the M14

Lots of machining and tool work. It's not a complicated design in that there are relatively few parts. Just the receiver takes a lot of work to do right. Even the cast commercial receivers are stronger than most people give them credit for when done right, and take some time and material to accomplish. That means expense.

I ponied up the dough for one and never regretted it. Heck, I wish I could find the money for a couple more. So I personally think they are worth every penny. I might even call them a deal. The M1A/M14 is a sweet shooting machine. It feels solid and comfortable, everything is where it should be and does what it should, the rifle is accurate, and provides the user with everything he or she needs to do their job--excellent ergonomics, trigger, and sights. The rifle is usually more accurate than it needs to be and very reliable.

Put it this way--it isn't some over rated Italian wondercrap Beretta--and I like that.

I don't know why so expensive but I like the 2 I have. One is sub-moa the other is about 1.5 moa. The norincos and poly techs are a little cheaper. Right now you can get a CMP m14 kit then you could get ahold of James river armory later to buy the rest of the parts you need and have a hell of a rifle, granted not cheap though either.
Also the real National Match Springfield armory rifles (I'm not talking about the loaded version) are a true piece of American craftmanship. Excellent barrels, custom glass bedded, very accurate and nice.

A crude way of putting it, but yes.

Millions upon millions of Garands were produced, and through the CMP most of these are available for civilian purchase for $600 and up.

The M14 was produced in much smaller numbers, and very few ever made it from military surplus to the civilian marketplace. The Clinton administration saw to that.

It is a fairly complicated weapon to produce, designed during a period where skilled laborers were cheaper and more effective than machines.

well now i know why and i still want one

i see on gunbroker are $1500 to $3000

Click to expand...

There are genuine M14s on Gunbroker for $1500-$3000? Please post links, I will be buying them all at once.

As for the "M1A" as made by Springfield Armory, it's an expensive gun to build and there is demand. Oh, check out the prices on their brand new Garands also (oh, right, they stopped making those because they cost too much compared to 50+ year old GI surplus Garands).

Then look at the semiauto M14 clones made by others like Fulton, LRB and that new company James River. More $$$ than the SAI version, eh? I'm sure if the rifle could be made cheaper someone would be selling for less than SAI's admittedly high prices.

BTW, the military M14 was purported to be a product improved Garand only for purposes of Congressional funding. It is an entirely different rifle, even though somewhat similar in design and very similar in appearance.

About 42 years ago, a Colt 1911A1 Government Model was about $125. I would guess that for a current production gun by Colt today would have almost a $1000 retail price tag. That is about eight times over 40+ years. I almost bought a Springfield NM M1A in the late 70's, and if I remember correctly, it was going to be about $600. So, in the last 30 or so years, a tuned up M14 copy is about three to four times what it used to be. Not too bad.

You have to remember that 42 years ago the minimum wage was something like $2.00 an hour. I recently received my yearly notice from the Social Security folks where it shows my reported income for all my working years. I'm shocked at how little I earned while in the Army, especially since I don't recall being strapped for cash back then. So those apparently cheap old time gun prices weren't cheap at all back then when compared to what most folks were earning then.

But I understand what you mean by NM M1A of today not being that bad a deal in comparison to what it was 30 years ago.

I don't know. I really want one. I'm either going to get a new AR, or try to find a used M1a at a decent price. I just can't justify paying 1500 on a rifle at this point in my life.

Carried an M4 in combat and like the platform, but love the M14 style and 308 too.

Z-Michigan said:

that new company James River.

Click to expand...

just looked them up...they are in Maryland....last I checked the James River was 200 miles South....in Virginia

the james river rifles are made by 7.62 firearms here in ohio. 7.62 forges all their own parts. google them their is some neet pictures on their web page. look for the green bar about 2 paragraphs down on the home page that reads: check out new rifle section. also they make a vz 58 & use their own receivers for those too. they do some nice work. in answer to the post i think it is all the forged/machined parts, there is alot to those receivers alone. plus gi parts are getting harder to come buy. we are lucky to live at a time when so many differnt companys are making this beloved rifle or parts for these rifles.

They price those things by weight, you know.

I don't understand why the M14 is so expensive either.

Save your money and get one. I did and would do it again, only starting much earlier in life, not buying all the other rifles I thought were ok and get several of them.

Buy it in parts. It may cost more over the long run, but you can spread out that expense over time. Pick up a good receiver and go from there.

I was able to score a barely used SOCOM for $1200. Deals can be had if you look.

Or you could marry right. My Wife gave me a SAI Scout Squad in Cammo for the 25th.

I got the itch recently. You can find extremely clean/unused pre-owned M1A rifles in the $1200-1300 range, but they last about a day on a dealer's rack.

Why the hell is the M14 so expensive. All the ones i see on gunbroker are $1500 to $3000. i guess that rules out the possibility of me getting one. Arent they just a glorified garand with a mag?

Click to expand...

If anyone was still making Garands they'd cost the same or more. Both weapons date from an era when skilled labor was a lot cheaper, as others have noted.

The M14 was produced in much smaller numbers, and very few ever made it from military surplus to the civilian marketplace. The Clinton administration saw to that.

Click to expand...

Clinton has a lot to answer for, but this ain't one of them. "Once a machinegun, always a machinegun" means they were never going to be available to civilian shooters.

Why the hell is the M14 so expensive.

Click to expand...

Because it is worth it. The market seems to agree. You very seldom hear of people having a hard time selling M1As unless they are priced way above what the market will bear.

just looked them up...they are in Maryland....last I checked the James River was 200 miles South....in Virginia

Click to expand...

Yeah that confused me too, since I live about a mile from the rivah.

Apparently they got their start making high end civil war replicas for reenactors, and many of CSA replicas they make were originally made on the James in Richmond, centered around Tredegar Iron Works.

Yeah I should point out that while ARs get all the press, around here, I've always been able to go to any one of several FFLs and see at least one or two of them on the shelves. They've never been sold out. If you ask them though, they order as many M1As as they can get, and can't keep them on the shelves. Last word I got, Springfield is pumping them out as fast as they can with any sort of QC and they still can't keep up with demand. So even at the prices being asked, they are selling like hotcakes. Like I said, possibly even a smoking deal at the prices being asked.

People want upwards of $2K for some quality ARs but $1500 for an M1A is too much? Because 6 pounds of machined aluminum and some plastic is worth that much more than 8 pounds of machined steel and some plastic or wood?

A few years ago I had the itch as well and picked up a scout/squad for 1K. Now, my AR collects dust and I spend all my time sourcing 7.62x51 to feed the beast. If I had the means I'd buy at least one more, probably from Fulton. My girlfriend even likes it?

It's called supply and demand .............. also known as the free market.
You've heard people always asking what's this or that worth.
The answer is always "it's worth what someone will pay you for it"
So M1A's or civilized M14's are worth what folks pay for them.

I would even go far enough to just say to heck with the AR15 and get an EBR stock for the M1A.

I look at M14s and FALs all the time. They're both kind of like my Holy Grail. I'd love to have either, but an M14 on a Sage Arms EBR stock system is something I literally have recurring dreams about.

It's called supply and demand .............. also known as the free market.
You've heard people always asking what's this or that worth.
The answer is always "it's worth what someone will pay you for it"
So M1A's or civilized M14's are worth what folks pay for them.

Click to expand...

I think you're right. Around here, even the new ones don't last long on the rack.