Remington 700 5R vs Springfield Standard M1A

[MM60]

The Remington 700 in .308 and the Springfield M-14 are two rifles in common use among U.S. military and law enforcement that share the .308 Winchester cartridge. For the purpose of narrowing down the options, I am inquiring about the Remington 700 5R because it uses an actual milspec barrel, and I am inquiring about the Springfield Standard M1A rather than the M14 because the M1A is more readily available to the general public. Please assume that each rifle would be equipped with an identical scope.

Which of these two rifles would you consider to be more accurate straight out of the box? Which one would you prefer to own, and why?

 

[General Geoff]

Easily the 700. The 700 5R is probably 1MOA or less from the box; the M1A is probably 2-3MOA-capable, stock.


I'd rather own the M1A, though (and I do). Higher capacity magazines, superb iron sights, higher rate of fire.

 

[federalfarmer]

The 700 has to be better right out of the box....but I really want a M1A! Something about its history and cool factor have me saving for one. ( of course it will be all- geeked-out!)

 

[C-grunt]

The 700 easily. You're comparing a bolt action target rifle using M24 barrels to a semi auto battle rifle. Read this article linked below. No standard M1A will shoot like this, unless you get a really accurate fluke.

http://www.snipercentral.com/milspec5r.phtml

 

[harmonic]

The M1A is more accurate than people realize. Maybe because with the 700 the shooter is likely to be more finicky about his ammo.

Anytime anybody gets a battle rifle they automatically seem to buy crap ammo and then complain that the rifle is no good.

These guys get ~1.5 moa out of their M1As. But that's with primo ammo. I'd be thrilled with 1.5 moa and am now looking for a Scout M1A.

http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1154733