M1A VS AR10 HISTORIC VS PRESENT

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The M1A was designed by Elmer C. Ballance of the Springfield Armory Inc., in 1974. The AR-10 rifle was developed by Eugene Stoner in 1955 and was manufactured by Armalite.
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That’s right the AR10 is older than the M1A you read it right. Confused yet? The M1A is the civilianized version of the M14. The M14 which was designed in 1954 and was meant to be a replacement for the M1 Garand. Eugene Stoner tried everything he could at the time to prevent this from happening with the AR10 as the M14 competitor. The AR10 could not pass military trials with the barrel rupturing during testing. Therefore history is created with the M14 being the replacement for the M1 Garand. This makes the AR10 the father to the AR15, and older than the M1A.
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There are many differences and similarities between these rifles which I will cover in another article. In short you can think of the AR10 capable of being highly customized while the M1A is very limited. Mounting a scope on an AR10 took all of 5 minutes with the right tools. On the other hand the M1A took well over 20minutes and needed a rubber mallet according to instructions to mount properly.
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The barrel twist rate on the M1A is 1/11 twist rate which I have found is not suitable for heavier bullets above 168gr. The AR10 has many different barrel options but most have a 1/10 twist rate which seems to do really well at distance with 178gr bullets.

Having just mounted the scope on the M1A I grabbed some 155gr rounds loaded with IMR4895 and headed to the range. IMR4895 is the proper powder with the right burn rate for the M1A and duplicates what the military used. The proper burn rate of powder is critical for safety and care to the op rod and action of the M1A. I have also found that the AR10 performs well with the same powder which makes it easy to reload 308 for both rifles.
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After getting the M1A on paper and zeroed, it was only right to test accuracy from both.
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Which Semi Auto Platform would you chose today for your use?
The M1A and the AR-10 use the same caliber and their platforms were both designed for battle. Both these rifles are widely used and it’s quite hard to make a fair choice. The M1A is just so much fun especially when shooting from the standing or prone position with a leather sling. Though it does jump around and recoil a bit more from the bench. The AR10 on the other hand is softer recoiling and much more customizable.
 
The M1A is just an M14 with a receiver not easily modifiable for full auto fire, so I'd say the M1A de facto preceded the AR-10. Many M14's in US service were neutered to semi auto only long before Elmer C. Ballance 'created' the M1A, for NM and ATMU use. They all were later on. I find it ironic that he developed a semi-auto only receiver for the M-14, and was indicted and convicted of of conspiracy to provide 500 full auto M-16's to Mexican buyers.
 
I wanted a .308 semi last year so I looked at both pretty hard.

It was between the M1A scout 18” and whatever AR10/LR-308 I could find.

AR10 hit my price point better, has better availability, is lighter by a smidge, easier to mount a scope, more aftermarket support, and for me, the ability to convert to 45 Raptor for MI hunting.

I really liked the way the M1A Scout looked though. More like a hunting rifle which is what this was to be used for.

Ended up finding a CMMG 16” for $800 which was about $800 less than any scout I saw out there. 14405690-AAD3-42AF-906A-87FA122AD556.jpeg
 
while i appreciate the history of both rifles and i know a goodly number of people who like them, i have little interest in either, especially in .308.
That said ill probably be building a not .308, Ar-10 here in the near future.
 
Having owned 5 Garands I can appreciate the love of the M1A, but in this day and age it makes much more sense to explore the possibilities of different calibers and configurations of the Stoner creation. However i wouldn't throw an M1A out of bed!!!:rofl:
 
I built a AR10 this winter and couldn’t like it. Just a big heavy pig of a rifle. A DPMS gen 2 solves those complaints though and it’s what I would spend my money on if I wanted another semi auto 308.
 
I’ve got M1As and ”AR-10s” and both are lacking when compared to my SCAR-17. If I had to choose between the two former rifles, I’d take the AR-10 every time. I carried an M21 in Iraq and it was fine. We started off with five M21s and only two survived the deployment and one of those only survived because it was very seldom used. Mine was the only rifle that saw routine use that never had issues. Parts were impossible to get, so those rifles just got stuck back in the armory.
 
The reason no one can really decide is because all the options, AR10, M1A, and since someone decided to bring it up, Garand, are compromises where in the end there are no good options.

They are all heavy, expensive, and have their quirks. They are really expensive compared to your average hunting type rifle. I got mine specifically for hogs and MI deer with the 45 Raptor upper. I don’t do bolt actions so those were never an option to compare. They will all survive the average hunter. I’m not surprised to hear the AR10 doesn’t stand up to combat abuse.
 
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The reason no one can really decide is because all the options, AR10, M1A, and since someone decided to bring it up, Garland, are compromises where in the end there are no good options.

They are all heavy, expensive, and have their quirks. They are really expensive compared to your average hunting type rifle. I got mine specifically for hogs and MI deer with the 45 Raptor upper. I don’t do bolt actions so those were never an option to compare. They will all survive the average hunter. I’m not surprised to hear the AR10 doesn’t stand up to combat abuse.

I think a 308 pattern AR would hold up just fine to combat use provided it was built properly with quality parts.
 
I own a ar10 and would swap for a m1a to anyone willing. But why not throw a fal and hk clones
 
Nothing is indestructable. Never said otherwise. Some things are just more destrucable than others.

"Destrucable? ?" :uhoh: Spellcheck does wonderful things to the English language. :confused::what: Or is it "fat fingers????" :neener:
*Sigh* My English has degraded since I got on the 'net .... it must be these keyboards .....
 
Maybe in design or concept, the military M14 predated the AR10, but the OP is about commercial rifles.

"The Springfield Armory M1A is a civilian version of the M14 rifle designed and manufactured by Springfield Armory, Inc., beginning in 1974."
"The ArmaLite AR-10 is a 7.62×51mm NATO battle rifle developed by Eugene Stoner in the late 1950s and manufactured by ArmaLite ... first introduced in 1956 ..." The Dutch made a few semi-auto only AR10s for the civilian market before 1960.
 
If I had my choice I would own one of each. In fact I did. Until the safe act and then I sold my FN-FAL, M1A, and my DPMS AR10. Got some bolt gun replacements and a mini but just not the same.
 
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