Christmas came early for me.

[Joni Lynn]

I've always wanted one of these so today I went and adopted this one.
Springfield Armory M1A National Match
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/Joni_Lynn/M1Aleft.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/Joni_Lynn/M1Aright.jpg
Aside from a couple AR style rifles this is my only other gun of this kind, most of my others are bolt guns.

[Bodydoc447]

Merry Christmas to you! Very nice rifle!

Doc

[kbstenberg]

Was the adoption process difficult

[Joni Lynn]

Not at all, just filled out a form, signed my name and parted with a bunch of dead presidents.

[slim1836]

Wow, you must have been a very good girl.
I know I won't find one of those under my Christmas tree.
Keep us posted on which loads you come up with.

Slim

[I'll Make Mine]

If I'm lucky and don't do anything bad between now and next Friday, I'll probably get a nice new Marlin 795 -- nothing like as nice as an M1A, but lots cheaper to shoot... ;)

[Doc Highwall]

Joni Lynn, are you going to shoot cast boolits or full length gas check bullets?

[Trey45]

You should have gotten two so you could give one to me!
Very nice rifle, I hope you enjoy it!

[dragonrider]

Looks nice, let us know how it shoots. :drinks:

[nhrifle]

You are going to fall in love with that rifle. I had one of those a few years ago, unfortunately a momentary lapse of judgement saw me trading it for something else. It was one of the most accurate and smoothest shooting rifles I ever had. I competed with it in Highpower matches and the guys who were pulling targets accused me of having a scope on it. Check Jim Owen's website jarheadtop.com. He has some excellent information on care, maintenance and reloading for these rifles.

[NuJudge]

Congrats on buying a great rifle. You probably know some of the following:

Don't take it out of the stock a lot or it will get loose in it and not shoot as well. You want lots of tension when closing the trigger guard.

When I first got one in '78, the National Guard Team shooter instructing me said to not disassemble the gas system, just use an eye dropper and put some Hoppes in the gas vent in the bottom, but that was wrong. Get the tooling to disassemble it right to remove carbon in the piston & plug or groups will grow.

Ten shot mags like that are a pain to change. If you are limited to 10 round capacity, I have seen followers with an extension on the bottom that limits a 20 round mag body to holding 10 rounds.

There is a commercial cleaning rod guide available that fits over the flash hider to protect your muzzle rifling, and it is worth getting. You can also use a deprimed shotshell hull.

Mine like to be greased anywhere the finish wears through, and especially the tab on the rear/bottom of the Op Rod, which keeps the rifle from disassembling itself.

[PS Paul]

Oh, that's just plain gorgeous, Joni. Expensive too, eh? If I had just one rifle to keep me and my family safe in a natural disaster scenario, this would be the one.....

[Joni Lynn]

Thanks for the info. I've never even fired one of these before and I need to be able to properly care for/lube/clean this beauty. Knowing how to load the more accurate ammo is also a plus.
The gas system disassembly and cleaning tool is available from where?
I have other mags on order as well as a bunch of LC brass.

[nhrifle]

There are several sources for supplies for your rifle, but the best I can think of is fultonarmory.com. Those guys have been building and repairing them for years and literally wrote the book on the M14 and M1A. Several books, actually. They have all the parts and tools you will need as well as a wealth of information you need to know about how to use and maintain is. Give it lots of love and care and it will never let you down.

[Dean D.]

That's a beautiful rifle Lynn. Your gonna really enjoy it!

[NuJudge]

There is a guy by the name of Zediker who has written a lot on the AR, and I seem to remember him writing on the M1A too, and some of it he posted for free on the Internet. I will try to find links tomorrow.

I believe you will find supplies & parts cheaper at Creedmoor and Champion's Choice.

THE LOAD for that rifle for many years was 41.5 gr of either 4895 and a 168 gr Sierra. If it won't shoot with that, it won't shoot period. In the 1990's, a lot of people switched to heavier bullets and Varget, which is a ballistic clone of 4064 but less temperature sensitive, but it has never worked for me. I used Federal primers until about 1995, then switched toWinchester because of availability. I've always used LC brass. There is a link associated with New Jersey high power that has extensive .308, .30 & .223 load data that is very informative.

You will need a sling. Lots of people like leather slings still. I have always used M1 & M14 web slings, because they are infinitely adjustable. The best web slings are nylon and they never wear out. Cotton web wears out, and I think they are stretchier. Rig a web sling so it pulls tighter on your arm: the rump website of a retired scope stand maker named RayVin has the best description of it.

If you are right handed, when shooting it, keep your left hand fingers off the op rod or your groups may well triple in size. Rest the forearm in your left palm and keep the fingers far away from the flat portion of the rod hiding the barrel.

Consistent head position will keep your groups from moving around the target. The method taught me was to wrap my right thumb over the stock wrist and put my cheek bone just behind it. It gives me a small bruise on my cheek, a small price to pay for consistency.

You will need to blacken your sights, as you do with your 1911. The RayVin smoker is now sold by Creedmoor, and is the only one I know of being made.

[Joni Lynn]

Thanks, I just got a bit of LC brass and now just need the powder and bullets and I can load up a few. I'm going to hold off shooting it until I am more educated on how to lube it and normal maintenance.
I am right handed when shooting rifles/shotguns. Thanks for the tip.

[NuJudge]

Links:
M14 tech manual: http://www.perfectunion.com/pdf/M14%20-%20DIRECT%20SUPPORT%20AND%20GENERAL%20SUPPORT%20-%20TM%209-1005-223-34.PDF
M14 Field Manual: http://www.scribd.com/doc/2513173/Army-FM-238-M14-and-M1A-Rifles-and-Rifle-Marksmanship
M1A Manual: http://www.scribd.com/doc/21398172/M1A-Rifle-spring-Field-Armory-manual
Another group of lube, disassembly guides: http://www.independencearmory.com/downloads.htm
M14 history & development: http://www.imageseek.com/m1a/M14%20RHAD%20Online%20Edition%20070603%20nb.pdf
Another M14 history: http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/m14typeriflesd.htm
US Army movie on operating M14: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1Kgnh4neVaY
Operating the leather M1907 sling: http://www.rifleslings.com/us_1907_sling2.htm
Operating the web sling: http://www.rifleslings.com/Garand_Sling.htm
RayVin on Web slings: http://www.ray-vin.com/tech/websling/webslinghelp.htm
RayVin sight smoker: http://www.sbsdistributing.com/index.php?pr=Ray-Vin_SuperSmoker
Zediker on handloads for the M1A: http://www.zediker.com/downloads/14_loading.pdf
Look under the tab "Reloading Stuph" in the upper left corner here: http://www.njhighpower.com/
Discussion forums:
http://www.usrifleteams.com/forums/index.php?&act=idx
http://www.jouster.com/forums/
http://m14forum.com/forums.php
Champion's Choice equipment:
Rod Guide: http://www.champchoice.com/detail.aspx?ID=790
Gas system tools: http://www.champchoice.com/detail.aspx?ID=721
Chamber brush: http://www.champchoice.com/detail.aspx?ID=716
Maintenance video: http://www.champchoice.com/detail.aspx?ID=2744
Fulton Armory is closed for the holidays
Creedmoor surprised me by not haveing much M1A stuff.
The best shop manual for M1/M14/M1A: http://www.amazon.com/U-S-Caliber-Operated-Service-Rifles/dp/B0006F5XOW

[captain-03]

Someone who appreciates a real battle rifle -- wood and steel!! You will really enjoy that rifle .... hope as much as I do enjoy mine!! Nice score ....

[Joni Lynn]

Thanks for the info. I'll give it a good look thru as soon as I get a bit more time. This M1A may turn out to be one of the best addictions yet. (previous/current addictions are 1911's and S&W N frames as well as many others)

I joined the M14 forum today. Thanks.

[NuJudge]

One more link (look down at the bottom): http://web.archive.org/web/20020202030503/www.shootingworld.net/lane/csptips.html

[Three44s]

Very good choice Joni Lynn!!

My very existence (according to my wife) is that I keep "her" M1 Garrand!

Three 44s

[NuJudge]

Any non-Match military 7.62x51 brass you get today is likely to have been fired in Machineguns, which are notorious for loose headspace and chamber dimensions, so it takes a lot to size it down. In view of this, a case gauge is something you should invest in. With brass fired in Machineguns, I have sometimes needed to use a Small Base Full Length size die to get the brass to where it would chamber freely. Brass that does not chamber freely may give you an out of battery explosion.

A few more links:
http://www.exteriorballistics.com/reloadbasics/gasgunreload.cfm
http://www.jarheadtop.com/articles_ReloadQuant.htm

[Joni Lynn]

Thanks, I bought a box of pull down primed LC brass. All I need to do is make sure it's ready to load, powder/bullet and go shoot.
Thanks for the links.
I can't decide what bullets to buy. I could wait for a while until the 168 pull down bullets show up again or buy Sierra 168's. Any thoughts?

[Doc Highwall]

The 168 Sierras are a good bullet and is what I would have recommended until Sierra came out with the 175 grain MatchKing's.

Joni Lynn, if you are only going to shoot 300 yards and under go with the cheaper 168 grain pulled bullets, but if you are going to shoot 600 yards and farther I would go with the 175 grain bullets. You could even use the 168 grain bullets for 200-300 yard shooting and switch to 175's for farther shooting like in national match shooting.

[Tazman1602]

You aren't related to my wife are you??? You are a girl after my own heart kiddo! That rifle is *almost* as pretty as you.....................GREAT GUN! You will enjoy the heck out of it!

Art

[Joni Lynn]

Now days I'm related to almost no one. Most everyone has gone on.
Thanks for the bullet info. I'm not finding much in the way of 168 grain pulled bullets right now so I may end up using something I have or ordering some Sierra 168's.

[runfiverun]

out to 300 yds the winchester 147 fmj's will shoot quite well.
the crimp groove is in the right place for the m-14 too.
i trim my 08's a little short for the end of the chambers neck and seat to the crimp groove for flawless feeding.
42 grs of imr 4895 and the cci standard primer does the trick for me [only jaxketed 308 load i use really]
been using it since i got my win-100 and have never seen a reason to change.
it even does well in my ar-30 [same rounds from the same box for the m-14 will hover at an inch off the bi-pod],and ruger all weather [except i change to a hornady interlock for deer hunting]

[HighHook]

We are slobbering all over that beautiful rifle. Now please let us know how it shoots, of course we already know.

[Tazman1602]

Now days I'm related to almost no one. Most everyone has gone on.
Thanks for the bullet info. I'm not finding much in the way of 168 grain pulled bullets right now so I may end up using something I have or ordering some Sierra 168's.

Joni I think I may have some Sierra 168gr hpbt match in the loading room I don't use much, they're molybdenum coated, need me to check?

Art

[sav300]

Aw man,that would get me at least 10 years cancellation of my shooters license and removal of all my firearms and loading gear! sigh.
ps ,very nice.

[Joni Lynn]

Thanks for the offer but I'm not going to run any moly coated bullets through the rifle.

[ffg]

I named mine Thumper , it just seemed to match the beast .

[o6Patient]

!I need to get a much larger Christmas stocking..and be very good this year.