Broke my Springfield M1A Scout

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David E

David E

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At a 3-gun match the other day, I had to pull out after the 2nd stage. The rifle failed to fire.

Subsequent disassembly revealed the "roller" on the bolt fell off. The retaining clip or spring appears to be sheared somewhat.

Springfield manual says it requires a special tool to disassemble/reassemble the part.

Anyone hear of this? How common is it? Does it really take a special tool?

What spare parts should one have on hand to keep an M1A running?

Thanks !
 
An SKS...now a M1A...oh the humanity. :eek: Sorry, but no help here.












Wait is this some sort of sick joke...trying to persuade me to quit buying firearms? :fire:
 
Yeah, whats the bid idea? What next? Someone is going to come along and convince me the AK is unreliable.
 
What next? Someone is going to come along and convince me the AK is unreliable.
Click to expand...

It's been 70 years and I don't think there is a living organism that is convinced the AK is unreliable.

David, i'm not familiar with your problem. I don't believe it to be a common one. Contact Springfield.
 
I almost made a joke about needing a special tool to fix an AR15, but I didnt.
 
^^^ True enough. AKs go down, too, though probably less than most other guns.

Getting back to the OP, there is a reason why many serious competitors who use the M1A/M14 carry a complete spare bolt. Won't help you in the middle of a stage, but it will prevent a failure in the bolt from ending your shooting for the day. If you go that route, make sure you have a gunsmith fit it to your gun. AFAIK, it is not a drop-in type deal.

Mike
 
That roller won't come off unless the bolt is flawed. It's not intended to be removed, ever. Send it back. This is a known issue.

Get a USGI extractor. That's the other issue.
 
SSN Vet said:
sounds like the issue is not the M-14/M1A, but rather Springfield Armory...
Click to expand...

I bought a Springfield M1A Scout last week so I guess I'll need to do some preventative maintenance right away. :(

H2O MAN, you're the M1A/M14 guru here so do you have a list, hopefully a short list, of upgrades that you consider mandatory and those that you consider optional but nice to have for Springfield M1A rifles?

Thanks.

:)
 
For all the "SHTF" people, this applies to guns as well as anything else.

Can openers, flashlights, hammers.....

"One is none, two is one".

But yeah, get a complete spare bolt and bolt takedown tool from Fulton or someone like that.
 
Springfield makes alot of M1As every year and their % of failures is low.
My 1999 production Scout was problematic and required 4 warranty repairs before it was kind of reliable.
Springfield replaced their reproduction bolt, op rod and trigger group with USGI TRW parts under warranty.

1858


H2O MAN, you're the M1A/M14 guru here so do you have a list, hopefully a short list, of upgrades that
you consider mandatory and those that you consider optional but nice to have for Springfield M1A rifles?

Thanks.
Click to expand...


I'm not an expert, but my advice to anyone that owns an M1A/M14 is as follows...

1. Field strip, clean/inspect and grease the rifle before firing the first shot.
2. If possible, have a qualified M14 armorer inspect and test fire the rifle.

If it ain't broke don't replace a thing, but you may want to set aside small
bolt parts or even a complete USGI bolt just in case something goes south.
* New bolts need to be head spaced correctly.

On the other hand...

If you have the extra cash and want an extra layer of confidence replace the
reproduction parts with USGI or SEI parts... Bolt, op rod and trigger group.

I use Chinese receivers, op rods, trigger groups, USGI bolts, op rods, trigger groups
and and assortment of parts from Smith Enterprise, Inc.




I hope that helps and yes, get yourself a second M1A/M14 :)




.
 
Last edited:
H20 MAN said:
I hope that helps and yes, get yourself a second M1A/M14
Click to expand...

It took me a year to get this one!! I am very interested in buying a super match that I can use for highpower competitions and they should be a little easier to find compared to the Scout. The Scout that I bought is NIB from Springfield so I wasn't planning on having anyone look at it before firing. I will give it a thorough cleaning obviously.

m1a_super_match.jpg


As for your list, I will be ordering a bolt, op rod and trigger group from SEI forthwith.

Thanks.
:)
 
That roller won't come off unless the bolt is flawed. It's not intended to be removed, ever. Send it back. This is a known issue.
Click to expand...

It is possible that this bolt is flawed, but bolt rollers do come off.

The last year the USMC rifle team used XTC M14's at Camp Perry, I asked one of the team members about what broke on a M14.

One of the things on the list were bolt rollers.

The USMC also cracked receivers, behind the rear sight knobs. If you notice, Springfield Armory INC added material to the sidewalls of their receivers.

The USMC shooter could not think of an operating rod failure, I think operating rod failures are very rare, though one happened to a bud of mine. He had 30,000 rounds through his rifle, and six barrels.
 
I've seen 2 or 3 and all with reproduction bolts. That roller really shouldn't come off for hell or high water.


The only spares I own are mags, springs, a set of pins and a set of bolt guts. The chances of needing anything beyond that during one's lifetime are extremely low. I'd rather have ammo than dust-collecting parts.
 
One thing I want to point out, had I decided not to shoot that 3-gun match, the Scout would still be in the safe with me not knowing it only had 42 shots before it broke. Otherwise, I don't know when, exactly, I would've taken it to the range.

If I could only take one long gun, it would've been this one. It has been my SHTF, TEOTWAWKI survival or GOOD (Get Out Of Dodge) gun,

Lesson: SHOOT YOUR GUNS !

*Shoot your serious guns even more and buy spare parts. (I'll be getting a second complete bolt)
 
One thing I want to point out, had I decided not to shoot that 3-gun match, the Scout would still be in the safe with me not knowing it only had 42 shots before it broke. Otherwise, I don't know when, exactly, I would've taken it to the range.

If I could only take one long gun, it would've been this one. It has been my SHTF, TEOTWAWKI survival or GOOD (Get Out Of Dodge) gun,

Lesson: SHOOT YOUR GUNS !

*Shoot your serious guns even more and buy spare parts. (I'll be getting a second complete bolt)
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Another reason to own a gun in a cheap caliber. You do gotta shoot it.
 
David E said:
*Shoot your serious guns even more and buy spare parts. (I'll be getting a second complete bolt)
Click to expand...

SEI doesn't seem to sell M1A bolts at present. I couldn't find any on their website.

:)
 
NIW USGI bolts are listed on GunBroker.com

SEI plans on offering new bolts in the future... probably the distant future.
 
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