Springfield M1A - What needs replaced in them?

[goon]

I have read some stuff about certain parts being prone to breakage on new M1A's. Something about mil-spec parts drying up and cheap cast parts being used in their place to save money. Is this just internet BS or is there truth to it?
I have a friend who is interested in an M1A and this is why I ask.
Thanks.

 

[Ed]

Shoot it and when something breaks you can replace it. Seriously. Extractors are prone to break if you follow internet gun boards. I have 2 and neither has failed. They have a lifetime warrenty.

 

[30Cal]

Anything that breaks. The extractors do have a trend of departing their more recently built rifles.

Ty

 

[spartacus2002]

replace the stock extractor and ejector with a USGI extractor and ejector. Beyond that, shoot it til it breaks

You will hear lotsa people say forged is better, and they are probably correct, but what you've got should work fine. I have 3 trigger groups, 2 USGI with match trigger jobs by renowned gunsmiths, the third an SAI cast with a factory trigger job. Wanna bet which has the best trigger pull

 

[Dienekes]

Am coming up on 2K rounds through mine. Other than having it glass bedded and NM mods, I have done nothing to it.

Which is the way a good gun should be.

 

[goon]

The situation is this:
My friend has decided recently that he would like to have a serious, dedicated "tool" (in his words) that would essentially be his "go to" rifle. He is mostly into pistols and bulls eye shooting. He has sort of wanted an M1A for a long time but not if it is going to be a headache.
At any rate, the idea of shooting it till it breaks doesn't inspire confidence. When you guys say that, it almost sounds like you sort of expect them to break. Although the odds are that the rifle would never see any use beyond plinking at the range, in the event that it did ever need to be used to defend life and limb, waiting around for something to break would be most unpleasant.
Am I to understand that the current crop of M1A's are to be considered "toys" as opposed to the weapons that they once were?
Thank you.

 

[SnakeEater]

Seriously, why not spend a few more $$ and get an LRB? You'll get a forged reciever and all USGI parts. Or do like I'm currently doing and buy an LRB reciever, buy all USGI parts seperately, pick out stock, barrel, optics of choice and send to Warbird for assembly ($100).

 

[Stinkyshoe]

Is there a big dif. between a LRB and a NM Springfield as far as accuracy, longevity and performance?
Thanks
Ss

 

[Telperion]

LRB just makes a receiver and that has almost no impact on accuracy. Theoretically, the forged receiver is more durable but I have yet to hear of a Springfield receiver that has fallen apart from old age. On the other hand, some of SA's cast reproduction parts have proven less durable. With a rifle built by a good smith on an LRB receiver, you will get a rifle that has all USGI parts and has been given some individual attention and inspection. It is as close to a USGI M14 as one can get without buying a rare and expensive title II gun. That carries a certain cachet with many people.

 

[Freedomv]

I used the M-1 and M-1A/M-14 for competion shooting for about 8 years. I also repaired and maintained 6 M-1s for our club and several more for fellow shooters.

In all of that time and shooting thousands of rounds of ammo. I only had experinced a couple (2 maybe 3) of broken firing pins, one broken saftey, one broken ejector, one broken trigger pin, one broken hammer spring housing, and I think I may have had a hammer pin break I don't recall for certain. I did see and experince bent and wore op rods on numerous occasions but never a broken (as in 2 pieces) op rod.

Believe it or not ,,, I don't recall broken extractors being a problem although you would think that would have been a given.

I always ground the top/front of the extractors so they did not hit the barrel when the bolt closed and that may have accounted for their not breaking.
A complete spare bolt properly headspaced to the rifle is not a bad idea. I have changed them out without leaving the firing line during matches and it kept me in the game.

Vern

 

[30Cal]

Accuracy for any M14 or clone is probably going to be 2-3 MoA unless you pay for the match tuned one. I don't really see a lot of value added on spending extra $$$ for a forged receiver--I've never ever heard of a cast one that broke or wore out (and they've been around almost 30 years now). I know more than one person who've shot out 3 or more barrels on cast receivers.

I recently shot out my first barrel on my M1A and am still waiting for something to break so I can replace it. I have a USGI bolt, but the rest of the rifle is pretty much commercial reproduction parts.

 

[444]

Just one comment on the M1A I own: I have never touched another one.
The trigger pin broke within a couple hundred rounds. Not sure if this means anything or not.
It is still sitting there waiting for me to fix it.




I remember seeing somewhere a company that would take your Springfield Armory rifle and replace all the aftermarket parts with USGI parts. I now can't remember where I saw it. If I saw it again, I would send them mine. This one pin is indeed a small thing, but my rifle is out of action and I am not happy about it. I am not going to send it to Springfield Armory because I don't want another POS part installed in it's place.

 

[30Cal]

I am not going to send it to Springfield Armory because I don't want another POS part installed in it's place.

Trigger pins are still a dime a dozen, and I don't think there is anyone (besides the chicom rifles) making a reproduction--yours was almost certainly USGI.

Ty

 

[Carnitas]

My Scout model has a couple thousand rounds through it. As it came the rear sight was loose and way to high (20 something clicks). I peened and polished the sight base to tighten up the loop, and I filed the front sight to bring the clicks down to a more stable height. During a match the bolt puked its innards. All I had left was a piece of the ejector spring and the firing pin. Springfield said they would fix it and gave me a return number but they wanted the entire gun, literally "lock stock and barrel". I didnt want to go through the hassle, risk, and down time associated with two cross country mailings just to end up with the same crappy cast parts that failed, so I just ordered all usgi parts (including a chromed firing pin) and replaced them myself in about 5 minutes. Its back to 100 percent function.

If *when* I get another M-14 type it wont be a springfield....it will be a gun put together by a M-14 specialist with parts I've selected and provided to him. But I think for your first M-14 type you're just as well getting a springfield because between personal pereferences and a low starting spot on a learning curve you're likely to spend a lot of money and enegry doing a parts gun and you might not even like the results.

 

[biere]

My personal opinion is that no matter what you have for a rifle, you should have on hand some common parts like springs and firing pins and what not since these tend to be the parts that malfunction and cause problems.

I do not see a problem starting with a springfield or using one of the other options mentioned.

No matter where the rifle came from, I would be ready to accept the fact that some small part might break and cause the rifle to not work. At that point I want the knowledge and tools and the part already in hand so I can get the rifle back up and running.

I personally would shop around and depending on what you friend wants I might go springfield for something in stock and common or go elsewhere for something more difficult to find in stock in a gun shop.

I guess given an equal amount of money and an equal amount of time for the gun to get into my hands I will take a forged receiver and a hand built gun from someone other than springfield.

But for what I want, springfield makes them and they are normally in stock or close by and I have no problem starting from there.

 

[Onmilo]

As everybody else has said, shoot it, you might not feel the need to replace anything.
The guns are good as is, just not spectacular.
If you feel like spending some more money than you already have then replace the extractor and it's spring and plunger with USGI.
I'm 99.9% sure the Springfield spring and plunger are already USGI but why take chances, the part is inexpensive to buy.

If you still feel compelled to switch parts out I would recommend starting with the trigger group first.
Have a gunsmith who knows something about M14s slick up the USGI version.
Take care of this trigger group, lube it and clean it and it should outlast you twice over.
Next replace the bolt with a USGI, Winchester, H&R, Springfield,(The Armory, not the Inc.), or TRW if you really want to spend premium money, It's all good.
Don't use a chrome plated firing pin, stick with plain old steel.
The chrome pins cause more problems than they solve in Springfield Inc. rifles and this is when dimensional differences between the Clone and the real thing show up.

Next and last, replace the operating rod with USGI.
Mind you I have yet to see one of the Springfield Inc. rods that has failed, if you will feel better, replace it.HTH and enjoy your rifle.

 

[John Deere]

The "gotta have" parts kit for an M-14 type rifle, built by anybody, is..., extractor & spring & plunger, ejector & spring, hammer, trigger, and firing pins.
I broke an extractor at 2500 rds, I`m now trying to wear out my secound barrel. That was the only problem I`ve ever had with my M-1A, no FTFs, FTEs or anything!
I would definatly buy another Springfield if I had the funds.
444, you can replace the trgger pin your self, with another G.I. part ,or I think, Smith Enterprizes Inc. has just devloped improved pins for the hammer and trigger. Regards

 

[444]

Now you tell me.
I just ordered one (along with $300 worth of other impulse buys: I couldn't just order one lousy pin) last night. I can't live without the new and improved version.

I have had the trigger apart before. Piece of cake since I have taken numerous M1 triggers apart using the instructions on the superb web page link provided on the CMP website.