Thoughts on the M1A as a battle rifle?

I used my M1A at the Revolutionary War Veterans Association. Multiple shooters were making 400 yard head shots with iron sights. One guy had a Garand, another an HK something or another, and an AR or two. But those M1A's worked just fine.

Overall, I've done the M1A vs FAL vs AR10. The FN SCAR 17 was brand new when I was doing the M1A vs FAL thing. It's turned out to be not so great and the military couldn't get it to run.

I think the FAL was massively overrated (terrible trigger, weird sights, overheats). The M1A was great. But, I ended up going with the AR10 for the features and rail space to mount optics. Getting an optic on my M1A required a side mount, some fa-diddling, blah blah. Get an AR10 with 18" barrel and call it good. Make sure it accepts Magpul PMag 25's. I really liked those 25 round mags.

cfullgraf said:

I doubt that I'll ever find an affordable gas trap Garand which would be the first "capital letter" to the collection.

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Or a Model Shop gun. Notice the word "semiauto" which was dropped on the production rifles. The front sight is off of a type one gas trap, note the straight up protective wings, which were later bent outward for obvious reasons. That stock is obviously not original to the gun

mshootnit said:

It is a little unfair in my mind to characterize the FAL trial as unfair, or "not invented here".
As if to say that bad intentions were at play. Keep in mind the largest and most effective fighting force in US history had just won two simultaneous theaters with the Garand rifle design. I can surely understand the hesitance to just throw that experience to the wind and forsake the hard won lessons for this new johnny come lately from Belgium. I believe the reviewers did what they thought would be best for the young men. And the M14 was not the wrong answer.

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You make some valid points, mshootnit, and I will add to them by saying soldiers were comfortable with and used to the operating controls of the M-1, hence, the new rifle would require a minimum of new training.

But the T-48s were treated unfairly in the early trials, especially the cold weather tests. The T-44s were given a "special tune up " to enhance their ability to function in sub zero temps. The T-48s were not and they started malfunctioning. The T-48s gas port was enlarged and that led to a host of problems. It was later determined that the close fit between the bolt carrier and the receiver was largely to blame. This was corrected and and the reliability between the two became roughly equal. The army went for the T-44, claiming it was a pound lighter, had fewer parts and could mostly be manufactured using existing tooling. That last one proved not to be realistic, save for some trigger unit parts.

My main beef with the FAL is, and always has been, that rear sight. Just sticking up there all by itself, in the wind, with no protection, just waiting to be dropped on a hard surface...

OK, I am a smaller person (on the outside at least) and the AK suits my stature....

I put 3,500 rounds of M80 and various hand loads through my M1A with out a single FTF/FTE.

none, nada

Nature Boy said:

I put 3,500 rounds of M80 and various hand loads through my M1A with out a single FTF/FTE.

none, nada

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Nobody in Vietnam complained about an M-14.

greyling22 said:

sure they go bang and the 308 is no slouch. BUT they're heavy, expensive, inaccurate, don't take optics well due to stock design, the mags are a little finnicky to insert: lets call it what it is: an update to an 80 year old design. It's not in my top 35 semi-auto's I'd want to take to war, but it's a semi auto 308, it will work in a pinch.

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Inaccurate? Two words. Camp Perry. They were used for a bit there.

My eldest just loved his M-4 in Iraq. When he did his third tour, this time in Afghanistan he found the 5.56 rifles to be sadly lacking in range and terminal effect. Apparently some M-14's were taken out of storage and shipped that way. While not the weapon the book said he should have, he managed to "find" an M-14 and was quite happy with it.

CapnMac said:

Ordnance (no "i") agrees with you.

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Sorry, I've never been a good speller.