Thoughts on the M1A?

[JayW]

Yeah. I know. They are expensive and ammo will cost more than a 223.

With that in mind though I've been thinking about getting an M1A for a while now. Been reading here and there but never fired one. Can folks share thoughts on this firearm?

I saw one advertised on Four Season Firearms. Then doing some comparisons found this extensive list of models: Hinterland Outfitters. It is a bit overwhelming with the specific models.

 

[whatluck]

Great choice, awesome battle rifle. I love the SOCOM-16. It's awesomely accurate for a 16" bbl. I also like the older SA match M1A's too.

 

[Mike-Mike]

The M1A is in a different class. You will not be disappointed.

 

[M1911]

I have an M1A "loaded" -- standard length, wood stock. Lovely gun. Great trigger out of the box. Excellent iron sites. Very reliable. Preban magazines used to be more available, but are harder to find now and expensive. The preban mags are very strong -- good stuff.

The M1A is not easy to add a scope (good scope mounts are spendy), and if you want to make it look like an EBR with pistol grip, etc., that is very expensive and results in a 14-lb monster.

 

[JayW]

I have an M1A "loaded" -- standard length, wood stock. Lovely gun. Great trigger out of the box. Excellent iron sites. Very reliable. Preban magazines used to be more available, but are harder to find now and expensive. The preban mags are very strong -- good stuff.

The M1A is not easy to add a scope (good scope mounts are spendy), and if you want to make it look like an EBR with pistol grip, etc., that is very expensive and results in a 14-lb monster.

Thanks.

I just want iron sites and the standard battle rifle with no EBR changes planned. Maybe some internal match upgrades later but that is all.

 

[M1911]

Maybe some internal match upgrades later but that is all.

The first place to start would be bedding the stock.

 

[TheFaz]

The M1A is a great rifle, and if you're just going to use it as-is you should be fine. The weapon is not very "modular", so adding scopes, bipods, pistol grip stocks, etc. is problematic. Also they can be accurate rifles but maintaining that accuracy over several thousand rounds requires work. It's not plug and play like the AR-style .308 rifles. I prefer my FAL over my M1A as a general-purpose .308 rifle, but they are both great guns. Personally I think M1As are overpriced for what they are these days, but that's just me.

 

[M1911]

I prefer my FAL over my M1A as a general-purpose .308 rifle, but they are both great guns. Personally I think M1As are overpriced for what they are these days, but that's just me.

I prefer my M1A over my FAL. The M1A has a much better trigger and better sights. It also balances better for me.

 

[PatMcD]

Buy one, you won't regret it.
Get it the way it was designed: full-length 22" barrel. You aren't going to conceal it, so what's the point of the shorter barrel?

 

[TheRoland]

Heavy, expensive, more expensive to mount things on, not suited to quick manipulation or maneuvering in tight spaces. Not as good as a bolt-gun for just accuracy or target shooting. Not so cheap to shoot, either.

if money was no object, I'd certainly add one to my safe, though.

 

[PaulD]

I have an M1A "loaded" -- standard length, wood stock. Lovely gun. Great trigger out of the box. Excellent iron sites. Very reliable. Preban magazines used to be more available, but are harder to find now and expensive. The preban mags are very strong -- good stuff.

The M1A is not easy to add a scope (good scope mounts are spendy), and if you want to make it look like an EBR with pistol grip, etc., that is very expensive and results in a 14-lb monster.

I agree with all that. It's great!

If someone wants to add a scope, this strikes me as the best way to do it: http://troyind.com/ /battlerails/troy-battlerail-m14

However, I think one of the best things about the M1A is the great iron sights. So I'm going to keep mine as it is. The only mod I made was to add the small, 2" rail piece that replaces the front sling loop. That way I can put a bipod on it if the mood strikes me.

 

[M1911]

If someone wants to add a scope, this strikes me as the best way to do it: http://troyind.com/ /battlerails/troy-battlerail-m14

I'd get one of these: http://www.sadlak.com/si_rifle_parts_sm.html

 

[endus]

Awesome. Have fired both an M1a and a SOCOM16 and loved them both. I do not have much experience with rifles at all but managed to do decently enough at 100 yds with iron sights on both. The SOCOM is really cool because (just from what I have read about it) you're not sacrificing a lot of velocity or accuracy out to a few hundred yards or so. Obviously a loaded full size M1a is going to blow it out of the water several times over shooting really long distances...I'm just saying that the SOCOM is said to be very good for a 16" barrel rifle. Very useful and also very fun to shoot (loud and awesome!)

I eventually want to pick up both an M1a and a SOCOM 16 or SOCOM II (II is kind of heavy) but I will also be planning on learning to reload and getting the stuff to reload .308 when I do. For the time being I am sticking with guns that are cheap to shoot because I am not good enough to really know the difference yet.

 

[Gadsden]

My personal take on the "Standard" M1A (22" bbl) I have experience with:
Pros:
* Best overall " Basic Battle Rifle" I have seen. Well balanced, great sights, VERY dependable. Recoil is not bad at all. Easy to field strip and clean, easy to zero, feeds well.
I have seen a couple at Appleseed shoots go through 600 rounds with no cleaning and no hiccup.

Cons:
Standard model seems to be a 2-4 moa rifle out of the box. Great for what it is made for (a battle rifle), but requires some work and $$$ to be a tack driver.
Adding a scope is a bit of a PITA. Mounts are expensive as hell, although the Pro-Mag knock-off of the ARMS #18 seems to be a good, solid alternative for around $100.
The one I have shot had a VERY annoying "ring" to the flash suppressor. With electronic muffs it was like having a tuning fork being banged in your head. This could have been an issue with that particular rifle, I have shot others that did not have it.

 

[1903Collector]

I have a standard and I love it although I prefer the wood stock. I don't have much use for the SOCOM but that's just me. Getting mags at a decent price can be a pain but if you look around you can find em. You can still get some good deals on ammo if you look around. I am currently saving up for a Fulton or LRB service rifle but have a looooooong way to go.

 

[PatMcD]

The one I have shot had a VERY annoying "ring" to the flash suppressor. With electronic muffs it was like having a tuning fork being banged in your head. This could have been an issue with that particular rifle, I have shot others that did not have it.

That "ring" lets you know it is a genuine forged part and not a cast repro.

 

[Cluster F]

Best rifle i had ever owned hands down.

 

[whatluck]

That "ring" lets you know it is a genuine forged part and not a cast repro.

+1, I learned this from a friend who has an ar-15 that does the same thing.

Have you tried conventional hearing protection?

The harmonic that flash hider spits out is probably too high a frequency for the MOSFETs in your ears to invert, causing clipping, and annoying the crap out of you, and possibly damaging your hearing.

I don't like the theory behind electronic hearing protection. The device creates MORE ENERGY to cancel out the sound from outside.

My hearing is bad, so I've learned to read lips, anyways.

 

[M1911]

I don't like the theory behind electronic hearing protection. The device creates MORE ENERGY to cancel out the sound from outside.

I think you are somewhat confused.

Active noise canceling headphones, like the Bose Quiet Comfort, create noise to cancel out environmental sounds. But they are designed to work with sounds that are mostly steady-state. That is, they work great reducing the noise you hear while on a plane -- far better than passive headphones. But they don't work well on rapidly changing sounds, like voices or gunshots.

Electronic hearing protectors, like Peltor or Wolf Ears are not noise canceling. They do not generate noise to cancel out environmental noise. The only noise reduction they do is passive. They have microphones that pick up external noise, which they play through the speakers in the headphones. When the circuitry picks up the incoming sound of a gunshot, the circuitry cuts off and does not play that noise through the speakers.

As for the theory behind active noise canceling, the theory is not new (basic wave theory), and the technology works and is well tested. But that's not the technology that is in electronic shooting muffs.

 

[Gadsden]

BTW, good info here:
http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/m14typeriflesd.htm

 

[seanc]

IMO..just buy one and shoot it. After a few hundred rounds you can then start to think about adding and changing things. I think that most people end up realizing that it is out of the box a pretty great gun that really does not need to be played around with.

 

[gunclinger]

OK, I can't let this thread fade away just yet

The M1A Scout looks to be an easy platform for adding a scope, but it's a forward-mount. Has anyone used a scoped-Scout and have thoughts on the ergonomics and sighting with the scope at the front of the receiver?

 

[M1911]

OK, I can't let this thread fade away just yet

The M1A Scout looks to be an easy platform for adding a scope, but it's a forward-mount. Has anyone used a scoped-Scout and have thoughts on the ergonomics and sighting with the scope at the front of the receiver?

I haven't done it or used one. I've been interested in the concept and have read a bit about it.

From what I've read about scout style scoped rifles, they generally work best with a low-power (4 or less), extended eye relief scope. So if you are looking to build a long range rifle with a 3-9x scope, a scout style mount won't work well. I've also heard some folks say that scout style scopes don't work well in low-light conditions.

 

[seanc]

forward mount is generally intended for quick target acquisition. generally these scopes are a 1x-2x. IMO, they are generally too tall to not have to put some kind of cheek piece on to raise your head to the level of the scope, or worse, change your head position on the stock.

I find the stock GI type iron site to be better suited for the standard stock. If you are going to put a cheek piece and scope on, why not do a conventional scope (more options)?

The forward rail also has a lot of metal on it, putting the balance point far forward than the receiver and mag. To me this makes the gun seem more heavy than it is and (for me) awkward.

 

[M1911]

If you are going to put a cheek piece and scope on, why not do a conventional scope (more options)?

A decent scope mount for an M1A is pricey. A Sadlak is ~$200.

That said, I don't really see the point of putting a high power scope on an M1A Scout. I can understand an M1A Scout with a forward mounted red dot, or an M1A standard with a high power scope. But putting a high power scope on an M1A Scout seems to be missing the point.

 

[Gadsden]

A decent scope mount for an M1A is pricey. A Sadlak is ~$200.

That said, I don't really see the point of putting a high power scope on an M1A Scout. I can understand an M1A Scout with a forward mounted red dot, or an M1A standard with a high power scope. But putting a high power scope on an M1A Scout seems to be missing the point.

I have this one and it is solid as hell for half the price. Everything I read says it is a ripoff of an ARMS, only half the price:
http://www.opticsplanet.net/pro-mag-m1a-m-14-tactical-steel-scope-mount-black-pm081.html

 

[wargamer2009]

i have 2 SOCOM-16s and a Loaded M1a
i have one minor issue, it started after i gave one of the SOCOMs a good greasing, the bolt stick closed, takes a bit of force to open it.

 

[seanc]

i have 2 SOCOM-16s and a Loaded M1a
i have one minor issue, it started after i gave one of the SOCOMs a good greasing, the bolt stick closed, takes a bit of force to open it.

it could be the grease/ lube/ oil used just got gummed up causing it to stick?
I'd just jam it open clean it out really well, see if it does it while dry.

 

[Dija]

I have an M1A "loaded" -- standard length, wood stock. Lovely gun. Great trigger out of the box. Excellent iron sites. Very reliable. Preban magazines used to be more available, but are harder to find now and expensive. The preban mags are very strong -- good stuff.

The M1A is not easy to add a scope (good scope mounts are spendy), and if you want to make it look like an EBR with pistol grip, etc., that is very expensive and results in a 14-lb monster.

Do you have the extended rail version of the loaded? It at least looks like adding a scope to that could be done with a number of mounts, and there wouldn't be an eye relief issue with something more than 1X.

 

[M1911]

Mine is just the regular loaded edition. No rails.