Affordable M1A/M14 Scope Mount

[David the Gnome]

I have this M1A National Match and a nice Leupold scope which I would like very much to combine. Through all my searching I've seen that most scope mounts for this gun are in the $150+ range, which seems rather steep for a little piece of metal. Is there a quality M1A scope mount out there that doesn't break the bank, or is this one of those suck it up and pay things?

Thanks in advance for the assistance. I'd love to see everyone else's setups if anyone wants to share.

 

[alloy]

Tried a promag copy of the ARMS 18 briefly.
Ended up buying an ARMS 18 for each rifle.
Each required fitting of the mount at the stripper clip guide, but I have the tools so no biggie. Happy now 100%.

I believe it is one of those things. Plenty of other pricey brands have good reps as well, but these work for me.
Make it harder to clean the chamber.

 

[Vt.birdhunter]

Sadlak's steel mount is the way to go, suck it up, dont throw anything but the best on a spectacular rifle like that.

Smith Enteprises also makes a quality product from what I hear.

Avoid SA's mounts (all generations)

 

[RGPM1A]

I have a Sadlak steel mount on my M1A M21 and it works well. However, I would recommend one of these mounts:

http://www.bassettmachine.com/

and depending upon what style mount and scope you choose, a cheek piece to get the right eye alignment with the scope without having to crane your neck. These mounts are much less expensive than any Sadlak unit.

The main issues with the Sadlak are that you will most likely need to fit it to your rifle and it makes it a bit harder to clean the rifle. With the Basset mount you can take it off with your scope zero minimally affected. You can't do that with a Sadlak mount.

My 2 cents.

 

[bamaranger]

Springfield

I've had limited experience with the Springfield (gen 3?) mount on two rifles and they have held up fine, though the round count on either is not very high.

The rifles have banged around, in and out of patrol vehs, and a variety of vehicle mounts, for over two years now on a daily basis, with no loss of zero, pretty good testimony to the mounts, Burris XTR rings, and the middle of the road Burris scopes mounted via same.

 

[NWCP]

I've been toying with the idea of mounting a scope on my M1A Supermatch for a while now. The price of a quality mount is one thing, but my primary hangup is that I enjoy shooting the rifle with its aperture sight. After investing a good deal of hard earned cash into a great rifle the cost of a good mount is a bit trivial. I have a two other rifles chambered in .308 one of which is scoped for hunting. I'm tempted to leave well enough alone and continue shooting the Supermatch just as it is... and enjoy every round I'm lucky enough to put down the pipe. Hope to hear what you settle on and how it works out.

 

[Keg]

Alloy.......I like the compactness of that Arms 18 mount.........

 

[alloy]

Alloy.......I like the compactness of that Arms 18 mount.........

They work for me, but like I mentioned a little fitting was needed at the rear, being hardened, they don't file at all so that meant grinding a little at a time, torqueing the bolt and checking until the mount layed over properly with about .001 uniform clearance at the clip guide...bolt torqued to about 90 ft lbs. So they took about an hour each.
I like the scopes for reloading testing, but have more fun shooting without, the mounts stay on the rifles and are pretty much out of the way invisible when using the irons.