Springfield M1A

[Chris Uratchko]

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=70202878


I need this gun.... very badly. Just can't bring myself to spend 1500 on a gun when the racecar needs parts.

[O.C White]

That's a pretty accurate rifle out of the box. Pretty consistent trigger pull on that thing.

[Greg2]

pardon my ignorance, but that looks like an M-14?

[O.C White]

pardon my ignorance, but that looks like an M-14?


They strongly resemble each other Greg. You would have to see them in person to see the subtle differences.

[Greg2]

ok, thanks. When I saw "M1" I was thinking of the old M1 carbine like my uncle carried in Korea. He used to tell me that when they started to switch the units over from the old M1 to the M-14, all the guys bitched. I asked why, and he said you could drop an M1 off a cliff into a lake, dig it out of the mud at the bottom, and it would still fire. The (then new) M-14 had a lot of reliability problems. He hated it.

[O.C White]

M-16's got a lot of G.I's killed in Vietnam. I have never understood this NATO thing with the 5.56 as the standard round. German Army has assault rifles with 7.62 rounds, they are part of NATO.

[Greg2]

Me neither. I've never been in the military, but I've done a little range shooting. When my Dad taught my brother and I to shoot a .22 rifle at the local range, and then I realized that 5.56mm was .223, I didn't get it. Not to compare the two rounds as equal, but I couldn't understand why anyone would want such a small caliber in combat. Of course, my Dad and Uncle are firm believers in .45 and .30-06. I always thought that 7.62 would be a better choice for combat, considering the enemy doesn't stand behind a paper target.

[O.C White]

I have to give it to the 5.56 in urban terrain, and inside 300 meters, it is alright. But out past that and the accuracy get's a little iffy, and so does the stopping power.

I tried to implement a program into the military that got away from center mass as an aiming point. Reason being heck just lok at any photo of a terrorist or U.S military person, they are wearing so much stuff on their chest, it is hard for any round to penetrate that. We do not teach enough failure drills if you ask me. Alas my program was shot down because it would be a little harder to qualify.

30.06 is a serious round for sure. Real stable bulet. A match grade 7.62 round is some serious stuff also.

[Greg2]

I saw a TV documentary that said police snipers sometimes choose 5.56 so as not to overpenetrate. They have to worry about civilian hostages. A foot soldier generally does not. It just seems when it comes to stopping power and a flat trajectory at distance, a larger caliber would be better suited to the majority of combat engagements.

[O.C White]

For a guy that's not military you definitely got a good handle on ammo, trajectory, and the like. Good verbage also.

Most police snipers will carry what they need depending on distance. I went to the urban sniper course holy crap man, talk about a guessing game. Wind changes things big time in an urban environment. Where you are perched the wind might be calm, and where the target is it might be blowing 25 miles an hour in a cross wind.

[Greg2]

For a guy that's not military you definitely got a good handle on ammo, trajectory, and the like. Good verbage also.

Thanks Carl. When I was in high school, a friend of mine had an older brother who was in the Marine Corps. I was told by my friend that his brother was a sniper for a Force Recon Unit? I apologize if I have that wrong. Anyway, his brother never talked much. By the time I met him, he was in the Reserves, and his full time job was as a search and rescue diver for the county sheriff's dept.- scuba was his other passion.

He was pretty quiet, but when I would go to the house, he was often cleaning one of his extensive firearms collection. He had a bunch- everything from military style assault rifles to civil war black powder rifles, vintage shotguns, all sorts of handguns, and I remember a couple of very old Mausers that were supposed to be worth quite a bit of money.

He was quiet, but always polite, and always was nice enough to take a minute and show me how to clean or aim something. The verbage I picked up from trying to follow along as he explained things to me.

[Greg2]

Gosh, now you got me remembering, lol. My friend was the youngest of 3 brothers. Dad and the oldest 2 were in the Marines. My friend enlisted, but before graduation he was in a car accident, thanks to a drunk driver. His knee was shattered, and the Marines waived him for medical reasons.

Gun collecting was a hobby of the whole family. I remember they had gun safes in the house as furniture, lol.

[FordRacing250]

the M1A is an awsome weapon.. The loaded version is pretty damn accurate out of the box. hell all of the M1A's i have shot are very accurate. Im looking to get the socom version sometime soon before CA tries to ban it here. saving my pennies... I would love to pick up an Ohio Ord. BAR.... semi auto off course... its a heavy ole beast but would be 1 hell of a shooter i think.. waiting to take a trip out to the desert to test out the one my friend picked up... $3500 is steep.. but i think its worth it.

[Chris Uratchko]

The M1A is a large bodied gun. Much bigger than the Mini 14's or the M1 carbines....

I have an 'underwood' M1 Carbine.... nice gun.

[taxman]

I would love to pick up an Ohio Ord. BAR.... semi auto off course... its a heavy ole beast but would be 1 hell of a shooter i think.. waiting to take a trip out to the desert to test out the one my friend picked up... $3500 is steep.. but i think its worth it.

You want a Winchester BAR, they made the best ones. They may be heavy, but it's easy to shoot and deadly accurate.

Your right Gunny, that 30-06 doesn't have a lot of competition out there.

[Shelton_Barrs]

I love my 30-06. Bolt action Remington. Very nice, haven't shot it much, actually my brother-in-law has shot it more than I have. He took it to Texas an took down 2 nice deer with it. Looking forward to shooting it more in the future when my life calms down some more.

[George Klass]

The M1 was the standard issue rifle when I was in the Army. Heavy bastard to hump around (9 1/2 pounds if I recall). The M16's had just come out and we were issued these things as we got on the planes for the Cuba thing. Never fired one, learned how to take 'em down while we were on the plane. I later heard about their unreliability issues when they got wet or sandy.

I never got an "M1 thumb" but I saw alot of guys that did, LOL.

[O.C White]

I later heard about their unreliability issues when they got wet or sandy.



Talk about understatement of the year, man you ain't kidding. Do you know there are 5 different versions of the M16.

The M16 didn't have a forward assist on it, when it first debutted in the 60's and was causing major jamming problems.

M16-A1 came with a forward assist and a new flash suppressor. The forward assist was implemented to help in getting rid of the problems of the bolt not completely going forward when a round was chambered. My company in boot camp was the last recruit company to fire the A1 in basic training, way back in 1985.

M16-A2 was a major improvement over the A1. New sights, a much stiffer barrel, different flash suppressor, and the new 3 round burst to control ammo expenditure. The 3 round burst got rid of the spray and pray mentality. New sights knobs made it easier to adjust the windage and elevation.

M16-A3 just made the barrel the same size and a more stable weapon.

M16-A4 employed a lot of new trick. A fixture for a forward held pistol grip, new handguards, and a rail fixture for all the bells and whistles you want to attach to it.

[O.C White]

Thanks Carl. When I was in high school, a friend of mine had an older brother who was in the Marine Corps. I was told by my friend that his brother was a sniper for a Force Recon Unit? I apologize if I have that wrong. Anyway, his brother never talked much. By the time I met him, he was in the Reserves, and his full time job was as a search and rescue diver for the county sheriff's dept.- scuba was his other passion.

He was pretty quiet, but when I would go to the house, he was often cleaning one of his extensive firearms collection. He had a bunch- everything from military style assault rifles to civil war black powder rifles, vintage shotguns, all sorts of handguns, and I remember a couple of very old Mausers that were supposed to be worth quite a bit of money.

He was quiet, but always polite, and always was nice enough to take a minute and show me how to clean or aim something. The verbage I picked up from trying to follow along as he explained things to me.

Nothing to apologize for Greg. Your verbage is excellent. We have 3 Force Recon Units throughout the Marine Corps. One on the west and east coast, and one in Okinawa.

[MCM]

The M16 didn't have a forward assist on it, when it first debutted in the 60's and was causing major jamming problems.

M16-A1 came with a forward assist and a new flash suppressor. The forward assist was implemented to help in getting rid of the problems of the bolt not completely going forward when a round was chambered. My company in boot camp was the last recruit company to fire the A1 in basic training, way back in 1985.I heard the jamming problem was due to the chamber not being chrome lined as specified by it's designer, Eugene Stoner. It seems that the military thought it was unnecessary at the time, and could save a few bucks.:roll:

[George Klass]

Wasn't there some kind of litigation involving the M16 Carl? I remember, or thought I did, that some of the Vietnam troops raised holy hell about the M16 issues, threatened to sue over it because so many guys were killed when the damn things jammed. I thought I recall some kind of big stink over it.

[Shelton_Barrs]

Wasn't there some kind of litigation involving the M16 Carl? I remember, or thought I did, that some of the Vietnam troops raised holy hell about the M16 issues, threatened to sue over it because so many guys were killed when the damn things jammed. I thought I recall some kind of big stink over it.

I seem to remember something about that also. Can't quite recall the details, though.

[George Klass]

Shelton, here is a tid bit for Carl. It's long but a great story, about the Marines, the M-16 and polititics in Vietnam.

http://jdumong.net/delta/m-16Part1.htm

[Chris Uratchko]

George the M1 Carbine is a small gun very light, shoots .30 carbine rounds.

I think you're thinking about the M1 Garand.

[taxman]

Wasn't there some kind of litigation involving the M16 Carl? I remember, or thought I did, that some of the Vietnam troops raised holy hell about the M16 issues, threatened to sue over it because so many guys were killed when the damn things jammed. I thought I recall some kind of big stink over it.

They cheated on the powder for the ammo in the begining and a lot of GIs died. The Colt spec was not adhered to and the guns would jam and fail.

[purpleplymouth]

I have a Mini-30, 7.62 all the pre-ban goodies. has an issue I need to get fixed though. It will dent the primer but not fire. Not every round but often enough to be a problem. I am thinking weak spring or bad firing pin. any thoughts?

[Greg2]

George the M1 Carbine is a small gun very light, shoots .30 carbine rounds.

I think you're thinking about the M1 Garand.

The Garand is .30-06, that's the one my Dad and Uncle liked so much. They said that thing was a brick, but reliable.

[taxman]

The Garand is .30-06, that's the one my Dad and Uncle liked so much. They said that thing was a brick, but reliable.

I think Patton said it was what won the war. Great weapon, the only trouble was it let everyone know when you were out of ammo. Oh yeah, and "M1 thumb". My brother still has a Winchester M1-D1 sniper.

[Shelton_Barrs]

Shelton, here is a tid bit for Carl. It's long but a great story, about the Marines, the M-16 and polititics in Vietnam.

http://jdumong.net/delta/m-16Part1.htm

Thanks George, I truly appreciate it. I'm 40 and Viet Nam is still tough for me to read about. I sincerely hope that McNamara (among others) is slowy roasting in Hell somewhere....

[jay 540 firebird]

I've had mine for 13 years, not one jam, can place 20 rouns at 100 yards about the size of your fist with iron sights and crappy ammo, I sent mine back to springfield arms 10 years ago to get it done up National match, Man was it worth the money! Out of all my stuff, this one I will never sell off! Springfield has a deal now were you can get a LOADED standard M1A , Match barell , tuned gas system and match sights for a standard price. Well worth the money.

[George Klass]

I never fired the Carbine, just the standard issue M1, the .30-06. All of our original traing fire was done at Ft. Ord. It rained up there at least every other day and the range was near the beach area and I don't ever recall anyone having any type of misfire or jamming. Again, this was all prior to the M16's being released. The M1's were very reliable (but heavy). I had heard that the majority of weapons we were issued came out of the Korea era.