Springfield Armory M1A

[Phosphorus32]

Not truly a milsurp, but the closest you can get to an M14 without entering NFA territory.

This is a fairly early Springfield Armory^TM M1A that was made with predominantly milsurp parts other than the receiver. The barrel and bolt are TRW (Thompson Ramo Wooldridge), the fire control group is HR (Harrington and Richardson), operating rod is Winchester, rear sight is WCE (Wico Electric), stock is Sykes Mfr. (sub-contractor to Springfield Armory, the federal entity) and it has an early style ventilated handguard. It was also made before the AWB of 1994 went into effect, so it retains two of the scary features specifically called out in that legislation, a flash hider and a bayonet lug.

[Bacarnal]

Nice one, Jon.  I think that's one of the "Golden Era"  M1A's.  Early enough to have the military goodies before the AWB as you'd mentioned,  but late enough that Springfield had worked all the bugs out.  Very nice stock!!

Used to have one in that serial range, always like the looks, but for some reason I'm more comfortable shooting the Garand.

[Phosphorus32]

Nice one, Jon.  I think that's one of the "Golden Era"  M1A's.  Early enough to have the military goodies before the AWB as you'd mentioned,  but late enough that Springfield had worked all the bugs out.  Very nice stock!!

Used to have one in that serial range, always like the looks, but for some reason I'm more comfortable shooting the Garand.

Thanks Bruce! Good to know it's in the Golden Era.

I've been looking off and on for over a year. This one came along at a recent auction and I got if for a bit less than I was willing to spend, and only $100 more than a new production example at my LGS. Very happy with it so far and looking forward to trying it out vs. the M1 Garand.

[Bob_The_Student]

Very nice rifle P32. I had a low number Fed Ord. that I sold earlier in the year. I'm looking to pick another M1A back up in the future. Although I may go Socom on my next one but I love the look of the original M1A, so who knows.

[Phosphorus32]

Very nice rifle P32. I had a low number Fed Ord. that I sold earlier in the year. I'm looking to pick another M1A back up in the future. Although I may go Socom on my next one but I love the look of the original M1A, so who knows.

Thanks Bob! Yeah, lots of variants on these. For my first and perhaps only M1A, I figured I'd go with as close to the original look of the M14 as possible. I may get one of the Fulton Armory fake selector switches to fill that gap in the back of the stock.

https://www.fulton-armory.com/selectorswitchnon-functioningreplicasteelparkerized.aspx

[Bob_The_Student]

Love all the GI parts on it. Do you have mags for it other than the Winchester I think that is if I remember correctly.

[Greasemonkey]

  oh that's nice  nothing says lovin like a M1A/M14 flashhider.

I still just have one of them... cheapie preban Chinese knockoff M1As... 

[Larry D.]

I've played around with a few, including an M14E2.
Owned a Norkie M14S with the cool mods for about a year and a half. I just couldn't bring myself to love it the way I thought I should.

Yours is a great rifle, and should give you a lifetime of service.

The end of my search for a 308 I could love ended with the FAL type rifles.

[Phosphorus32]

Love all the GI parts on it. Do you have mags for it other than the Winchester I think that is if I remember correctly.

It came with just the one Borg Warner magazine but I purchased an OM (Olin Mathieson; Winchester) magazine off of GunBroker. The USGI magazines aren’t cheap 

[Phosphorus32]

  oh that's nice  nothing says lovin like a M1A/M14 flashhider.

I still just have one of them... cheapie preban Chinese knockoff M1As... 

Thanks! That was definitely one of the selling features for me 

[Phosphorus32]

I've played around with a few, including an M14E2.
Owned a Norkie M14S with the cool mods for about a year and a half. I just couldn't bring myself to love it the way I thought I should.

Yours is a great rifle, and should give you a lifetime of service.

The end of my search for a 308 I could love ended with the FAL type rifles.

M14E2 

Thanks Larry. I have a FAL too, which is a great shooter. We’ll see which I like better but the FAL will definitely be hard to beat.

[carls sks]

nice one. thanks for sharing. makes me start thinking about m14's.

[Larry D.]

Phos - The thing with the M14 types for me is my height.

I'm short, so the ergo's on the FAL just suit me better. I have no doubt that if I was 6 feet tall, I'd still have the Norkie.

I'll keep my eyes open for some mags at a good price. Every now and then one will pop up in a junk pile of milsurp stuff.

Of course, you're gonna need GI mag pouches, bolt tool, cleaning kit and grease pot for the stock, and so on and so forth. That's the way I'm wired. I get a milsurp firearm, I just GOTTA get every accessory I can..


And yeah, that E2 was something else. Even with the forward grip, it was a handful to control.
I used to hang out with some very interesting guys, and was able to go hands on with some really cool stuff.
I missed out on a civil war cannon, a WWII Navy deck gun, and some 40mm goodness because the ex had me on a massive honeydew list which mainly consisted of waiting on a roofing contractor that didn't show up until 2:00 in the afternoon for his 8AM appointment.

[Larry D.]

nice one. thanks for sharing. makes me start thinking about m14's.

Do it......

DO IT!!

[Phosphorus32]

Phos - The thing with the M14 types for me is my height.

I'm short, so the ergo's on the FAL just suit me better. I have no doubt that if I was 6 feet tall, I'd still have the Norkie.

I'll keep my eyes open for some mags at a good price. Every now and then one will pop up in a junk pile of milsurp stuff.

Of course, you're gonna need GI mag pouches, bolt tool, cleaning kit and grease pot for the stock, and so on and so forth. That's the way I'm wired. I get a milsurp firearm, I just GOTTA get every accessory I can..


And yeah, that E2 was something else. Even with the forward grip, it was a handful to control.
I used to hang out with some very interesting guys, and was able to go hands on with some really cool stuff.
I missed out on a civil war cannon, a WWII Navy deck gun, and some 40mm goodness because the ex had me on a massive honeydew list which mainly consisted of waiting on a roofing contractor that didn't show up until 2:00 in the afternoon for his 8AM appointment.

At 5' 11" a long LOP is never a problem for me. What to do with my grip position for my long fingers generally is more problematic

I do have an M14 cleaning kit or two somewhere in one of my bins, purchased years ago. I have a sling and spare mag coming. I'm watching a couple of M6 bayonets on ebay, and was looking at Vietnam era mag pouches...so, yeah, I guess I have the same issue 

Sheesh, I'd hate to miss out on those big boys you had a shot at, especially the deck gun and 40mm  I've never fired a full auto anything, so the E2 would be cool to try. Watching Ian McCollum shoot an M14 full auto suggests that it would take some well applied strength and a lot of practice to minimize climbing.

[Phosphorus32]

nice one. thanks for sharing. makes me start thinking about m14's.

Do it......

DO IT!!

Did you ever shoot one in the military Carl?

[carls sks]

nice one. thanks for sharing. makes me start thinking about m14's.

Do it......

DO IT!!

Did you ever shoot one in the military Carl?

yes  (expert badge. proud oh that too)and in nam.

[Phosphorus32]

nice one. thanks for sharing. makes me start thinking about m14's.

Do it......

DO IT!!

Did you ever shoot one in the military Carl?

yes  (expert badge. proud oh that too)and in nam.

Dang!    Nothing but admiration and appreciation over here Carl. Thank-you! 

[running-man]

Did you ever shoot one in the military Carl?

yes  (expert badge. proud oh that too)and in nam.

Dang!    Nothing but admiration and appreciation over here Carl. Thank-you! 

+1000    Heartfelt thank you from here as well!