To M1A a SA rifle or to Online a M1A

[afolsomb17]

I am going to purchase a M1A, but I am kinda in a quandary. I hope some learned minds will have a few suggestions. I had bought a M1A over ten years ago just a standard off rack. The men shooting with me at the time all aided me in tweaking the rifle to NM standards. All but the barrel. And the rifle shot great MOA holes. I even won sometimes. Bad part like a fool needed fast cash and sold it. Fast forward to the present. Of course the SA M1A has now about doubled in price.

So now to the question. Do I once again buy a new SA rifle and tweak it to NM standards? Buy a already SA built NM M1A with all the extras? Of course this is about twice the cost of the off rack standard M1A? Do I shop around on the net for who knows how long till one of these Beasts come up for sale? At least Cabelas I know has a lay away program so I don't have to throw over 2K at one pop. Any suggestions? ( Beside kick my self for having a weak brain fart and selling the old rifle) Any way that's the question I got HELP.

 

[Sixtigers]

when I was younger, I would've sprung for the best M1A I could afford. Nowadays, my hands shake some, and the eyes aren't as good, and I find that the standard M1A or Loaded M1A do me just about right. I've fired friends' match rifles, and I just don't get that much better a pattern. Depends on how you shoot, I guess...and what you want the rifle for.

 

[lipadj46]

Get a Loaded and then do the rest in increments. I believe you would need to unitize the gas system, add a hooded aperture and bed the action. If you are handy you can do these on your own. I like the loaded because the 2 biggies, trigger and barrel are upgraded.

I bought my M1A Loaded from this guy:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/SellerAuctions.asp?User=403754

They offer a 3 month layaway for free and a 6 month layaway for $30. Last summer I put a Walnut Loaded on layaway for $1550 shipped and payed it off by the election. I am not sure if they are still in stock or a good deal but it was a pain free experience and you can make payments online.

 

[H2O MAN]

afolsomb17 Any suggestions?

IMHO, today's Springfield M1A is a far cry from the M1A you once had. Today's M1As usually have zero USGI parts.
My suggestion is for you to buy the nicest Norinco or Poly Tech M14 and tweak it as needed, as you go.
Norinco and Poly Tech M14s come with forged receivers that are as close as you can get to USGI, forged 1-piece
op rods that are as good as TRW USGI and chrome lined barrels.
I own many Poly & Norinco M14s and the ones I shoot have TRW USGI bolts installed by Smith Enterprise, Inc.

Follow my suggestions and you will have a superior rifle for about the cost of a new loaded M1A with tweaks.

 

[Retro]

All the gun supplies have ran out of M1A completely in my state, and SA is back-ordered for at least 6 months. I have been waiting for a M1A loaded for over 3 months now, and could not find one. So I am going to build a M1A super match out of my M1A Std receiver. I have already ordered a heavy weight barrel in chrome moly, which is being short chambered as we speak.

Bu H20 Man, Polytech and Norinco are extremely hard to find. I have been to many gunshows 3 years ago in Tennessee, and I have not seen a single Chinese receiver-ed M1A. At that time, old SA M1A were plenty... nowadays, all I see is M1 Carbines and garands at gunshows...

And how do exactly "unitize" the op rod?

R

 

[H2O MAN]

Retro, I've not purchased a single Norinco or Poly from a gun/pawn shop or gun show.
I checked the WTS listings on several forums often when I was buying.
All were purchased locally from private individuals with cash.

You could post a want to buy face to face in a few forums and see what pops up.

Good luck



The gas system gets unitized or shimmed, not the op rod.

 

[GRAYRID3R]

M1A s are hard to find anywhere now. Even gunbroker has a poor selection at prices that are 300 to 400 dollars too high. But that supply and demand thing always seems to work itself out eventually. I'm looking for a nice M1A as well but won't pay $2000.00 for it! so I guess I'm SOL for now.

 

[lipadj46]

People like to hate on Springfield these days and say the Chinese M14s are far superior and that once you put $500 into the Chinese M14 you will have a better rifle. IMO a good in spec SAI and a good in spec Norinco or Poly will serve you exactly the same whether they have all USGI parts, all chinese or all SAI parts.

The SAI parts are very high quality these days. Everybody cheered and bowed down when SEI came out with an op rod and LRB or whoever came out with a gas cylinder and will wait for years for the rest of the parts to trickle out. SAI has been making all the parts for years now and people give them nothing but grief because some parts are cast or the wrong color or whatever. All as I know is that my SAI M1A shoots very straight and never malfunctioned once since I bought it (1280 rounds and counting).

I had most every USGI part besides a barrel as a spare that I gathered together over the years because people on the internet would go on and on about how superior they are. After I bought my M1A and started shooting it I sold all the USGI and Chinese parts (I kept the bolt guts, pins, springs and other small parts) because it did not make sense to me have them. If any parts ever fails SAI will fix it for free and pay for shipping.

If I ever happen to come across a poly or norinco for $700 in great condition I will probably pick one up and replace the bolt and stock and have a nice second M1A. Personally though I don't feel my M1A is second rate or cast pot metal junk like some would have you believe. The internet is a funny place and the collector pundits on these specialized forums can really whip people into a frenzy about certain things, just look at the big deal people make about staking an AR gas key, funny stuff. Us SAI M1A owners don't have to hang our head in shame though and make excuses for why we "only" bought an SAI.

 

[H2O MAN]

It's not a love/hate thing for me.
For me, it's a getting as close as possible to USGI or better thing.
The combination of USGI, Chinese and SEI parts allow me to get that close.

 

[lipadj46]

I definitely understand the wanting to get closest thing to USGI and respect that. What I don't like is when people start getting into the mine is better that yours camp because the internet told me forged is better even though I have never taken a materials science or any engineering class and really have no idea what I am talking about.

I'm sure in the ideal world we would all own select fire M14's and the original machinery to make them still was up and running. But it is not and what is available is what is available and all the commercial M14's have their plusses and minuses.

I think the M14 forum over at AR15.com is the worst in perpetuating these things. Some real armchair ninjas hang out there. I can't say that I am completely innocent either.

 

[H2O MAN]

Understood.

However, the fact that Chinese receivers are dimensionally closer to USGI than all others except for the rare SEI
receivers is more important to me than their being hot forged. Having a forged receiver is just icing on the cake.
USGI & SEI parts fit and function in and on Chinese receivers as well as they fit and function on USGI receivers.

I have no need for a select fire M14 - Imagine feeding one

 

[lipadj46]

Well in that ideal world surplus 7.62 Nato would be $50 per 1000 round crate including shipping.

 

[Gewehr98]

It's a bit of hooey, honestly.

The whole blow-up over cast vs. forged M14-style receivers is so much urinating in the wind.

If SA or other cast receivers are so bad, we'd be hearing about failures of such within seconds, thanks to the Internet, where reports of a Glock kB! or S&W revolver zit lock malfunction approach the speed of light in propogation.

Springfield, Inc has sold how many cast receivers since Elmer Balance first started making the M1A in Devine TX all those years ago?

Right.

How many have failed since they weren't forged?

Exactly.

Investment casting of firearms components has become a standard practice, as evidenced by both Springfield, Inc. and Ruger. The metallurgy, technology, and technique, is sound. A cast-receivered M1A will more than likely outlive its owner.

 

[H2O MAN]

Again, it's not about one outlasting the other - it's about USGI parts fitting and functioning as they should.

 

[afolsomb17]

ToM1A a SA rifle or to Online a M1A

Thanks for the advice. I will look into some off your advice. I plan on getting back into comp. shooting and would like the accuracy of my old rifle. Still like the feel of the beast. I know it is more expensive to feed compared to my AR 2 to 1, but can't get the idea out of me. Thanks again.