Thanks for the heads up, its too late…my friend broke it.
He was using two crescent wrenches to loosen and tighten it.
Im not too familiar with M14s, but its a dual ring that is threaded and holds the gas block.
The gas block has a rod in it, its either the piston or the Op rod.
Anyway, he wasnt using the right tool, the piston was binding and wouldnt come out when pushed all the way in, the ring I mention was making it bind, when he tightened it and then backed it off it would free it up a little.
It was right there and I told him lets go shoot it, it would break in after a few rounds, he tried tightening it one more time, ALL of his weight was on it SNAP!
So anyway, I really like the EBR stock, it looks mean and you could beat someone with that thing hahaha.
Its WAAAAY expensive. He has a little over 2,000 into the whole thing.
I havent shot it yet. I wanna snap some pics of it.
I’ve got an SA Loaded model in the black synthethic stock and added a Sadlak Airborne Mount> The Sadlak Mount is rock solid and the way to go for adding optics to the M1A. Mine is consistently 1.5 MOA with good ammo and will get into 1 MOA at 100 yards but not all the time. I could probably tighten the groups a little (.25 to .5 better) by going to a chasis style stock but have’nt seen the need. My M1A has been 100% reliable and has a great trigger break; the only negative is the ergonomics are not the best and the WEIGHT. With the 22’’ barrel and the scope it is HEAVY. Thta’s part of the reason I haven’t aded the SAGE stock so I don’t have a 15lb MBR:smile:
Thanks for the info first off. There are many reason that I want, but yes the first and main reason is because of its history and things of that nature. I have not sat behind a rifle that shoots .308 and I am not a marksman by any means b so to me it’s all brand new. I know that I could build an ar10 and have no problems, but honestly it’s kinda more for the history and nostalgia. But damn every time I make a post about it seems like I realize how much more work/money goes into them then it’s not worth it.
I honestly don’t own ANY guns that are just for nostalgia and collecting. All my weapons are for HD. I am thinking of making the M1A my first actual weapon just for the “collection”. As stated above though for the same price as one of these bad boys I could build an ENTIRE bolt action set up scope and all. If I don’t land a m1a this year I might look at a bolt action again. Either way my first .308 will be a bolt action or one of these bad boys. I have no use for an AR style .308
I would rather have a nice M1 than an M14/M1A, and they can be had cheaper. To me they are more nostalgic considering the M14 had the second shortest period of general issue of any rifle in US history behind the 30-40 Krag.
Also consider an M1 Carbine. They are fun to shoot and can be had in original issue condition for less than a newly produced M1A.
The FN FAL came extremely close to being our general-issue battle rifle (I believe the test models were called T48’s). Wonder how the history of US small arms would have played out in that case?
These guys are getting you off track to say the least. Dont worry about the accuracy it will out shoot you. I have not done shit to my rifle, I jump it from stock to stock and its still accurate. Sometimes I even put a barrel mounted 1913 rail on it and run it with an RDS my wife loves that setup she keeps it on the steel popper all day at 300M.
I have one and love it. But I run without optics. Blast to shoot and accurate, it feels good in your hands. With that said, if you want to mount optics you will need to go with a sage or JAE stock, then your price really goes up. I also have a LMT 308 which has optics on it. So when I want to shoot optics I grab the LMT, if not then I grab the M14.
I am a huge fan of the M14 pattern rifle. My first “serious” gun was a Springfield M1A (back when they made them with all GI parts minus the receiver) and along the way I have picked up a couple more as well as a Garand and Mini14. The system is solid and dependable and they are good rifles.
The key to getting into them is a full understanding of what they are and not having any preconceived notions about what kind of performance you will get out of them. As others have already mentioned, expect a rack grade gun to give you 2-4 MOA. An accurized gun will be able to do 1-2 MOA, but the price will be more weight and issues associated with glass bedding. Smith Enterprises has supposedly been able to get close to “bedded” accuracy out of their “Crazy Horse” guns without the bedding but I haven’t verified it myself. You can improve the accuracy of your rack grade gun by shimming or unitizing the gas system and of course getting a good barrel. I don’t have much experience with the chassis stocks so won’t venture out there.
Scoping your M14 is kind of a balancing act. The good mounts tend to be pricy and of course there is the issue with cheek weld. You can add a riser to your stock, but then if you need to go to irons, you will have to lower or remove it. The scout mounts that attach forward of the receiver to the barrel give you to get by without a cheek riser, but you are limited to scout type scopes that carry their own issues. All this said, it is possible to shoot well with a scoped M14 and the M21 sniper system has served the Army well for many years.
In short, if you are looking for an “old school” rifle that will give you acceptable accuracy in a hard hitting long distance cartridge then the M14 will serve you well. If on the other hand you are looking for an uber accurate rifle which you plan to scope and shoot the piss out of, then you are better served with an AR10 based rifle.
Concerning brand, Springfield will be the cheapest (unless you can find a Polytech or Federal), with Fulton, Smith, and LRB commanding top dollar. For a general shooter, you will do fine with a Springfield, but the later guns have been known to suffer from issues associated with the commercial parts being used during the last decade. Springfield does have very good customer service if you have a problem but that won’t do you any good if your rifle fails on you at the moment of need. If you are thinking of owning this rifle for more than just fun, then I’d look for an older Springfield with GI parts or one of the better brands.
Regarding the M14 that Randy Shughart in Mogadishu, it was either a 22 inch “rack grade” gun or an M21 (I would suspect an M21 since they were still in Army inventory at that time, but concerning his unit - he could probably have anything he wanted). Whether it had an Aimpoint on it like in the movie I don’t know.
I have a straight factory LRB, I keep it irons because I love the irons on the Garand/M14 style irons, I don’t think I’ll ever sell it at the same time. I’d never actually recommending getting one for any other reason than ‘‘you just like it’’ performance on them is lacking unless you’re willing to spend a lot (which some are).
I have also been looking at a retail SA M1A. Being stationed in the communist state of New York limits my options right now for building an AR, and I was planning on getting a M1/M14 and kitting it out at some point anyhow.
I’ve done a bit of research, but everyone seems to have their own opinion on these rifles and getting good, unbaised information seems difficult.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone, at least here, call the M14 FOW an “inaccurate” system, but it’s not capable of the sustained accuracy that other semi auto rifles are.
It is more than combat accurate however.
Just don’t buy into the hype of a 1 moa rack grade rifle, and you’re good.
i have an SA scout squad, and i bought it because i wanted an M1A. it’s always been about a 4 MOA shooter, with the original stock and the vltor, which is why i took off the scope i originally had on it, and put a mini RDS on it. off a rest, i don’t think it outshoots me as i can get better groups with my other rifles, under the same conditions. i prefer to shoot my FALs over the M1A. it wouldn’t be my first choice for a semi-auto .308.
anyway, here it is in its current configuration, with the new vltor CAS-M1A handguard, which is lighter and slimmer than the one that came with the SA SOCOM.
I know an 8541 that would categorically disagree with you. I know many folks that can outshoot an M1A. Mainly by using ARs that cost less and shoot far better.
I have an SA NM M1A, wood stock, NM peep sight, the whole shebang. It has regrettably turned into a safe queen and I am looking to sell it. I have put maybe 4-500 rounds through it. Good shooter? Definately. Gonna do anything more with it? Nope.
OP, if you want a nice SA NM with 4 hi cap mags send me a PM. I have moved in other directions with the .308 (LMT MWS) and frankly my M1A just takes up space.
