Reading various forums over the years, it seems that I’ve seen more comments about problematic M14 civvie variants (Springfield and otherwise) than AR’s. Does this gun tend to generate more issues than the AR family or is it just Interweb preception?
Every springfield turd I’ve seen has had something fall off of it. Complete Garbage with the old Springfield Armory name. The guys I know who’ve had them no longer own them.
I picked up a Springfield Armory M1A last year and it runs like a top. No issues thus far, and its become one of my favorite guns to shoot. Honestly surprised by how much I like it.
I suspect there likely is some truth to SA having quality control issues, but I’ve had several of their guns with no issues before. This is like the “1911s always jamming” meme (mix of truth, BS, and ignorance about running older platforms, made worse by internet hive mind mentality.)
You can buy a PSA AR, or you can buy a Colt/LMT/BCM. You can buy a “regular” SA M1A, or you can buy an LRB or SA with mods.
My SA has had the bolt changed to a Bula forged one and the barrel is a chrome lined (which SA isn’t) Criterion barrel all assembled and headspaced by Jon Wolfe. Yeah, not what you’d expect to have to do (didn’t need to, just wanted to) for a factory-built rifle but the M14 series is not awash in stuff like the AR is. Jon even engraved the headspace underneath the handguard over the rear part of the barrel.
I’d love to have a real-deal M14, but we all know that ain’t happening. It wouldn’t be my “grab-and-go” rifle but it is in the toolbox if needed. To be quite frank, I have fired an M14 on FA and it is far better off fired semi. Plus I have always thought they were cool. YMMV.
Not the same company for sure. I don’t know what genius thought it would be a good idea to clamp the forward rail around the barrel but it was a stupid FN idea.
A lot of it depend on when it was made and what parts were used.
Obviously a “forged” LRB receiver will be superior to a Springfield “cast” receiver. Barrels are barrels and USGI or high end barrels will be superior to other barrel options. And USGI parts will be superior to parts fabricated in IL or for IL.
I’ve seen Springfield’s that have run problem free for decades and I’ve seen ones that choke…a lot. Many times the problem is bad magazines, sometimes they need to be corrected by known specialists such as Fulton Arms. Sometimes it only takes a few things to get them running reliably, sometimes it takes a lot.
It will always be one of the “big three” along with the FN FAL and HK G3.
Ironically in terms of recoil, my experience is:
HK G3 is the most manageable in full auto, followed by the metric FAL and then the M14 (even with a fold down forward grip).
But in semi auto, the reverse seems to be true with the M1A having the least felt recoil, followed by the HK91 and the FAL (depending how you like your gas setup).
I think in full auto, the G3 roller bolt results in a smoother cycle with almost no individual recoil impulses where as gas piston rifles have an individual recoil impulse. But in semi auto that roller bolt doesn’t really provide any advantage over gas piston rifles and the lighter HK91 and FAL tend to punch a little harder.
M1A’s are not as friendly to customize and work on like the AR platform; entirely different beast. To accurize them it can take a lot of work and cost a substantial amount of money and they’ve fallen out of popularity. I’ve shot some of the older Springfield Armory’s that were made with a lot of the previous available GI parts and they are incredibly accurate and durable for their purpose. Also had great luck with Fulton Armory. They are a very classic rifle and fit the needs for their time when they were used. Just not as user friendly as an AR system is for many today.
There a few aftermarket parts available for the M1A/M14 (Sadlak, Fulton, Smith Enterprise and a few others) A lot of quality with that group of manufacturers. I waited a while to buy my first M1A. I know a lot of guys who bought SA M1A variants over the past 20yrs and as stated above the QA/QC ran the gamut from “works like a swiss watch” to “Will work on any day except ones that end in Y”…two that stand out in “Bad” column was a custom order NM version that had a heavy bbl, NM everything etc etc. Unfortunately literally every component except the bbl threaded into the receiver rattled/was loose etc. My friend inspected it throughly in LGS that it was ordered from and back it went to SA the next business day! Month later it came back all corrected but how does that slip through the shipping dept doors, never mind test firing section??? The 2nd SA fiasco that I recall was an early SOCCOM that only the mags it shipped with would lock into the receiver. Everything (NIW USGI mags, SA mags, surplus used mags) else in any capacity or size would drop out after round 1 was fired! Went back to SA 2X until corrected with a new gun that worked correctly right out of he box. Seeing that and doing some research, I went with a LRB M14SA GI clone for my 1St and had zero issues out of the box. Shot well and was reliable utilizing a lot of NOS GI parts. My 2nd LRB M14SA was the short bbl version (18") that I love dearly. Its great fun with a red dot on it and the GI clone will ring gongs with optics mounted at 200yds all day long with boring reliability and accuracy. All that being said, the M5 gets taken out a lot more for training then any other older platforms in 7.62x51, hands down. There’s something to be said for following the AR pattern to take advantage of a shooters muscle memory, training etc along with all the modularity you get with the AR platform. Bottom line for me re: M1As is go with the LRB series, well worth the cost!