? Question about Springfield National Match

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Texasred

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Well I went to the gunstore yesterday (Carter's Country) with the intent to buy something nice. It was either a SIG 556 or a Sprinfield M1a. Well due to lack of sights, I went with the M1A. The salesman had 4 rifles one walnut standard $1499, one walnut/carbon national match $1599, and two SOCOMs.
I was attracted to the National Match. But I noticed there was no indication of markings on the gun. He pointed out a small N.M. 308 on the top of the barrel, but nothing else on the gun. He said it was coded by serial numbers and also had a match trigger. For an extra $100 I figured I could upgrade. Once I got home I noticed on the website that National Match rifles come with some sort of 1/2 MOA sights. But mine don't have the hood.

Did I get scammed out of $100? It's a pretty famous shop down here in Texas. What is it that I have?
 
Contact Springfield with the serial & model numbers; ask exactly how this should be configured if it is a "National Match" model.

Then, go back to Carter's with that info from SA in anything is amiss. If there is a problem, give them a resonable opportunity to make it right.

I have not personally conducted busines with Carter's, but have heard many good things about them.
 
I would send an e-mail to Springfield Armory Inc. with your serial number and any questions. In my experience with them they do a good job of getting back to you with good information.
 
It "sounds" like you got a "Loaded" M1a. It comes with the NM barrel, trigger and rear sights without the hood. The hood only gives you .5 moa change in elevation, but the windage is .5 moa on the NM sights, as opposed to 1 moa on the standard.

The going rate for a Loaded over the Standard is @$100-150. So while you may not have gotten a NM rifle, you did not get screwed on a Loaded one.

Contact Springfield, they are good folks to talk to. They will give you the real story.

Good luck and happy shooting.
 
Yeah I guess it's the loaded because I checked the box (DUH) and it mentions the NM BBL. So thats some relief. It also came with some loaded coupons, dunno if that has anything to do with that?
But if it is a loaded, then I did get the match trigger group?
 
If the action and trigger group is glass bedded then you have a national match. If it is not, you have a "loaded". funfaler's description of a loaded is correct. $100 difference from a standard to loaded is about right and you have the important parts, NM barrel, 1/2" sights and nm worked trigger group. You can easily add the hooded rear sight, if you wish.
 
Real NM M1A

Real NM M1A's should have at least a medium barrel marked NM, it should be bedded, it should have a NM trigger group, a NM tuned gas system, NM sights and a NM flash hider. Anything else is not a real NM M1A! Best way to get a real NM M1A, and the best bang for the buck is to purchase a standard M1A, then send it to Springfield Armory and have the experts there rework it to NM level. Surprisingly it does not cost as much as you may think and as I have experienced from comparing to off the bench NM rifles the workmanship is superior as evidenced by the consistancy of the groups it will shoot. I literally have thousands of rounds from my "custom built" NM M1A and it still will shoot nickel sized groups with handloaded ammo at 100 yrd.
 

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Just got back from the range!

Well I just got back with my "LOADED" M1A with walnut stock. It was also the first time I really shot my sort of new SAIGA 308. The other times were in an indoor range and I don't think that counts. Although many people around here think shooting a rifle at 50 yds is good. :confused:

Anyways I shot with some softpoint Monarch, and some kind of military ammo I picked up at a gunshow. I shot 50 rds and my first shot was a bullseye. All other rounds were repeatedly inside the green zone or "kill zone".
4th round failed to return to battery but that was the only hiccup. The last two magazines were grouped very well and I only quit because I was worried about the barrel overheating. What is a reasonable rate of fire? I don't want to burn the barrel out and plan to shoot this rifle for a very long time.

I must add that my Saiga was a big disapointment. It did in fact jam. It is in stock formation with the skeleton stock. The trigger was extremely long backwards and UP!! I was lucky to hit the paper and didn't get anykind of grouping I could measure with a yardstick. Besides the magazines are Expensive and only made in plastic. I have no use for this gun and will sell it to buy more ammo and 20 rounders for the springfield. I guess this gun was all hype and too good to be true for 400 dollars.
I will post pictures soon.
 
The Loaded models have 0.5 MOA windage. Elevation is still 1.0 MOA.

The easiest way to tell a NM from a Loaded is that the NM will have a hooded rear sight.

BTW, which Carter's Country location did you go to? I'd like to go check them out.
 
The Loaded model has a National Match Trigger, sights & barrel. It's also less expensive.
 
Don't worry about 'shooting out" the barrel, they will last 10,000 rounds Plus, not to worry. Even if it gets hot, that is fine. If you 'dump' 20 mags in a row, then you might see some excess wear.

Hey, I want you to truely experience the joy that your new rifle can give you. You NEED to learn to shoot that thing out to 500+ yards in normal field positions. The Appleseed shoots can give you the skills and confidence to do just that! http://www.appleseedinfo.org

These shoots will take your skill to a level to be able to fully utilize your rifle. Find one near you and attend.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, I am happy to help where I can.

By the way, order a bunch of CMI mags from 44mag.com (great mags, at a great price, from great people) or some range T-57 mags from Dan's http://www.dansammo.com/

The CMI are current USGI and can be had for @$24 each, and the T-57s are good working mags and can be had for $75 for 5 shipped.

Buy cheap, stack deep!

Enjoy your new stick!
 
very true

Shooting any type of M1A at 50 yrds. is like driving your Enzo Ferrari in rush hour traffic:) Also a real NM M1A has a lapped roller cammed bolt. In southern Oregon I belong to a club with a range that has the top 18 inches of an acylene tank hung by chain at 650 yrds. It's pretty fun to watch the hunters, can/bottle shooters watch you ring the tank when they have a hard time hitting the paper at a meesley 100 yrds. with their "hunting" rifles. :p
 

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In southern Oregon I belong to a club with a range that has the top 18 inches of an acylene tank hung by chain at 650 yrds.
Click to expand...

Now that is awesome. Extreme jealousy here on my part. I need to try and find some place that goes long like that.
 
aloharover, I moved to southern Oregon about 1 1/2 ago from Denver. I've been to all the ranges in that area and yours but none come close to the range here in Oregon. The picture is only a small part of the range as a whole. The only one I know of in the Denver area is the Buffalo Creek range, an old army range. They hold CMP matches there. Don't know even if is still open to the public
 
My maked eye

My naked eye can't really see it. But with a 14x scope, ahh, now we're talkin
 
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