My M1A and Springfield's Service

C

canadiangunuser

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I purchased an older model M1A used, and suspect that I am the fourth owner but the rifle overall doesn't show very much wear or use. From the serial number it was manufactured around 1980. I took the rifle out and shot it only once, and then when cleaning the bolt roller ring FELL OFF. So I looked around to find a solution, and found that the bolt was on a recall list. The bolt was marked 790185 and with SA centered below that number, which means it was CAST as opposed to forged or machined, and was recalled in 1987. I called Springfield and they said they would still honour the recall, 22 years later!

Here was the hiccup, I had to go through F.N. Sports which is Canada's official Springfield distributor. So off the rifle went, and it was shipped down to the U.S., and I waited. 4 MONTHS LATER I got it back. The problem wasn't F.N. Sports, it was with Springfield not shipping anything to Canada in that time. Apparently they bundle everything up into bulk shipments including all warranty returns, so they show up when Springfield is ready.

Here's the bonus, there has never been a recall notice for M1A oprods, or any major problems that I have heard of. My oprod was marked oddly, missing the first number in the standard marking sequence- so I asked Springfield to look at it as well. They replaced the oprod as well, for free!

The bottom line is that Springfield replaced both my bolt and oprod free of charge, even knowing that I am not the original owner and with no questions asked. It took 4 months plus for me to get it back from the day I sent it to F.N. Sports, but it didn't cost me anything other than the shipping to F.N. Sports in Quebec. I am impressed by Springfield, and should anyone have a problem it seems worth contacting them to see if they can help.
 
The warranty service from Springfield Armory, Inc. is outstanding.

I had to use their lifetime warranty four times before firing 300 rounds through my Scout :cheers:
 
It took 4 months plus for me to get it back from the day I sent it to F.N. Sports, but it didn't cost me anything other than the shipping to F.N. Sports in Quebec.

I am glad that you are satisfied with your Springfield service.

However,
just a bit more information on COMMONLY KNOWN M1A issues ... aside from their notorious cast bolts and cast op rods ...
some of the Springfield receivers were built without the little angled relief cut slot on the receiver, where the bolt roller tucks in when the bolt is fully closed..

This is why some of the bolt rollers failed very quickly, as the first thing stopping the bolt on forward travel, was the impact of the bolt roller hitting the receiver.

Hopefully your receiver was not one of these, and the only issue was Springfield's original soft, out of spec, cast bolt. If your receiver was one of the ones without that little relief slot cut out, I am sure that Springfield service department would have fixed that as well as part of their servicing ...
a few minutes with a Dremel and a 1/2" sanding drum does the job quite nicely.
BUT,
it wouldn't hurt to pull off the op rod, and see for yourself that the new bolt roller has the proper clearance. The right bolt lug should bottom out in the right receiver lug slot, with no clearance underneath. With the bolt all the way down, the bolt roller should have plenty of clearance with the receiver.
AND,
it would not hurt to have the bolt lugs looked at for proper bearing, and proper headspace. The last bolt replacement straight out of the SA service shop that I personally inspected, showed that they had simply dropped in a well used US GI bolt, with no attempt made to lap in the lugs.

Good luck with your Springfield M1A ....
I've owned five of them, every one needed some tweaking or p[arts replacement to get it right ...
but rather than wait several months for the turn around time required to get an SA to the US and back for warranty repairs, instead I learned how to do my own repairs and servicing.
[;{)
LAZ 1
 
spg armory

i have a early springfield armory m1a with all trw parts. The trw bolt split at the extractor. It took a hammer to get the op rod back and the bolt came out in two pieces. SA replaced the trw bolt and op rod with trw and sent it back.
 
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