The following questions remain after reading the related thread:
How do the commercial parts in a Springfield M1A fail, especially as compared to an M1A with 50+ year old GI parts (or an ideally configured LRB, Fulton, etc)? Is an immediate replacement of the bolt necessary? Extractor? Firing pin? What about other small parts?
How is the cast receiver in a Springfield M1A more problematic compared to a forged equivalent (such as an LRB or Norinco)?
Stay away from Norinco. They have problems related to metallurgy and parts swap ability. One little quirk is a set screw on the barrel. You can not go wrong with USGI but they are getting harder to get. Springfield Inc has had some issues with bolts and bolt stops. I can not speak for LRB nor Fulton.
Hope this helps.
Dan
All kinds of small parts seem to fall off of those POS M1As. I’ve only seen a handful of those guns at the range, but I’ve never seen a problem free version.
I don’t know why/how Springfield has fallen so short on that gun. 
I appreciate the quick feedback…but I’m really looking for specifics.
It’s April 2011. The idea that I can go out and hunt down a rifle full of 50 year old parts and hammer on it for a couple decades with more success than current manufacture may be possible…but it seems unlikely.
I can appreciate that USGI parts were superior for years, but those years have stretched into decades now. Conventional wisdom is slow to be updated. So I suppose my question is this: Here. In April of 2011. How do commercial Springfield parts fail compare to USGI parts given the same usage patterns?
Sounds like you’re looking for an excuse not to go buy a Springfield.
That thread you linked to is less than a year old, nothing’s changed at Springfield. Just about everything you asked was answered in the first 3 pages of that thread.
If you want one, go buy one.
Hate to say it but Springfield Inc. doesn’t stand up the USGI.
Bolts that had a problem going into pieces. I think this had something to do with heat treating.
Then there is an issue with improper finishing of the receiver bridge on the receivers. It was not finished properly causing the tang on the firing pin to become worn and allowing for protrusion of the firing pin prior to being in battery. I believe that this has been fixed but it has caused more than one to come apart.
There has to be something with how they handle the finishing the product. Different standards between the both of them. I can only guess they are after getting something out so they can make money off it.
Dan
No, I’m really not. If anything, I’m looking for an excuse to simply say fuck it, nobody in this country can actually build a rifle anymore (for less than several thousand dollars) and just buy a $400 Romanian AK.
But there’s a lot of this:
The general agreement is that GI spec parts are better, but the problem is that they stopped making them years ago
Back when I was behind the counter, I saw way too many have serious issues.
Which would be fine… if it were more specific than “oh, that stuff you can’t get is totally awesome.” There’s nothing specific there at all. Are the hammers soft? Do the sears wear and start to double? Extractors break?
I just read them again, and the first three pages of that thread aren’t very specific as to what is inferior about modern commercial parts compared to GI parts. I’ve got no problem accepting that they in fact may be…but how?
Me in that thread:
I don’t trust (have seen them fail) the commercial extractors, hammers, op rods, barrels with commercial .308 chambers vs. 7.62 NATO chambers (seen them choke on surplus ammo) and commercial non chrome lined barrels. Op rods can be problematic.
I’m sure the lack of any real competition isn’t helping to give them any incentive…
Because they build to a price point, and at a targeted consumer, just as Bushmaster and DPMS do.
When Bob Reese ran Springfield Armory in the 80’s, they put out top quality firearms. USGI parts were available, and you had skilled smiths who knew what they were about building them.
Bob Reese sold Springfield to his sons, QC started to go down, profits started to increase.
The Reese brothers sold Springfield a little more than 10 years ago to an Israeli. QC went into a nose dive and marketing went into overdrive.
Master Templar is wise. . .great read!
Whew, I’m lucky. I recently purchased a NIB SAI M1A from an uncle. He had picked it up in '94. Thanks to M4C’s residient M14/M1A encyclopedia, Different I was able to find out what I had. I stripped the rifle and emailed him pics of the parts with their numbers on them and he was able to tell me not only when each part was manufactured but the technician on the assembly line that day who built my specific rifle.
All of my M1A’s parts are USGI sans the commerical cast receiver.
Get a pre-ban (pre 1994) Springfield.
This is definitely the way to go. I bought an SA M1A as my first real rifle at the ripe old age of 18 with money I saved mowing lawns! It is by far one of my favorite rifles. I can consistently hit a plate at 100 yards open sights and standing - all 20 rounds on the plate! I can’t shoot like that with my other rifles for some reason. As someone mentioned, mine is 100% USGI minus the SA receiver. It has been very reliable as long as I use good magazines.
This started my M1A craze and I ended up buying a NIB pre-ban Scout version that I shipped off to Troy Industries sub-contractor and I had it modified to their SOPMOD standard (think Sage stock, altered gas/piston system, heavy ass barrel). It was a good gun but I ended up selling it eventually.
I then sold all my USGI parts I had saved up to build an all TRW rifle. The proceeds were enough to buy a Polytech rifle and have Smith swap out darned near everything, add one of their barrels, work the Poly trigger group, installed a TRW bolt and I’m good to go with it now. Great little rifle but I should have opted for a lighter barrel to increase the “handiness” of it overall.
Spooky
There are lots of folks scratching their heads and wondering about M14 analogs (as there are those who do the same thing comparing M4 and M16 copies).
The original Springfield Armory M1A built by Devine, Elmer Ballance, and Reese were built by and for National Match shooters who wanted their own M14s but couldn’t because of NFA 34 – much like everyone who wanted an M16 or CAR-15. Nature hates a vacuum and the market determines demand – how many M1911A1 makers are there out there as well?
When the only thing you needed to make an M14 is a frame the cast Springfield and Armscor M1As were good enough to mate up surplus genuine GI MIL-SPEC or National Match parts to. I have friends who have shot out five and six barrels on Camp Perry-winning M14 look-alikes.
At the same time those who wanted a 5.56 Black Rifle could find both good and bad guns that to this day may or may not have parts that can pass MIL-SPEC acceptance. Folks bitch and bandy back-and-forth on this and TOS, and argue the fine points of Rob’s “List.”
There have been a number of M1A/M14 frame knock-offs over the years as others sought to break into the niche Springfield dominated, just as there are dozens (if not a few hundred) AR and M1911A1 frame builders.
As the pool of GI parts goes away makers have to source and build from other parts. Just as you can keep a '55 Chevy going, you have to find a source of ‘55 (or MILSPEC) parts. Since they’re no longer built for Uncle they no longer have to mate and match to others’ guns. Hot-rodded M14s and copies stray even further from Uncle’s original drawings.
Eventually picky buyers determine your place in the market. Just how many AR, M1911A1, and Colt .45 Single Action Army buyers are out there? Apparently enough that darn near every major US manufacturer carries a Black Rifle and a 1911A1, and there are thousands of Cowboy shooters out there swinging Italian and Spanish hogleg copies.
With all those variations of different bloodlines eventually one will run into tolerance stacking that ticks everyone off (especially those of us who build, fix, and maintain our own weapons). Picky folks will usually frequent consistent sources – whether they are “Official” sources or not.
There are enough out there who don’t care and are looking for the cheap gun and/or quick buck, and there are also the oddities (i.e., the Metric Chicom imports).
I’m not so sure every US gun maker is going to eventually build an M1A, Beretta M9, or SCAR clone.
I got lucky when I purchased my Springfield M1A in 1989. It is all USGI except the receiver. I knew zero about the platform and years later found out my good fortune for $860.00 out the door. I havent shot it much maybe 3000 rounds, but it has never malfuntioned.
I found an M1A with all USGI parts minus the receiver in January (great condition for around $1000). It isn’t hard to find an early 90’s gently used M1A if USGI parts are important to you.
I have 2 newer SAI rifles and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a bad move to buy one, then put a bunch of money into them before you have something that you would stake your life on. In my opinion you would be better off contacting LRB ect ect and just do it right from the start.
I have a standard grade M1A that came out of Springfield in March, 1995. It has all USGI parts, mostly H&R, but a Winchester op rod. My dad bought it new in '95, and by now we have probably put a few thousand rounds down the pipe. It has never once exhibited any malfunction of any kind whatsoever. This rifle is a real thing of beauty. The action moves like it’s on ball bearings. It’s smoooooooooooth. 
I live in CA, and this is my go-to rifle if the SHTF. If I was shopping for a new M1A right now, I’d hold out, find an older one with all USGI parts new-in-the-box, and pay the extra $500 or so for it. It’s well worth the extra money.
Here’s mine:
No doubt that the older 80’s and early 90’s Springfields with GI parts and their receiver are great rifles.
Just remember to do preventive maintenance on them, like replacing the op rod spring at regular intervals. Cheap and easy way to keep it running for decades.
My M1A is a 2001 model that has had all parts but the receiver replaced with USGI. It came with a USGI barrel. It has never had a problem that mattered. It now rests in a TROY MCS. 