M14 / M1A accuracy

[Itsadryheat]

I have a few M14/M1a rifles and disagree with some folks comments.
I believe the platform has one of the smoothest recoil impulses out of any semi-auto 308 I have had the pleasure to shoot. I have match grade to standard rifles.. the standard shoots 1.75 moa with military spec ammo and 1.0 with match ammo.. all I have done is a trigger job, shimmed the gas cylinder and added a NM guide rod . I have a Smith Enterprise Crazy horse M14 in a USGI stock that shoots under 1moa constantly.. of course it's a massaged rifle that was hand built by SEI... As shown in the pic below I have a few..
I have owned POF, DPMS, Armalite AR-10 rifles.. POF was junk and heavier than sin, the others were ok... the moral of the story is a M1a Scout If touched up a little, trigger, shimmed gas cylinder a good steel mount Smith enterprises or Sadlak is a good 1.5 moa or better rifle... This is a battle rifle!! Not a precision rifle, that performs well..

 

[J E Custom]

Lots of opinions and they are probably true for the person posting but I have one and it would be my go to if an apocalyptic event were to happen for many reason.

Mine is a Springfield and it is as good/accurate as any AR 15 I have. The barrel is the original and will shoot well all the time. I have the composite stock, but prefer the match weight wood one. It is bedded and has held up well as long as I release the trigger assembly (Like you are supposed to). My brother built it and it loves the M8 52 NM. Mine will shoot well under 1 MOA and that's more than I expected.

I also adapted one of my muzzle brakes on it that took the recoil down over 50% in order to keep the steal but plate and it is a sweetheart to shoot now. It is an improvement over the already great M1 and for a battle rifle, it exceeds my needs and as I said, it would be my go to rifle in bad times.

I find nothing but good to say about the M14/ M1a for its intended use and it's dependability and accuracy.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[436]

Was wondering if anyone knows about accurizing these rifles.
In one of the Chandler brothers DFA books they state that the Army has had a rough time keeping the M14 "tuned"...
Is this rifle type really that difficult to accurize?
I don't own an M1A yet but wouldn't mind having a Squad Scout set-up.
Thanks.

It would depend on how tuned you'd like to keep it'..., that's more about what the M1A is about. I have an NM service rifle model loaded that I've used for many years and it still stays in the 3/4 to 1 moa all day long range with my 168gr loads. Now, I'm sure if I hit the range regularly or just pounded steel in the hills day after day it would need some tuneup due to movement in the stock. I have a synthetic stock on mine, I know guys that are constantly re-bedding their rifles, most of them being match shooters and M1A geeks with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
As for the Army, they beat the hell out of the M14 upgrades and keep the Armorers pretty busy trying to keep the accuracy where the end-user wants it. I found that replacing a few of the rifles parts with some of the high-end aftermarket M1A goodies (not bling, bling! ) equipment that really works'.., seemed to have a favorable outcome in the end over the years. Just my take and .02

 

[Jud96]

My Dad was a member of the Army Marksmanship Unit in the late 80s when the M1A was in its prime as a competition rifle. He learned there how to properly build them. If you don't bed them right or put them together right you'll have problems, just like any rifle. There's a lot to people who have slapped them together and they don't have success with them. They're one of the most involved rifles to build and bed. If they're done right, they'll shoot 1/2 MOA legitimately. He said their rifles all had to shoot sub MOA at 300 yards when they built them. That's with military ammo, not handloads. When they loaded match ammo for them they did even better. He built his own M1A with a Hart barrel and mounted a M25 scope mount on it with a Nikon 6-18x. I've shot it multiple times over the years and it's a beast of a rifle. It will shoot ragged hole groups at 100 yards with 168gr SMKs at 2650fps. It has never "lost tune" or stopped shooting in the past 30 years he has had it and shot it. It's not abused or beat on, but it gets shot and used and it impresses me every time we take it out.