My Socom is now at the 500+ round point with no failures or problems at all (other than accuracy issues which I am working on). It has one of the new cast bolts on it which is of a concern to me so I am watching it. I can't comment on gas port size since I have not had a chance to compare the port on it versus my NM. But just as the shortened gas system on the M4 creates more wear issues than the M16s gas system, I have no problem believing that the Socoms short gas system is beating the rifle up more than on a full length M14. As a Socom owner, I just don't see any advantage the rifle offers over the 18" scout.
As far as upgrading parts, the general thought is that your best money spend would be on a GI bolt assembly (with extractor) and GI oprod. Also check out your trigger group, there have been a lot of reports of hammers failing. These are the parts that will take the most beating and the most critical to the operation of the rifle and seem to be the ones that are failing the most. As Templar has stated, the real issue with the cast receiver is not strength, it is just that dimensions of these receivers have a habit of being out of mil-spec which can lead to issues when trying to mount a 3 point scope mount, the ARMS #18 being the one that has the most issues. Sadlak mounts are more tolerant of out of spec receivers and will come with a kit to help you determine if your receiver is within spec, if not Sadlak offers smithing which will allow the mount to fit correctly. Other than that, a good SIA receiver should give you more than a life time of service.
Last edited by Cobra66; 03-09-10 at 11:25.
“The ruling class doesn’t care about public safety. Having made it very difficult for States and localities to police themselves, having left ordinary citizens with no choice but to protect themselves as best they can, they now try to take our guns away. In fact they blame us and our guns for crime. This is so wrong that it cannot be an honest mistake.” – former U.S. Sen. Malcolm Wallop (R-Wy.)
Bookmarks