Springfield Armory 4th Gen Mount Defective?

Springfield Armory 4th Gen Mount Defective?

I have a dilemma. My Springfield Armory 4th Gen Mount won’t stay put. I have followed all mounting procedures to a “T”. I cleaned the steel, degreased it, and mounted it with my torque tool. The second time, I even used Lock Tite. The problem is, after about 4 or 5, 3-shot groups, the thing will start slipping down, and left. It continues to fire very tight groups; it just won’t stay put. Darned thing is a like a dog off its leash! It does the same thing on both M1As, the “Loaded” and the SOCOM. My other M1A base, a non-Springfield, does not do this. It stays put like it’s welded-on.

If you look at the photos, and have read the mounting directions, you will see that the “cam lever” should stop at “close to 12 O’clock position”. Well, it won’t go there without pushing the bottom of the mount into the stock. This happens with all four stocks that I own, 1) a factory wood, 2) a factory synthetic, 3) an after-market MacMillan and 4) the pictured after-market ArchAngel. My suspicion is that not enough steel was removed from the bottom of the mount when it was made. By that, mean I believe that the mount is out-of-spec. It cannot be that four (4) different M1A stocks are defective. Again, my other mount, a non-Springfield, does not suffer from this problem. It stays. The following photos show the max-position that I can position the “cam lever” and not hit the stocks.

My two questions follow: 1) Does anyone else have a similar problem with their steel, Springfield Armory 4th Gen mount? 2) What, if anything can be done, other than return it to Springfield for a refund? Edit to add, the other non-Springfield M1A receiver mount, does NOT have a can. It bolts direct to the receiver, no cam, and is also a three-point type mount.

Thanks for any input.

Geno

I know nothing about the Springfield Armory 4th Gen mount.

But Springfield M1A receivers and mounts through the years have been known to have compatibility issues.

It's like they investment cast the parts and they are not all the same mil-spec or something.
Oh wait, they do.

Call Springfield and whine as loud as you can without being too annoying.
And see what they say.



BTW: Put the Red Lock-Tight in the next trash pick up.
Or use it to keep your Harley-Davidson from vibrating itself apart along side the road while it is broke down.
It has NO good use on any firearms related issue!

If you must use Lock-Tight, use Blue #242.
You can get it loose again without using a cutting torch to heat it to 500 degrees.

rc

Thanks, rc. I agree, time to call them. This thing should not shift.

Geno

Show us the lugs on the backside of the mount next time you have it off.

Can you relieve the base of the mount yourself?

Can you mount the mount then attach the stock to get a sense of maybe relieving the stock slightly rather than relieving the mount?

There are no lugs to insert into the receiver's groove. It's smooth. I called SA today, and they are going to refund me the purchase price.

Geno

Well, I guess there ya go, huh?

Weird, I just figured they'd look abused for being mis-placed/sized as often happens but absent altogether?

I removed the SA Gen 4 base form my M1A “Loaded” today, and took some photos to post as a follow-up. As you can see, there is no protrusion on the inside of the base that can be inserted into the receiver’s side.

The first photo shows the location of where the cam handle is supposed to end, “near the 12 o’clock position. If you reference the previously posted photographs, you can see the farthest position that I was able to position the cam handle was approximately 10 o’clock. Photos 2 and 3 show the inside of the base, smooth, no protrusion to help secure it into the receiver’s side.

So, back to SA it goes for a refund, and I’ll go back to my A.R.M.S. 18 mount.

Geno

Looks like only wishful thinking was gonna secure that one.

I'm all for the A.R.M.S. mounts myself. The only problem I ever had with them was on customers out of spec receivers.