Springfield Arms M1A Match.....Falls apart
OK. I don't what to make myself look like a newbie. I have been inside many a guns, shoot, hunt, reload, know my 1911 from my CZ. I have shot the barrels off Mini-14's and recently inherited a SA M1A that was near brand new from my Dad. He was in the process of "breaking in the match barrel" and had a log book on it. I decided to finish it for him and discovered something about this rifle that is quite different then my Mini-14 and -30. The operating arm will actually come off the bolt roller when the rifle is fully assembled. If you cycle it by hand or even after it is fired a few times it actually will go "OFF THE RAIL". Doesn't SA know that is not a good design?
0
-
The roller design has been in use M14 Rifle since 1957 and was in fact part of several M1 Rifle design studies to upgrade that rifle before the M14 was adopted. Either the roller on the bolt is out of spec or it is the roller seat on the operating rod. Either of these will cause the operating rod to dismount. 0 -
Is there a place one can look to see the specs on these parts? 0 -
And...are these parts purchasable? Or does one have to ship the rifle away.....this rifle looked brand new. I don't think he shot 100 rounds thru it! 0 -
Various technical manuals ahve specifications for wear allowances. Realistically if I told you that wear specifications call for bolt locking lug engagement surfaces to between .0005" of perpendicular to the bolt center line with a roller lug diameter no more than .274", would that actually mean anything to you? The same for measuring wear from the front and rear roller recess to the operating rod arm: 4.926" for the rear recess and 4.326" for the front recess. Bolts are expensive but the rollers can be replaced using the correct ordnance tool (which looks like a pair of lineman's pliers). M14 operating rods are very pricey. Either have a gun smith look at it or contact Springfield Armory to see if they will repair it. 0 -
There is a notch in the rail and if you pull it back far enough it will release the op rod. If the rod is coming of while you shoot the rifle the tab is out of specification and causing it to release. The rifle has a life time warranty on it and I am sure that Springfield will take care of it for you or you could have the tab welded and machined to new specifications. I would think that the military manual would be the best place to get the specifications on the tab, so a search for the M14 manual.
Emmett0 -
I thank you for the advise. If I seem a little upset, it is because I think my Dad paid over $1500 for this gun brand new and it just sets me back. I own many foreign and domestic guns. All are not close to being that expensive and with the exception of a 10-22 that would not fire out of the box and a blooming Browning handgun that is too good to function with my reloads I have just loaded, fired and clean my guns. To have something like this that cost that much have the operating arm come off during firing is just un...what ever. I will probably have to ship it away. Now that I think about it. I remember he was so excited when he ordered the rifle and I remember him saying he was going to start breaking it in and then I did not hear much more about it. When I picked it up I could see he barely used it. It probably happened to him and he was too disappointed to say anything. 0 -
Be happy you have time to fix it now, not later when you need it. You are the quality control guy for reloads. If your browning works with factory ammo it should work as well or better with proper reloads. 0 -
call springfield and tell them the problem,i,ll bet they will say ship it.they are very good about that sort of thing. eastbank. 0 -
Over the counter civillian .308 Winchester rounds are approximately 5,000 PSI higher than Ball, Cal. 7.62 M80. The operating rod on M1/M14's is the Achilles heel when it comes to overpressure troubles.
Stick with surplus military ammo..or reload to NATO specs vis-a-vis burn rate and optimum pressures. Check any comprehensive reloading manual. Best, Joe0 -
Yes, but....
....Springfield Armory Inc has designed their M1A to handle both 7.62mm NATO AND .308 WIN. (Check the descriptions of the rifles on their website). Most of the other M14-clone manufacturers also rate their products for .308 WIN.
There have been documented failures of M1 rifles due to the use of commercial ammunition, but I would like to see evidence of damage to M14 clones due to ammunition.
As has been noted, consumers are responsible for SA Inc QC. Even the test rifle sent to the American Rifleman for testing several years ago turned out to be defective.
Neal0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
10 comments