Damn! Bought an M1A.....

[pmclaine]

My 5 digit 700 receiver for my new custom PSR bolt action came in so I had to go to my honey hole for a transfer.

Made the mistake of visiting the vault.

There in the rack I observe what looks like dry cherry and a 20 round box magazine pushing into the aisle.........meh must be a beat up Norinco.

Checking it out looks like a 1993 Springfield Inc receiver.

Sights are BME, barrel TRW, possibly an H&R bolt (marked HRT), Sharp DAS stamp on stock with FA cutout, fiberglass heat shield.

Been looking for an early SA with lots of GI parts.

Seems I found one.

 

[Pappasniper]

It’s dangerous walking into these places. Good luck with new blaster.

PB

 

[pmclaine]

Too soon to start claiming its a 1.5 MOA rifle and ask how do I get it to shoot sub MOA?

 

[pmclaine]

Thinking I might have a fire sale to finance it got some shit hanging around Ive been hanging on to for awhile might be time to as they say in Frozen "Let it go, Let it Go!"

Current price aint bad though at $1475. Rather have this than new with no GI parts. Chamber is in the white and looks real clean.

 

[C4N4DIAN]

good for you ! love this action !

 

[hlee]

Too soon to start claiming its a 1.5 MOA rifle and ask how do I get it to shoot sub MOA?

How to get it to shoot sub MOA?

Sell it and buy an AR15...

 

[pmclaine]

How to get it to shoot sub MOA?
View attachment 7218632

Sell it and buy an AR15...

@Greg Langelius * says.........

 

[pmclaine]

Not much else there that was interesting....

 

[alibi]

Where is this amazing place?

M1A’s breed and multiply like gremlins...

 

[PBWalsh]

What gorgeous rifle is this? Love that stock.

 

[Runnineh]

Very jealous

 

[TurdFerguson]

I spy a nice garand and a couple of 03's.

 

[Dingodog]

Now you need to find a vintage gen III Springfield scope for it.

 

[Forgetful Coyote]

What gorgeous rifle is this? Love that stock. View attachment 7219113

Pre 64 M70 High Power match rifle maybe? Bottom metal to my eye kinda looks pre 64 M70-ish.. plus has a hand stop for sling shooting.
Curious too.. bet its a nice rifle if it was used for High Power..

 

[jbell]

Pre 64 M70 High Power match rifle maybe? Bottom metal to my eye kinda looks pre 64 M70-ish.. plus has a hand stop for sling shooting.
Curious too.. bet its a nice rifle if it was used for High Power..

That was my first thought too...

Congrats on the M1A!

 

[pmclaine]

What gorgeous rifle is this? Love that stock. View attachment 7219113

That caught my eye in photo also.

Looks like Model 70 bottom metal but my quick look last night at the picture appears to show a left hand action.

Usually there are a lot of 52s in that spot and I think I assumed it was one of those. The empty spot held the M1A and that had all my attention.

Hoping to pick up my rifle Friday, Ill take a closer look.

 

[pmclaine]

I spy a nice garand and a couple of 03's.

You could arm a platoon with 03s from there and than supply Germans with Lugers to shoot at.

 

[pmclaine]

Now you need to find a vintage gen III Springfield scope for it.

Perhaps you have one?

My intent is to have it be your standard issue 03 rifle and Ill only add an OD "seat belt" sling and liberal amounts of plastilube/linseed oil.

 

[RTH1800]

Photo is not mod 70. I think it’s a built up target rifle on a military action. Note mag release pin protruding through floor plate in front of trigger guard. Left hand action. I have seen this before but cannot recall just now.

 

[pmclaine]

Pre64 has similar style latch to secure the mag base IIRC.

Think I may have looked at that rifle before something about .300 WM custom comes to mind.

Curious now and cant wait for Friday.

Any of you guys on M14 Forum. Ive never joined as I have not had reason to and I waste enough time here.

Can you get me any born on info regards that SN - 71288?

 

[FUNCTIONAL]

beautiful rifle/find. Only shot one M1/M14 my buddy had from his father. Apparently the story is when the time came for him to leave the army they allowed them to purchase their M14 sans FA parts and that is what we shot. This was before I knew what I was doing and couldnt appreciate it like I could now. Cant comment on the truth of the story.

Now I patiently wait to see what this turns into and what I can snag from pmclaine's unloved pile.

 

[pmclaine]

beautiful rifle/find. Only shot one M1/M14 my buddy had from his father. Apparently the story is when the time came for him to leave the army they allowed them to purchase their M14 sans FA parts and that is what we shot. This was before I knew what I was doing and couldnt appreciate it like I could now. Cant comment on the truth of the story.

Now I patiently wait to see what this turns into and what I can snag from pmclaine's unloved pile.

Cant believe that story though I wouldn't offend the friend.

Once a machine gun always a machine gun.

M14s in the wild are relatively rare and I think most came from DOE.

We used them at the police academy for close order drill. Nothing like hearing a rarity get dropped on asphalt.

Army took em all back after my class.

 

[pmclaine]

In the unloved pile Im considering the sale of a NOS pre WWII Springfield 03 C stock, a Browning Sweet 16 Auto 5, perhaps two Winchester 67 Boys rifle stocks.

 

[RTH1800]

Some local game wardens and state troopers had m14’s issued in Ks.
All I saw were pinned to SA. Most have been recalled from what I hear. A few still used by honor guard last I heard.

 

[FUNCTIONAL]

Cant believe that story though I wouldn't offend the friend.

Once a machine gun always a machine gun.

M14s in the wild are relatively rare and I think most came from DOE.

We used them at the police academy for close order drill. Nothing like hearing a rarity get dropped on asphalt.

Army took em all back after my class.

Yea I was very skeptical of that story back then and even more so now. He got out when they were phasing the M16 in so timing wise it was possible. Since I moved to the free states I never get to shoot with him anymore but hopefully I can get a better look at markings and such if I ever get the chance again.

anyway I dont want to derail your thread. Nice find!

 

[sirhrmechanic]

There has been an amazing shop in PM's neck of the woods for year... I used to read their ads in The Gun List... when I got it in paper! Up near Leominster. Every time I tried to go to it, they were closed. But their ads were to salivate over.

They have a '60s Colt Cobra perchance? In 'grotty' restoration-ready grade? I need one.

Cheers,

Sirhr

Oh Nice snag on the early M1A! Great rifles!

 

[PBWalsh]

@pmclaine

Yeah it may be LH, I was hoping it was reversed in the picture. I may be interested in contacting the shop if its a pre-64/Mauser 98/1903a3 in 30-06, right hand.

PM me if needed. Looking forward to hearing about it.

 

[RTH1800]

It’s no way a 70. I’m thinking some post war commercial Mauser copy.

 

[Hound Dog]

Cant believe that story though I wouldn't offend the friend.

Once a machine gun always a machine gun.

M14s in the wild are relatively rare and I think most came from DOE.

We used them at the police academy for close order drill. Nothing like hearing a rarity get dropped on asphalt.

Army took em all back after my class.

Yes that is the exact reason the Springfields are called M1A's Elmer Balance bought the left over stuff from the guvment when they stopped making the M14. They wouldn't sell him the recievers because they had the tang for the fun switch, so he had Valley ordinance make forged recievers to the same specs without the tang essentially. The ATF wouldn't even let him stamp them as a M14 because that was a machine gun. So Elmer Balance thought that M1A was the closest numbers and letters that he could stamp to M14 to be able to get ATF approval. That was the Devine rifles that Elmer Balance built in Texas, roughly the first 2500 serial number M1A's made. He bought the rights to the Springfield name and crossed cannons logo from the guvment. When he run into financial difficulties he sold everything to the Reeves brothers (including the name and logo) who moved everything to Illinois and became what we know as Springfield Inc today. Even now there are several companies that build receivers. Like Fulton, LRB, SEI, they all use M14 with a letter behind it. I doubt very seriously he had a real M14. Those are uber expensive and uber rare. You can't just take the full auto stuff off, there is a tang on the receiver where the cutout is on the stock. If that tang is there it would take anyone about 2 minutes to make it full auto again. All the parts can still be bought, but without that tang they are just for show. Something seems fishy about this story.

 

[RTH1800]

PM,
Is this thread open to posting other M1A photos? I have a TRW parts rifle with USGI NM barrel.

 

[Hound Dog]

Too soon to start claiming its a 1.5 MOA rifle and ask how do I get it to shoot sub MOA?

Some relatively cheap mods you can do is make sure the hand guard is not touching the stock any where. A common problem with the M1A. The hand guard can be sanded down where it touches fairly easy and will help a lot. I put a small bead of silicon at the front to make the hand guard snug up front. Use just enough to get the hand guard at the top of the groove but not so much to make it ooze out and thouch anything else. Buy a set of shims to shim the gas block. There are several videos on you tube on how to do it. For less than 10 bucks it makes a world of difference. Use white grease to lube the bolt, roller and op rod. Learn how to remove the operating spring and make sure the op rod slides front to back very freely and no binding before you grease it. you just remove the spring and tilt the rifle back and forth to see if it is free, it is common to have binding there on a spring field. You have to swap op rods around to find one that is nice an free, there is no adjusting them really. A N.M. style gas block help a lot to, either screw and glue or weld. I have tried both, either method works fine to me. The factory trigger usually sucks, but a good trigger for one of these is usually pricey. Anything else will start piping up $$ fairly quick. The TRW barrels are usually very good. They are a blast to shoot, enjoy.

 

[clcustom1911]

Too soon to start claiming its a 1.5 MOA rifle and ask how do I get it to shoot sub MOA?

You bring that up and it reminds me of....

This one review I saw had a bearded hipster shooting multiple brands of shit ammo and some 168 FGMM from an oddball sitting/squatting position using black volcanic rocks as rests in the hot desert sun .... said hipster was somehow extremely surprised they couldn't get better than 2-4moa and couldn't hit 2-3 moa steel consistently. ??

They (the reviewers) were so fucked up they clearly believed it was the fault of the rifles. They sent the review rifles back to Springfield who were obviously able to make them shoot. They even have a yootoobe video of their process. Pathetic to say the least. Read the review for a chuckle on their "testing process".

Pew Pew Tactical review of Springfield SOCOM 16 and National Match M1A

See below for examples of some seriously stable shooting situations...

 

[RTH1800]

Those short barreled ‘14’s are tough to shoot. A real “blast”

 

[Stevo86]

I picked this one up the other day. Nice find phil

 

[pmclaine]

You bring that up and it reminds me of....

This one review I saw had a bearded hipster shooting multiple brands of shit ammo and some 168 FGMM from an oddball sitting/squatting position using black volcanic rocks as rests in the hot desert sun .... said hipster was somehow extremely surprised they couldn't get better than 2-4moa and couldn't hit 2-3 moa steel consistently. ??

They (the reviewers) were so fucked up they clearly believed it was the fault of the rifles. They sent the review rifles back to Springfield who were obviously able to make them shoot. They even have a yootoobe video of their process. Pathetic to say the least. Read the review for a chuckle on their "testing process".

Pew Pew Tactical review of Springfield SOCOM 16 and National Match M1A

See below for examples of some seriously stable shooting situations...

View attachment 7219387View attachment 7219388

Since when has the Soc break been "Iconic"?

Someone needs a back shave.

 

[pmclaine]

PM,
Is this thread open to posting other M1A photos? I have a TRW parts rifle with USGI NM barrel.

Certainly!

Show us your piece!

 

[pmclaine]

Some local game wardens and state troopers had m14’s issued in Ks.
All I saw were pinned to SA. Most have been recalled from what I hear. A few still used by honor guard last I heard.

Army took ours back about 2005 - probably turned them into DMRs in the ME.

Though I hated those drill rifles - nothing worse than "Holding the piece at its balance" - I hope the rifle I drilled with did good service.

 

[pmclaine]

There has been an amazing shop in PM's neck of the woods for year... I used to read their ads in The Gun List... when I got it in paper! Up near Leominster. Every time I tried to go to it, they were closed. But their ads were to salivate over.

They have a '60s Colt Cobra perchance? In 'grotty' restoration-ready grade? I need one.

Cheers,

Sirhr

Oh Nice snag on the early M1A! Great rifles!

He has the 3 cobras pictured. Middle one in best shape. Think they are all in the $900-1100 range.

Appears they jostled around in night tables there entire lives.

 

[pmclaine]

Yea I was very skeptical of that story back then and even more so now. He got out when they were phasing the M16 in so timing wise it was possible. Since I moved to the free states I never get to shoot with him anymore but hopefully I can get a better look at markings and such if I ever get the chance again.

anyway I dont want to derail your thread. Nice find!

No derail. I enjoy the conversation.

If anyone is ever accused of derail it should be me.

 

[Keel Haul]

Tony Ben has nice vids on YouTube for all your M14/M1A needs.

 

[RTH1800]

A fellow drifts around the internet who goes by “Different” He literally wrote not just the book but actually a 4 volume set on the M 14.
Have not ran across him lately, hope he is OK. If you see him posting, it’s darn sure fact. Lee Emerson is his name.

 

[pmclaine]

I wont do much work on it. Ill check for op rod rubs and hand guard wear but basically this is a "battle rifle".

Soon we will see how it shoots.

I expect it to shoot better than my Garand but not as good as my ARs.

A sevice rifle that I handed my weapons card to the armorer it would be typical of what came from the cage.

Most Ill do is multiple coats of linseed oil like the proud bored Private wood do sitting on his foot locker.

Remind me of this post when Im buying up all the SEI parts I come across and Im bitching about how long it will take to get the receiver lugged and the stock bedded.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

When I got my SA M1A, the first thing I did was put a synthetic stock on it. And it never shot for beans. Put the wood back on it and it suddenly shot like an IBM Selectric with the X-key held down (how many even have a clue...).

They are nice rifles! Way to go PM on getting one!

His Cobra prices are good for collector grade. I'm looking for one with the bluing worn off! To do a 'commemorative' of sorts.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[MK20]

If you want a fiberglass stock for it, I know where there are several for sale for 30 bucks with hardware.

 

[Corprin]

Was issued one of those Army “take backs” in ‘04. Was a nice enough rifle.

In ‘09 I was able to acquire an IDE import Polytech with a well loved and loose bolt. Cost me about $300 in car parts I brought home from Japan upon discharge.

Sent it off for some work in 2011. Now has a Winchester bolt, LRB 18.5”, ARMS 18, Aimpoint ML2, and a host of NM bits to round it out.

Don’t shoot it much these days, but it’ll never leave my collection.

Wear your kid gloves if you decide to post on the M14 forum, those folks are super touchy.

 

[pmclaine]

If you want a fiberglass stock for it, I know where there are several for sale for 30 bucks with hardware.

We had fiberglass at work, very utilitarian, but passing on the info is appreciated.

The stock on this is what caught my eye.

It's redness is beautiful. When I start hitting it with my artists grade linseed oil Im hoping for fantastical to happen.

I don't know about them but I'm wondering if it has one of those oversized cherry wood stocks Advertized as "Big Reds".

 

[RTH1800]

Shooting an M1A for the first time is similar to the first time you fire a suppressed 22RF.
just gives you a big smile. Not sure why.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

If you want a fiberglass stock for it, I know where there are several for sale for 30 bucks with hardware.

You can have mine for free....

Sirhr

 

[Corprin]

Shooting an M1A for the first time is similar to the first time you fire a suppressed 22RF.
just gives you a big smile. Not sure why.

How about a suppressed M14/M1a?!

 

[DRAM40A1]

I bought this one several years ago for $1500. From my research it has a medium weight Douglas barrel on it. It was sold to me as a National Match but I have no clue. The barrel date does closely match the receiver date. I haven’t shot it much but I was certainly surprised how well it shot.