M1A advice

Garage161 said:
Pretty much anything is “better” than an sks lol
Not much point trying to shoot an sks past 300 and expect a consistent result though. .
Groups aren’t really my objective , I like to shoot steel , not groups , I’d be happy hitting a 2/3 size torso plate at 500 on iron sights with a .308.
I handled a SA M1a “loaded” yesterday , sticker price was $2500. I’m hesitant now tolay down that much hearing that it could possibly have an 8 inch spread as mentioned above. If I wanted 8 inch spread id just shoot the sks lol
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Lol. If it has an 8 inch spread, they rifle needs warranty work. That is NOT typical.
 
m14medic.ca said:
Who/where is the Canadian warranty center for the M1A?

SAI has a fabulous warranty, if you’re in the USA. Used to be that, for us canucks to take advantage of the warranty there was a $250 USD export fee to send it to the US and a $250 USD Import charge to get it back from SAI... if that has changed, that is a “game changer”.... (pun intended)



I can understand your hesitation.

My first SAI was a solid 7 MOA gun. After “fixing” all the little problems, I’m happy to say it will shoot any factory ammo into 2.5 MOA and my pet load for it is just a hair under 2. Here’s the rub. None of those “little issues” would have been covered by SAIs warranty. The rifle functioned properly and was safe to shoot.

John
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Pretty sure prophet river or similar will do the paperwork, but you are right, it's not free.
 
Chatrbaz84 said:
I would go with forged receiver , LRB , BULA , or first batch Poly with 00### 3 digits heel stamp receivers or GWLA receivers , and no Norinco
Build one and use for life , buy once cry once ,
it is worth up to $3k to invest for a semi auto platform ,
if you see the Canadian market , a military grade quality semi auto rifle you can not find less than $3k value
we are lucky because we have access to get USGI parts of a rifle that still is in service , go for it my suggestion is LRB M25
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100% disagree. I have no issue working with decent norinco receivers (I inspect them first), Fulton or sai receivers.

I have had as many machining errors, by percentage, on LRB guns as I have on SAI.

I've also seen no real world difference in good usa-made cast receivers vs forged. Neither tend to fail if machined properly.
 
I just got rid of my Norc. It started as a 6 moa gun on a good day and I spent a long time tweaking little things like some of these guys have mentioned above. I put it in a chassis that tightened things up a bit too. With good hand loads it was still only a 2-2.5 moa gun. The M14 platform requires you to do some tinkering and fitting, or pay somebody else to do it, unless you're very lucky and get a gem out of the box. A knowledgable and experienced M14 guy once told me that "a super expensive, upgraded everything, M14 will still barely keep up with a Savage Axis". My experience tells me his statement is quite true.

But, are they fun and can you hit steel at 500m? Yes and yes.
 
I bought a M14S a bunch of year back, slightly used (maybe a few hundred rounds through it) and the trigger had been worked in some. Went to one of 45ACPKing's clinics and learned to do all the lil mods: peened and red-loctited under the op-rod guide, replaced the op-rod spring guide, made sure the barrel was indexed, shimmed the gas cylinder. Picked up one of his mod-stocks off the EE and Barney/Hungry/Tac Teacher came over and showed me how to bed it with JB Weld. Swapped out the rear sight, put on an ARMS 18 scope mount and an SAI muzzle brake and then worked up a couple loads for it with 155gr Amaxs and 168gr BTHPs. Found loads with both that shot a reliable 1.5 MOA over 5 rds. Never quite managed the 5x 5rd groups sub-1.5 MOA challenge, I'd always end up pulling 1 shot. I also shot all those groups at 200 yards, for what it's worth. I've also taken that rifle out to 830 yards and made reliable hits on a 2/3 IPSC plate (12x18). Although I don't shoot it much these days, I'd say it's a pretty good example of what you can do with a tweaked Chicom M14 and hand loads. I'm putting together a 6.5 Creed Stag-10 and expect it to shoot better more like 1 or sub-1 MOA. I think if you really want an accurate M14, you want an aftermarket barrel (like a Krieger) and for the rifle to be in a chassis like the Sage.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice !
After some careful consideration of all the suggestions ....I bought a Norinco lol !
I know I said they weren’t my thing but I reconsidered as it was either get a Norinco or nothing at all due to financial constraints.
I found a new 22 (20?) inch barrel model for under $550 so I think I’m doing ok there as far as price goes.
There was a lot of good suggestions and I appreciate the time you guys took to reply in depth.
End of the day though I just couldn’t afford the $ required to get into the Springfield’s or better.
I’ll take this Norinco and go blast some steel with it and see how it shoots. Sounds like I have a good amount of options available when I want to improve the rifle.
Thanks again for all the info and replies , it’s much appreciated!
 
Piles of great advice here. Tweak that M14 of your and have fun!
Folks, it’s not about the destination, if it was then plop down some money for a Savage 10 TR or a Bergerac or a Tikka or a SAKO or an FN SPR or have Insite build something or Go Big Tactical or John M14Medic....it’s all about the journey as we have witnessed and learned For 30 years I’ve been married to this platform. Welcome to the addiction!

Cheers, Barney
 
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So I just found the MIM bolt thread.
What’s the latest news on the MIM bolt failures ?
Has there been a decrease in reported failures or are they still happening at a regular rate ?
I bought mine from Tenda , it's in the mail as we speak , I’ll be checking it for sure to see about this MIM bolt fiasco.
Probably hard to impossible to say but what’s the chances I’ll receive a forged bolt in a rifle from Tenda ?
Where these MIN bolts limited to the guns sold by marstar ?
I’m a bit concerned now as a quick google search has shown “out of stock” on every website in Canada listing M14 bolts.
 
Garage161 said:
So I just found the MIM bolt thread.
What’s the latest news on the MIM bolt failures ?
Has there been a decrease in reported failures or are they still happening at a regular rate ?
I bought mine from Tenda , it's in the mail as we speak , I’ll be checking it for sure to see about this MIM bolt fiasco.
Probably hard to impossible to say but what’s the chances I’ll receive a forged bolt in a rifle from Tenda ?
Where these MIN bolts limited to the guns sold by marstar ?
I’m a bit concerned now as a quick google search has shown “out of stock” on every website in Canada listing M14 bolts.
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This is the best deal I've ever seen on USGI parts (bolt included of course). Just use your forged Norc receiver and build a friggin' awesome quality M14 for very little money.
 
Thanks, I’ll take a look at that.
Thinking honestly though if this Norc I ordered shows up with a MIM bolt I’ll probably trade it off at cabelas or bass pro for something else. Local cabelas to me usually stocks the 18.5 inch barrel norcs , I’ll see if I can get a look at their shelf stock and find one with a forged bolt and see if they’ll do a trade.
I’m pissed off about this MIM #### to be honest.
 
I don’t think it would be hard to find a new bolt I ended up with a non mim one a guy sold me all his parts for $100 stripped bolt barrel stock everything pretty much so he could take the receiver for a usgi build, fun fact I originally wanted it for my m305a as spare parts turns out my 305a receiver is slightly different specs so parts like the op rod and stuff works and this stripped bolt doesn’t.........
 
Jest4phun said:
I don’t think it would be hard to find a new bolt I ended up with a non mim one a guy sold me all his parts for $100 stripped bolt barrel stock everything pretty much so he could take the receiver for a usgi build, fun fact I originally wanted it for my m305a as spare parts turns out my 305a receiver is slightly different specs so parts like the op rod and stuff works and this stripped bolt doesn’t.........
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Yeah I don’t think I’ll go down that road myself , I don’t know enough about them and unless it’s a direct drop in , which I’ve read it rarely if ever is, I’m not interested one bit in fitting bolts myself. I don’t really want to spend anymore $ on this rifle than I already have.
Needless to say if I’m lucky and it’s got a forged bolt I’d happily look at accurizing it some more. Money spent on improving it is fine with me but money spent just to make it safe to shoot is BS , it either comes safe or it goes back where it came from.
 
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