Reliabilty of M14 or M1A

[briansmithwins]

We had a M1A go down in a rifle class I did. The extractor broke and took the rifle down.

We also lost a AR15 (S&W M&P) with a broken disconnecter. BSW

 

[JIM BOB]

I have never seen or heard of a problem with a military M14 or ammo....RVN 67-68-69.

 

[chieftain]

Jim,

I was in Nam in 67,68,&69 too. I was with the 3rd Marine Division and I Carried my M14 until spring 69.

The vast majority of combat I saw was with the M14 with a selector switch. It NEVER jammed on me in combat. Never. the M16 They forced me to replace it with wasn't half the combat weapon and was not reliable.

I have total faith in my present 16 year old Springfield M1A without a selector which in actual combat, with a Winchester M14. I only used full Auto twice, in all that time.

Yea, I like and recommend the M14/M1A, and unlike the FAL never needed a major modification to be reliable in the desert. (Note where I live)

Go figure.

Fred

 

[zombienerd]

I've got the Springfield M1A Bush rifle. I bought her used, and found sand in most of the inner workings. Looked like she had been shot extensively at the beach, without much cleaning.

Cleaned her up, and she has shot flawlessly through 600 rounds, so far.

One note: use quality magazines, I had one generic mag that was given to me with the rifle that just wouldn't let the gun operate right. It failed to feed every shot.

 

[boricua9mm]

The commercial extractors used by SAI have a bad reputation for not holding the proper tension and being really rough. I have personally seen this problem a few times and I have read MANY reports of people with the same problem on the web.

I personally had 3 FTEs with a factory SAI extractor. Two of these times, the extractor claw slipped past the case rim, and the third time it was a stovepipe. I switched over to a USGI extractor and everything has been 100% since.

I would say that Springfields are very reliable, and in the event that there are any feeding/cycling problems, a $20-$30 USGI extractor will usually cure the problem. If not, a trip to Springfield is in order. I have had great luck with their CS for handguns, but I have not used it in relation to an M1A.

 

[jlott00]

the thing about the saiga 308 is if you want any amount of magazines. then you will be spending about the same amount for the saiga and 10 mags as you will for an m1a and ten mags.......saiga 308 would be sweet if mags where 20 bucks instead of 45!

 

[Al LaVodka]

I never thought about it before but my regularly used M-1A never had a faiure and I used it in service-rifle competition. My Colt AR did jame and I could attribute it to Colt 20-rnd magazines with plastic followers. Never had a problem even with AR's after I avoided the Colt mag...
Al

 

[madcratebuilder]

I would say that Springfields are very reliable, and in the event that there are any feeding/cycling problems, a $20-$30 USGI extractor will usually cure the problem. If not, a trip to Springfield is in order. I have had great luck with their CS for handguns, but I have not used it in relation to an M1A.

+1

Upgrading the SA M1A extractor to USGI is SOP. That and recoil spring and guide upgrade are two low cost things you should do out of the box with the SA.

 

[longdayjake]

Im just curious but what is different about the USGI extractor from the Springfield?

 

[jlott00]

+1

Upgrading the SA M1A extractor to USGI is SOP. That and recoil spring and guide upgrade are two low cost things you should do out of the box with the SA.

where do you recomend getting these parts? i just got an m1a.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I believe Fulton Armory can sell you those extractors and other parts, and possibly Smith Enterprise as well.

 

[tcsnake]

New M1A's need a small break in period in my experience. After which they perform VERY well. Assuming you only use only brass cased ammo for the life of the rifle you can expect one of the most reliable guns ever made.

 

[skipbo32]

i use steel case with no problem.

 

[F-Body Demon]

I bought my M1A because I refused to panzy around the issue. I need a rifle, a damn good one, something powerful reliable and accurate. I saved and finally bought the absolute best rifle I could. Because after all, I can only shoulder one single rifle. So it had better he the best!

Do you really think it is in any way shape or form a good idea to "skimp" on your rifle?

I don't.

 

[DustyVermonter]

I have heard people say that lubrication/grease is an important aspect of the M1A. That the M1A can run in the dirtiest condition if its greased up in the right places and that it doesn't matter if its clean as a whistle, if its not lubed properly, your gonna have issues. Trying to differentiate the M1A and AK-47 is like apples and bowling balls, an ak is an ak and an m1a is an m1a

 

[BruceB]

My sole current M1A is a 2005 "Loaded" model in walnut. It is now past the 5000-round mark (having gone through a case of 5000 CCI#34 primers) and its reliability has been flawless.

I started the new rifle out with 500 rounds of 168 Matchkings for break-in, and since then the rifle has fired mostly a wildly-varied diet of CAST bullets. It functions with loads which it really has no right to make work, and with accuracy which sometimes amazes me. How about TEN 180-grain cast bullets in 0.60" from fifty yards, iron sights? Or, five consecutive cast-bullet hits on a 14"x16" plate, unsupported sitting position, no sling, iron sights....from 415 yards???

It works with cast bullets from 130 to 220 grains, from 1200 fps up to 2200 fps, and with accuracy from "great" to "astonishing" (not with all loads, of course, but with plenty of them).

Of course, it also does very well with the "regular" Matchking 168s, but I'm a cast-bullet man and that's mostly what I shoot....for about ten cents per round!

I truly love this rifle, and it has had ZERO modifications of any sort since it came out the the box. Unpacked, cleaned, and fired...and fired, and fired, up to as many as 600 rounds without cleaning, and STILL functioning.

Reliable? As reliable as the sun rising in the east.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Bruce, that's terrific, but be sure you're cleaning your gas piston and cylinder regularly if you're using cast lead bullets. (you need to clean them regularly even with jacketed bullets.)

I would hate for you to be posting 6 months from now that the gas system soldered itself shut and is going to cost a small fortune to replace.

 

[BruceB]

Z, I've been doing this for quite a while now without problems.

This is not to say that problems CAN'T arise with gas-system leading, because I bought a new DSA SA58 late last year and it is NOT compatible (so far) with my cast loads. It required major work, first to strip it and then to get the lead out of it. I draw a merciful curtain over the single occasion that I ran two 30-round mags of cast through my full-auto .303 Bren in under a minute...

However, my M1As, (original) M-14s and a Garand, a total of about eight individual rifles to date, have worked beautifully with cast loads for years. The current M1A shows absolutely no more fouling in the gas system than it does with jacketed loads, and that means "minimal". As mentioned, it has run as many as 600 consecutive cast-bullet rounds without cleaning the gas-affected parts. Normal cleaning suffices very well. The round count is roughly 500-600 jacketed, and something over 5000 cast, since I started with a full sleeve of 5000 #34 primers, fired them all, and have accumulated (and fired) some hundreds more since the acquisition date. Not even ONE factory load has ever seen the inside of this rifle.

Because cast bullets create a "conditioning" effect in the bore (*I* think), I clean the chamber area every few hundred rounds but don't scrub the barrel itself. I also like to clean the action and renew its lube reasonably often.

This M1A is truly a wonderful rifle; I had my daughter (6'2"/22 y.o.) out shooting it last Wednesday to show her the similarities to her Mini-14, and God help me, she wants one! Good taste, that girl.

 

[DustyVermonter]

This is a little off the subject but, somebody on here posted that Springfield factory magazines are made by Checkmate. So that means Checkmate mags are the 'SAME EXACT' thing as the SAI factory mags except there is no SAI factory logo on it?

 

[boricua9mm]

This is a little off the subject but, somebody on here posted that Springfield factory magazines are made by Checkmate. So that means Checkmate mags are the 'SAME EXACT' thing as the SAI factory mags except there is no SAI factory logo on it?

Correct. I will also add that CMI (Check Mate Industries) are the current USGI supplier of M14 mags.

 

[DustyVermonter]

I know that the military uses Checkmate mags, so undoubtedly they use checkmate mags for the military's M14, but Checkmate manufactures Springfield's M1A mags? If that is the case why would people spend $20-$25 more for the factory mags if they are indeed the same. I have never heard of anybody having any issues with the SAI factory mags, but I have heard of people having issues with some checkmate mags.

 

[DustyVermonter]

Whoops! You had already sent that as I was typing. That's a very good thing to know.

 

[boricua9mm]

I know that the military uses Checkmate mags, so undoubtedly they use checkmate mags for the military's M14, but Checkmate manufactures Springfield's M1A mags? If that is the case why would people spend $20-$25 more for the factory mags if they are indeed the same. I have never heard of anybody having any issues with the SAI factory mags, but I have heard of people having issues with some checkmate mags.

The fact that the Military buys (or bought) Checkmate M9 mags is unrelated to the M14 mag being the one of choice. The M9 mags suck, but their M14 mags are arguably the best you can buy. Yes, CMI does indeed manufacture the mags for SAI. People buy SAI mags b/c they don't know any better, plain and simple. The same goes for people buying SIG Sauer pistol mags rather than Mec-Gar mags. As for problems, I had some big problems with a 10 round SAI mag. The tab at the rear of the follower got bent and it made for some interesting bolt hold open issues. That's pretty frustrating when an RO thinks your rifle is unsafe because he's seeing the bolt act on it's own! It was a freak occurrence. Has not happened with any of my other mags. Buy CMI with confidence.

 

[DustyVermonter]

Although, I'm sure what you're saying is accurate, I am still just a little skeptical about it. I guess ill just have to buy a few and put them to the test. I bought an aftermarket M14 mag that a gunshop clerk swore by, an it doesn't fit without extreme force and does not work worth a damn. I paid $25 for it and have been wary of any non-factory mags since, as the aftermarket mag I bought looks to be exactly the same as the SAI factory mag dimension wise and everything.

 

[DustyVermonter]

Again, I was typing and you had already sent. I will definitely buy some CMI mags, as I would much rather spend $25 on them than $50. Thank you for that information, very helpful.