To build a M1a (M14) or AR-10

[Djstorm100]

I have a chance to buy a new loaded Springfield and been pondering over this. New loaded for $1,300 while they normally go for $1,600+.

I love Garands and love it's "son" the M14/M1a. The role of this rifle would be local precision matches for gas guns out to 1k yards at least.

Building a M1a but more less be throwing a scope and a brake (so I can use a can) and I may throw it in a EBR chassis although they are heavy.

AR10 may be a Aero Precision set with a B/A barrel at least. If I have the money Megan Arms with Bartlien barrel would be tits.

 

[Bill3508x]

The AR10 with a decent barrel will easily outshoot the m14. I've got a LRB top of the line model with Krieger heavy and McMillan stock and my ar10s are far better precision wise. So it really depends on how you like both rifles. If your wanting to shoot the smallest groups/scores then go AR10. The m14 is fun to shoot though.

 

[FatBoy]

Setting up a M1A to shoot accurately and cycle properly with a can may not be as easy as changing the flash hider and screwing it on. the gas system is much more picky and the threads are super short as well as having a very skinny profile.

I have kicked around the same build and a M25 with a TBAC/Scionics is how I would want to go, but if I wanted to win I'd build an AR-10/large frame AR.

 

[c4xplsv]

yea, just buy the loaded m1a for fun and keep it for the nostalgia factor. I’ve got a CMP garand for this reason. Build the AR10 for the precision work. I got a Gap10 for that reason 😊 The two don’t really compete in the same space IMO


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lennyo3034]

My LRB M25 with Krieger and Mcmillan actually outshoots my Mega with JP barrel. But it costs a lot more and is a lot heavier. Not to mention its .308 vs 6mm CM.

 

[Strykervet]

I knew a guy with a Whitefeather and it won't outshoot an SR25 with M118LR. That's the finest M1A they make. They're nice rifles, but honestly they are obsolete now. Even the AR15 with proper loads is better at matches than the M1A, somewhere in the 80's M1A was the SHIT. Everybody had one. Somewhere in the 90's people started showing up with custom AR's with heavy, faster bullets and started winning. Now they're all AR's for the most part.

It makes a very nice do-it-all combat/SDM rifle, particularly with the shorter barrel, but that's about it. For the price you can get it for, I'd probably get it and put it in a SAGE chassis later on (whichever has the scope mount rail integral to it, that saves weight and should be more solid --scope mounts have always been heavy and awkward for M1A's). I wouldn't depend on it for matches though. But for the price vs. performance, it still beats the shit out of the FAL I own and the G3 I used to.

If you get one though, look for an LRB before a Springfield. LRB has forged receivers with tangs, MUCH better than the cast Springfield! Even Norinco (yes, Chinese fucking Norinco if you can believe it makes one of the best receivers for the M1A!) M1A receivers are better than Springfield for the same reasons. Some people buy Chinese receivers, have 'em re-engraved to remove the Chinese shit, and assemble them into very high end rifles. For a while, Norinco forged receivers were all you could find. LRB also has several options regarding the rifle build and will do some custom work IIRC. Check 'em out if still interested in an M1A.

I bit the bullet and went with an SR25/M110 (the new ones are almost identical, FWIW). Zero buyer's remorse, shit, wish I could have bought another! It's an astounding rifle and it's superior in almost every way to the M1A.

Get it because you like it and want it, don't get it because you think it'll make you a better shooter or up your scores at meets. Like I said, it's a great SDM/combat rifle and it's fairly accurate too, but in the day of sub-MOA systems, it just can't hang at matches.

 

[BCP]

M1A with EBR chassis, scope mount, harris bipod will run you well over 2000 dollars before you add the scope. I'd rather shop for a used LMT or maybe one of those Seekins rifles, or put up a bit more cash and get a larue/gap etc. Even a PWS or POF might be an idea, my PWS was great.

BTW all of these rifles are 308s with relatively short barrels so you will have to be picky about bullet and powder choice as well to stretch it all the way to 1000 especially if the wind kicks up.

 

[Ninja]

I knew a guy with a Whitefeather and it won't outshoot an SR25 with M118LR. That's the finest M1A they make

My very early La Rue 308 outshoots my WF, too

 

[Keel Haul]

Go with the 10 over the 14. My 14 is nice and all but for 1K and can use? Too much involved in making it get decent results when the 10 will out run it out of the box.

 

[longshot2000]

One thing about this forum: You will get a lot of advice and opinions.

I have a lot of respect for the M1A, but I am an outside observer, with no direct experience. I am, however, a builder and shooter of .308 guns (please don't call it an AR10). It sounds like you have a chance to have a very well built M1A from the get-go. That sounds attractive.

The 308 semi-auto you mentioned, is like fingernails on a chalkboard. The only good part you mentioned was the Bartlein barrel. JP has some good stuff as well, but, if you are serious about a 308AR, don't build a Frankenstein rifle. There are a small number of good parts providers for .308, but you are must better off buying a completed rifle from one of the better 308AR rifle companies to start with, especially since the parts are not interchangeable. I recommend LMT, Knights and LaRue. These are the best guys in the business. You can also look at GAP, who does a great job with various parts manufacturers, or ask CLE.

If you budget does not support this, there are respectable 2nd tier 308ARs, like Armalite and Stag, and maybe CMMG and RRA. You can later upgrade the barrel and bolt to a Krieger, Lilja or Bartlein -- or Criterion, for whom I have a great deal of respect for the improvements they have made to production quality in buttoned barrels, and mate it to an LMT bolt.

Then again, that Springfield is sounding good.

 

[bfoosh006]

I have a SAI M21'96... it can shoot some fantastic groups.... but not after an extended shooting period...

I have a PSA PA10 GenII with a Criterion barrel I installed... it will routinely shoot nice tiny groups with 168gr FGMM, and LOVES the DAG surplus...

IMHO, I would go the .308 AR, buy the very best barrel you can afford... and enjoy it.

 

[mdmp5]

The M1A is a nice rifle for purposes of fun and collection, but as other guys have written, it is an antiquated rifle by today's standards. The rifle is heavy, the trigger is pretty terrible, and even putting on a rail for a scope is not the easiest task. It can be done, and I do like my EBR chassis, sadlak mount and suppressor and all, but it is more of a collector's piece than a shooter. But it is actually really cool to shoot subs through

 

[Desert_Racer]

I've been down this road and can say without hesitation that the M1A shouldn't even be in the pool of consideration for your intended purposes.

 

[Kiba]

Spent lots of money (almost 5 figures) between two M1A's chasing all day 1 MOA or better accuracy out of the platform. They would occasionally, but not consistently, deliver that performance. First rifle was a rear lugged, bedded and torque screwed, heavy Krieger barreled Fulton Peerless and the second was an LRB M25 with all the goodies built by Ted Brown.

My first AR10 build with an Aero Precision lower and an on sale Armalite 24" upper shot circles around both of the M1As for less than half the price of either of them, and did it consistently. It was a very expensive lesson trying to turn the M1A into something it was never designed to be.

I still like the M1A as a nostalgia piece, and think they're a ton of fun on steel targets with NM iron sights... and that's where my fun with the M1A ends. Putting a scope on an M1A and chasing consistently small groups is a patience and wallet draining exercise in my experience.

If you're building a semi auto match gun, and it's not a vintage military match that requires the M1A, much like the others I'd say go with an AR10. I've had very good luck with several homebuilds, a GAP-10, and now 2 JP's.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

I loved my M1A, but had to sell lit it during a period of financial stress. I had been issued the M-14 in The Corps, and the M1a was the continuation of a lifelong love affair with the rifle design. I had also acquired an M1 Garand, and when the decision came down, it was the Garand that made the cut. I do not miss the M1a.

Later, I was introduced to the AR with a Stag Model 6 Super Varminter. I ended uo gifting it to my Ganddaughter Elena, bought a kit for the same rifle, and it's now about a month since its completion. Somewhere in my near future, and AR10-type is in the to-do list, and lo, Stag has released their version. Here is the link to their Builders' sets. Note the Black Friday sale. When the time comes, mine will be built around a Lothar-Walther 260 barrel. I am loathe to take up the 6.5CM, but may be forced to in the end. I just don't want to go downward in case capacity from the .260, I think it's maybe just a tad small already.

Greg