

Springfield recommends against removing it from the stock. But the above recommendation is correct. I have thousands of rounds through my 1988 and I never removed it from its bedding. It goes bang every time.

[Telperion]

You shouldn't need to remove the action from the stock for regular cleaning. The bore, chamber, and gas system can all be cleaned without removing the stock. Most match shooters only take down the rifle once a season for a detailed inspection, or after severe weather exposure.

[Steve Smith]

Moderator hat off (snicker)

Good Lord why do you feel the urge to take it out of the stock? Further, why did you buy a NM M1A and not know anything about it? Maybe you should have just started with an SKS?

Ok, I'll put it (the mod hat) back on...

You want to take a bedded M1A out of the stock as little as possible...perhaps as little as once ever year or two. If you shoot it a lot (4000 rounds a year or more) maybe take it out once a year, give her a good cleaning and a good heavy based greasing, and call it good. If you shoot it less, then just yank it every two years. You can do everything except maintenance the spring while the rifle is in the stock. I'm sure your directions explain how to remove the op rod from the bolt so I won't rehash that. Once you do that, the bolt will come out easily. The trigger assy can come out on its own, as can the gas piston. You have nothing to worry about...really.

[SpaceCowboy]

Thanks for the help. And steve, this is the first bedded firearm I own, so I wasn't sure that is why I am asking. My garand isn't bedded and neither is my mini, nor is my carbine. Close systems, but I was a little stumped when it came to the bedding bit. And the field manual I have never covered the bedding. BTW: I didn't know very much about 1911's until I bought one. I don't know anything about my Winchester L.L. I guess I should have bought an sks, or stuck with my Remington 357 h&H. But since my checkbook was too well fed, I figured I needed one. Is it a prerequisite that I be a master gunsmith in order to purchase a firearm? I don't know anything about my car, but I bought it anyway.

[Steve Smith]

I make it a practice to know about a new pet before I go to the pet store for my purchase. The day you bring home a new puppy isn't the day you should start learning about crate training, feeding, and house-breaking. ;)


FWIW, the rifle ought to be REALLY hard to get out of the stock.

[SpaceCowboy]

It's not really hard to get out of the stock. It's really, really hard to get out of the stock. Which gave me pause to consider whether I should take it out of the stock. But I have been shooting S. African surp. ammo and would like a thurough cleaning. And as I said: the manual never covered bedding when it comes to disassembly. But I still do not feel that I need to know everything(beyond the reasonable) when it comes to a firearms purchase. Especialy since I already own three that use a similar system of operation. Like I said, this is the first time I have encountered bedding.

[larryw]

Really really hard to get out? Any movement at all? Does SA disassemble and clean the guns after they bed them or could we have one where the receiver is still glued in? For a little background on bedding the M1A, check out this (http://www.dimark.com/shooting/M1A_Bedding/).

Don't let them get you down, the reason for this forum is to ask questions and learn.

[SpaceCowboy]

Really really hard. I think I have 1/8 inch play. All it does is wiggle. If I can clean it in an acceptable manner without taking it out of the stock that would be great. I clean everything I can reach. But it is the things I can't that worry me.

[larryw]

Look at the 6th picture down on the bedding site; could you have a zit of bedding compound in the locking lug recesses that's keeping things from sliding free?

I'm with ya'; first thing I do when I get a new blaster is take it down and make sure everything's kosher. ;)

[Steve Smith]

I told you how to maintain it without taking it out of the bedding. BTW, to clean the bore, make sure you rest the rifle upside down when swabbing the bore with solvent so it doesn't run into the bedding.

I am quite sure your manual tells you how to disengage the op rod from the bolt, as my SA manual did when I purchased my first. Just do that without taking the rifle from the stock. That is what I was referring to.


I am going to bed. If you are still puzzled by this in the morning, and you have not gone and done something brash such as taking the rifle out of the stock, I will detail the removal of the op rod from the bolt and the rest of the disassembly for you.

[30Cal]

You'll need to tap it out with a mallet and a dowel. I'm sure SA Inc has already done it at least once--I don't see how they could have assembled the rifle otherwise. The action certainly isn't locked into the stock. I do mine either annually, after getting rained on or if it's going into storage for more than a couple of months.

Anything that you can't reach generally doesn't need to be cleaned. The oprod tube and the area behind the gas cylinder will get dirty. Neither will stop the rifle from functioning. Also, nothing that goes on under there will cause a part to wear out any sooner than it should. Oprods wear out at the tab that rides in the receiver groove. Oprod springs should be replaced occasionally anyways.

Clean the rifle upside down with the muzzle tilted down. This will keep solvent out of the bedding and the gas system. Wipe off whatever you can on the inside receiver surfaces. Clean the bolt face and under the extractor. Clean the outside of the gas system. You can do the inside every time or every 300-500 rounds, whichever you prefer. Either way, the rifle will work. Clean the flash suppressor and you're pretty much clean. Remove as much old grease as you can and replace it. I use a flattip screw driver and a cleaning patch to reach in the receiver and use an acid brush to spread fresh grease.

Ty

[SpaceCowboy]

I've got the op rod and the rest ( I am opperating on the assumption it disassembles in a manner roughly similar to my M1 Garand and Mini). But if you say it is super bad to take it out of the stock, then I won't. Though I would like to take the bolt out and get into some of those recesses. But I am not willing to sacrifice my bedding in order to do so.

[30Cal]

It's not super bad. I would just recommend limiting the number of times you do it. It's probably been done a handful of times already as part of the bedding and assembly process before it left Springfield.

Ty

[shep854]

[Whiny gadfly mode ON]

Why in the world would someone want a service firearm they could not fieldstrip after shooting?

[Whiny gadfly mode OFF]

:neener: :neener: :neener:

Spacecowboy, I'm not picking on you, it's these other Joes I'm after! :)

[HankL]

Shep, Some of the other Joes here are trying to help SC preserve the bedding job on his rifle. I couldn't tell you if SC knew that bedding was included in a Match rifle or not but he paid for and received it. Why bugger it up for the heck of it?

SC, Once you get the op rod off the bolt will come out and you can clean away. If you really didn't want to deal with a match stock you can always get a surplus stock from Fred's. I would suggest fiberglass if you like taking your rifle out of the stock at every cleaning.

[NMshooter]

Anyone remember how many rounds it takes to reseat the action in the stock after disassembly?

[Steve Smith]

So much for "next morning service" from me. I got busy. Yes, as soon as you release the op rod from the bolt the bolt will easily come out of the receiver. Have you removed the op rod from the bolt yet? I can walk you through it if you need me to.