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. Then doing some tweaking to the gas system.
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.
M1a can take alot to get the constant accuracy your probably going to want. It’s a good rifle, just the ar10 is infinitely better in this role, not to mention the optics mounting aspect.
Yea good point ! Now considering I would take a M1a all day over a AR10 I will agree the AR10 will be more consistent and accurate out of the box as a rule. The M1a can be made into a tack driver for sure but just more work involved. The EBR stock will fix a lot and it will increase the accuracy just by itself because of the lock up and such,but yea they are heavy. I guess chose what you really want more and go from there, either one will be a great rifle.
I have been shooting the M-14/M1A platform for 38 years and currently shoot club matches with M1 Garands. The M1A is a fine rifle, but if I wanted to compete against precision rifles at 1,000 yards I would buy a flat top AR. If you run a wood stock on the M1A, you will need to bed the action to the stock and skim bed it every 1,000 to 1,500 rounds. You will also need to unitize the barrel band to the gas cylinder to achieve consistent barrel band to stock ferrule tension. Close attention to the gas cylinder and gas piston will be necessary for the type of shooting you want to do.
The .30 caliber AR will be more accurate at a lower cost. Maintenance to maintain accuracy will be less intense and less costly.
I have read of and been told of current production SA M1A parts experiencing early failures. Unless you have a source for older usgi parts, the $1300 will produce more satisfaction with an ar10.
That accuracy should be easily achieved with an M1A, even with a loaded with a well fitting USGI wood…so go for it. If the cost and weight isn’t a factor, then an M1A in a chassis should make ya happy.
I have and enjoy my M1A for what it is. But if I had to pick between the two for accuracy, or even hard use, I’d take a decent AR-10 any day. There’s a reason the Army, even though it spent years of trying, could never quite successfully turn the M14 platform into a mass produced semi-auto sniper weapon. By contrast, off the shelf AR-10s perform to that level, and do so more cheaply. Of course, if I was just wanting to throw a loaded M1A in the safe, hard to say no to $1300. Tough decision.
Absolutely. I wouldn’t take a Springfield M1a for free. The few that I’ve shot had parts fall off of them. Springfield is simply a marketing company selling guns on the name of the old, REAL Springfield Armory.
If you wanted to curl up by the fire and stare longingly (for accuracy and good ergonomics) at the most over rated rifle of all time, DO IT. If you want to shoot often and try to win a contest against superior technology, which seems to be your case, NO.
If you got a deal like that on a M1A from the 1980s, which was essentially a GI gun on a commercial receiver that would be a different story. At least in that case you’d be getting a great deal in today’s market, for a high quality example of the most over rated rifle of all time.
That money could be much better spent on any number of budget AR10 type guns and yield superior results. M14 pattern guns are like boats-holes that you lose money in but enjoy less. It will never exceed an AR, no matter what you do to it.
I picked up a used N/M M1A, with less than 50 rounds through it, that was made in the early/mid 1990s. They were still using a lot of USGI parts at that time.
I paid less than what an identical new gun went for. Can find deals still out there on them, if you look.
Absolutely. Those GI parts guns still exist on the used market and can be had for great deals at times. They are certainly of much higher quality than many currently produced examples. That wasn’t my point though. If he were talking about an older version, that would at least have some collector value but would only be good as a nostalgic collector gun.
He wants to shoot matches where everyone else is shooting AR pattern guns. His originally mentioned M1A would leave him completely outgunned. That was the point I tried to make. I was trying to save him money.
I’d say get the M1A. Then from there build it up as you wear out components. Best thing is that the M14 type rifles are standardized overall and there is a lot of aftermarket support for them. You don’t need to unitize the gas system if you are shimming but some do. I would just pick up an excellent condition USGI fiberglass stock from Treeline which can be ordered with the upgraded kevlar re-enforcement. There’s a point where you might decide to go with a heavier stock but for what little additional accuracy you might squeeze out of it- may or may not be worth it. I’d be surprised though if the rifle didn’t shoot 1.5 MOA or better. Upgrade the spring guide to a Sadlak NM and get a Sadlak scope mount once you get your irons zeroed. I have two M1A’s. One early five line Springfield with all TRW parts and an LRB M25 with a Saco-Lowell NM barrel. Both are now sitting in USGI fiberglass stocks which some don’t like but I prefer them because they are very utilitarian.
I have a standard, with nothing done to it, which was out with the boys a couple of weekends back. Once the iron sights were adjusted I shot steel at 100, 200 and 300 yards without issue. We decided to skip 400 and go to 5. I hit the silhouette on the first shot. But I admit, I tried three more times and gave up. We couldn’t see where the shots were hitting due to foliage around the target and the steel was just a speck on top of the front sight.
Is this normal for a stock, non-match M1A? I think not. I do have a Super Match, gone over by a gunsmith, and scoped it will shoot 1/2 MOA or less all day.