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Got a new M1A...what now?

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LooseGrouper

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Apr 25, 2005
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I caved in and bought a SA M1A SOCOM yesterday. I've been going back and forth between the Scout Squad and the SOCOM for about 3 months. The gun shop had a few of the SOCOM's in stock (no scouts), so they made an offer I couldn't pass up.

I've never owned an M1A before. Most of my previous rifles were bought used or handed down. I've heard that new rifles need to be broken in slowly. I searched the forum, but didn't come up with anything. Does anybody have experience they'd like to share?

As a side note, I bought some bulk 7.62 ammo. I assume it's military surplus because it came packed as 140 rounds in a green plastic bag that looks like an oversized MRE. Markings are as follows:

140
ROUND 7.62X51mm
BALL R1M1

CTN

170 B 11/81

Anyone have opinions on this particular stuff. I'm just going to use it for plinking. The thing that puzzles me is that 170 on the last line. Is that the grain? If so, should I use this ammo? I've heard that heavier bullets do damage to the M1As due to excess pressure.
 
With respect to barrel break in, you've stumbled into a "religious debate", with many proponents on both sides, who will argue the merits of each case ad nauseum.

My $.02 is that anal retentive barrel breaking in is for prima donna sub MOA sniper rifles, which the M1A socom is not. It's a battle rifle, meant to be dragged through the mud, rinsed with a canteen, and thus be put back into action, ready to shoot it's regulation 2-4 moa. (Naturally, it'll rust, so you DO need to thoroughly clean any rifle subjected to immersion! I'm just trying to convey the spirit of the thing.)

That being said, it's your call, but mine went through 100 rounds, no cleaning, it's first trip, and it'll shoot 2.7 moa. I'll never miss the difference between that and 2.4 moa.
 
What?! You mean I won't be able to take my SOCOM to Camp Perry and be competetive?!?!? GREAT...another dream crushed! :)

Okay, got it. Speaking of rusting, that's one thing I'm fairly concerned about. I'm pondering (in a completely theoretical sense at the moment) having a Black-T or similar finish put on. I've got Black-T on a P226, and love it. Is this just a rediculous idea for a "battle rifle?" How much would it cost? Anyone with experience?

There's just too many choices with this rifle: red dot, reflexive sight, scout scope, iron sights, new finish, pistol grip stock, assault sling, home-made stock paint job (he he he). The list goes on and on...
 
Re: Rust:

Normal maintenance, a light coat of oil and a dry place to live seems to be all it needs.

Re: Gadgets:

Knock yourself out!

Re: Iron sights:

Learn to how use them, and get good with them. M1As, even the shorty versions, are fairly hefty rifles, and no matter what optics you put on them, they always feel a ton lighter when you take them off.
 
Getting proficient

I too recently purchased an M1A.

AS to advice of now what, someone wrote "get proficient with it"; to that i say AMEN.

Try this

www.fredsm14stocks.com

Order the AQT training pack...it is a very humbling experience, but good training. His "How to become a Rifleman" pamphlet has a lot of good stuff in it IMHO.

Then shoot that thing as often as necessary...and take a friend to the range and allow them to shoot your new beauty and just maybe you'll get them hooked :evil: and so on.

Spoon
 
"What Now?"

1. Buy lots of ammo, use up, repeat.

2. Buy spare parts. Even on battle rifles, things break.

3. Take photos and show off.

I.G.B.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I have a couple of new questions to ask.

So the M1A is chambered for 7.62 NATO, which is sort of but not exactly the same as .308 Win (which I understand can be interchanged, as long as the bullet is not to heavy and they are not reloads). My South Afr surplus says "7.62x51mm." I thought it was 7.62x54. What's the deal?

Also, I like the iron sights on my socom, but I'm looking to try out a cheap red dot style optic to see if I like that better. Any opinions on the bushnell 4-reticle model? Even if it turns out to be a dud, it will make a good beater scope for my S&W .22 right? Seems hard to beat an $80 "test model."
 
"7.62x51 is 7.62 Nato is .308 Win.
7.62x54 is not.
Enjoy"

Well, actually, 7.62 is not exactly .308 win. It's pretty much the same thing, but the pressure is different. Kinda like 5.56 isn't really the same as .223 rem, it's damn close, but it's not the same.

I.G.B.
 
Get yourself the Dewey service rifle rod for .30cals and a muzzle guide.

Sinclair sells a nifty product that you stick in the magwell so solvent doesn't get into the action. If you don't get one of those, just turn the rifle upside down when cleaning. That's what I do when I clean my Garands.
 
RE: Bushnell 4 reticle red dot

I had one, mounted on my AR's handle. It's OK. Not great, but OK, and as you say, decent for a "beater scope". I eventually replaced it with an EOtech, which I'd originally purchased for my m1a ss. For whatever reason, the EO did not get along with my m1a, so it went onto the AR, where it's quite happy. (Hmmmm....perhaps I'll try out my Bushnell on the M1A)


I don't know how well it will do on the scout mount, it's not a wide scope, and you might have field of view issues with it that far away from your eye.

As for the 4 reticles, once the novelty wore off, I pretty much just set it to the 1 moa dot and left it there. IIRC, the point of aim wasn't _exactly_ the same when you switched, but it was close enough for short range work.

All things considered, I'd say it was worth maybe $40-$60, but not the $75 I originally paid for it back in the day.
 
I built a bling-bling M1A from the lugged receiver up - put a Kreiger 1-10 stainless on there... shot sub 1MOA out of the box, so I did no special break in. SHOCK! HORROR!

I'll let you know when the groups start opening up... I'm guessing around 5K+ rounds.
 
7.62 nato allows for longer headspace tolerances. So a rifle that has reached the longer end of the 7.62 nato headspace can be dangerous since it will be wayyyy out of the specified range for .308win

A rifle that will close on a .308 win field gauge is right around 7.62 nato nogo.

The m1a from springfield or any other semi auto m14 manufacturer should be chambered for .308 win. Except if its a polytech or norinco chinese copy.

As said, buy lots of ammo and enjoy, with a socom its not really intended to be a match grade rifle so most of the normal M1a/M14 accessories are not needed.

You can try a break in but thats a personal decision, ususlly it consists of firing a small number of shots and cleaning the barrel completly then firing a slightly larger number of rounds and cleaning again. This repeats untill some number of rounds have been fired. It varies from person to person.

Sven, did you build the rifle your self or have a smith do it. I am currently rebuilding my polytech myself and plan on using a 1-10 meduium weight barnett barrel. Any tips?
 
Shoot it, clean it and enjoy it. I have shot many many rounds down range with a tuned M-14. Sometimes we were reduced to FEDERAL 308 GM. I have seen many, many rounds of 308 go in to a M-14 without problems.

If you decide to reload, you will buy 308 dies but will need to set the shoulders back .002 to .003. It then matter not what your chamber size is because you are sizing to your chamber.

The 308/7.62 Nato thing is a there but not something that is going to make a difference with your rifle.
 
I agree with Ocabj, get a good cleaning rod (Dewey or the new Carbon fiber kind), and most importantly a muzzle guide. It is very important to protect the crown on this rifle (and Garands) from damage, while cleaning. It will destroy accuracy fast! Oh yeah.... forget about breaking in your barrel, and try some 168 grn match loads from Federal,Black Hills, or handloads, to see what this rifle can really do!
 
Range Report

I took it to the range today, and I was pumped. Just to err on the side of caution, I ran a boresnake through it after every five rounds. Accuracy was pretty good at 25 yards, but I just have a hard time being very precise with the large aperature and post on the SOCOM.

Anyway, I really enjoyed shooting it, and so did several of the other folks at the range. Then the problems started. After about 20 rounds I had a failure to extract. Didn't have a cleaning rod, so I just waited for the round to cool off, let the bolt close, and applied a little pressure to get to open up. Not fun, but not traumatic either. Fired another 10 rd magazine-full and then a case got stuck again. Same clearing proceedure. Eventually the FTEs start coming every other round. Argh...

One of the folks at the range suggested that it was caused by the ammo being coated with some funky stuff and leaving residue in the chamber. Has this happened to anyone else? I'm using the surplus South Afr stuff. Didn't have any cleaning supplies except a bore snake, so the range session ended early and I switched to handguns.

Anyway, it was really fun to shoot while it funtioned. Maybe I'll find a good deal on some uncoated ammo in the near future. I'm planning to use EEZOX and a brush to clear out the chamber. Anyone think I need to use something stronger/better/different? Just asking. Man, these military rifles are complicated. All my marlin 336 ever needs is wd-40 and ammo that will go bang. Maybe I'll develop a NORTHCOM TLA (Tactical Lever Action). I mean after all, what's easier to do a tactical reload on than a lever action (except maybe a pump/auto shotgun. Think anyone would buy an 16" bbl 30-30 with integral rails?
 
I had a couple stuck case failures when I was shooting some Radwaygreen that was a little dirty/greasy. They were MG rounds that had been de-linked and had the tracers removed. Never had it happen with boxed surplus ammo.

I'd get a case of the Port or Aussie, clean the chamber throughly and try it again.
 
Hey jbweld, don't give me that look! :D

Yeah, I know it's much more capable than that, but I was just going to pop off a few to make sure it was zeroed. Then I was having fun shooting off hand. Then it turned into a single shot with a 5 round per hour rate of fire.

So I never got to take it over to the 100/200 yard range. Not that I could have hit much anyway. The sights on this rifle are designed for "coarse" shooting. I'm sure some of you Alvin Yorks out there could punch a smiley face on a silhouette at 200yd. I can't. I ain't called LooseGrouper because I set a fish free.

Ha! I crack me up.
 
Sorry to say it, but with that many FTE's, I'd suggest a trip back to SA is in order. The correct number of FTE's that is unrelated to obviously defective ammo is ZERO.

Properly made M1As are preposterously reliable, but once in a while SA doesn't make it right.

Hope you didn't get a lemon.

:(


Fortunately, they've got stellar customer service.
 
The last scout rifle (M1A) I had did ok with a Trijicon Reflex 2 on a throw lever mount without spacer on the forward rail.

The sight was mounted a little bit higher than I would have preferred, but this was an M1A, so I got used to it.

I preferred the ARMS #18 for a scope mount, the others were too high for me.

I suspect you will do ok with an optical sight on the forward rail.
 
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