M1A Question

[Drundel]

Hello all,

I was shooting with my buddy and his M1A with a Springfield 6-20 scope yesterday and was having a hard time getting any kind of good pattern.

Its been a while since I've done any reading on accurate rifles but we were using sand bags and I felt my shots were much better than the gun was giving us.

He was using some NATO ball ammo that he got on discount, my question is could the ammo be that bad?

I haven't done any real shooting since I quit competitive shooting in college but all these shots felt good. Even at 100 I couldn't keep them under 5 inches.

Any suggestions guys?

 

[atek3]

isolate the ammo problem by shooting some federal gold medel match ammo. or sierra 168 gr bthp handloads.

atek3

 

[ether]

Howdy Whoop! Gig 'em from another Class of '00 Ag

If good ammo doesn't cure the problem, he might try re-mounting the mount. Is he using the aluminum Springfield mount? Those don't have the best reputation. I have the ARMS #18 on mine, and I love it. I'm also using the ARMS #22 Low throwlever rings with good success.

 

[Drundel]

Howdy Ag,

Yep the aluminum Springfield mount. I'll pass along the info, thanks for the heads up.

 

[Fatelvis]

What kind of stocks are you guys using for your scoped M1A? The standard GI stock? Just wondering, I was thinking of poppin` for one of Mcmillan`s with the adjustable cheekpiece.

 

[Drundel]

Yep, good ol' wooden non-oiled stock.

 

[uglymofo]

it could be the ammo, too

I've got a SuperMatch that shoots .4MOA when I feed it reloads. FGM and BH are consistent at ~.75 - .90MOA.

I've shot Radway Green, Portuguese, Hirtenberger and Bala Normale through it; it really doesn't like surplus ammo, or all the batches were bad. Best group I got out of them was 8" at 100yd with Portuguese. I couldn't hit paper at 300yd with some of the Hirtenberger. On the same day, at the same target, my reloads put up six 5-shot groups between .4 and .6MOA.

FatElvis,

That McMillan M3A is a dream. Don't know quite how to recommend it, though. I bought it because I wanted a synthetic stock and I needed an adjustable cheekpiece. It comes almost as a 'blank' and needs bedding. Pricey, but well worth it once I stopped cryin' about the money.

 

[Fatelvis]

I know, they do give ya sticker shock! Thanx for your input, Mofo.

 

[Navy joe]

I vote for scope issues, if you're just shooting at 100 run a couple of groups off the iron sights and see if things improve, then switch ammo. I get great groups out of Port in mine, but YMMV.

 

[Jim K]

Hi, Drundel,

I would change ammo first, as the least expensive and easiest reversed of the options. Buy a small quantity (2-3 boxes) of whatever is available and see what works.

But I am frankly amazed at the results reported by Uglymofo. Military surplus is always a bit iffy and production was not as tightly controlled as that for match ammo or (hopefully) reloads. But 8" groups?! And that was the best?!?

I think there is something wrong with that rifle, but I am not about to try a long distance diagnosis.

Jim

 

[uglymofo]

Jim,

That's no exaggeration. Milsurp ammo drove me nuts; I couldn't tell whether to blame the M1A or not-- best I could get any of it to do, was 3.5 MOA out of my Rem700 (Radway Green). I dunno if it had been stored badly or what; that seems pretty farfetched since I was dealing with 4 different OEM's. The only thing that's sure is that 2 shooters couldn't hit paper with all 10 rounds at 300 yd each time with 3 rifles using the Hirtenberger. (In my friend's Savage 10FP, the best group he got was 5MOA @ 200yd [a 10-inch group] w/ the RG as I recall.) We're pretty experienced; our own reloads, Federal, and Black Hills did pretty much as expected in both our rifles, but that surplus stuff made us wish we could throw rocks 300yd.