New loaded SA M1A stinks

[kcub]

Springfield Armory's quality control has gone down the terlit. I had one of their 45 pocket pistols, was only 95% reliable, sent it back and they didn't fix it nor offer to do anything about it. I was accused of being limpwristed. It was all my fault.

Why is it that the good guns just work? You shouldn't have to make a project out of it. It's a military weapon for crissake. It should work when things aren't picture perfect.

 

[45_auto]

It's a military weapon for crissake. It should work when things aren't picture perfect.

Any gas-operated weapon is designed to work within certain pressure ranges, generally limited on the low end by the minimum amount of force needed to cycle the action and on the high end by timing (unlocking too early) limitations.

Military ammo is loaded to perform within this pressure range. The term "mil-spec" is sometimes used in the description.

Once you start trying to shoot loads with pressure curves designed for civilian rifles or bolt actions, don't be surprised when your military gas-operated weapon doesn't perform "picture perfect".

 

[mehavey]

Light pocket pistols are [more] prone to stovepipes when limp-wristed. Something about Newton's 1st Law.

As to military weapons being req'd to eat anything and like it, well... not so fast.
Again I'd like to se the results of either milsurp and/or commercial ammunition

 

[HiBC]

I am not a Veteran,and I have not messed with an M-14 pattern rifle since the early 70's.
I may not have this 100% accurate,but I believe when the M-14 was issued as a battle rifle,the recruit was trained of field stripping .Then the grease used for preservative(cosmoline) was meticulously cleaned off,to the DI's satisfaction.
Only after the recruit was proficient in field stripping,cleaning,and lubricating the weapon was the recruit up to shooting a battle rifle.
There is a large part of your "Battle Rifle Reliability"
An operator who properly cleans,lubricates,and maintains equiptment.
Springfield Armory cannot supply that as "instant pudding"
As I recall,there may be preservative in the gas cylinder.To prevent rust.as I recall,the gas system is supposed to be used clean and dry.
Hot gasses hitting petro chemicals(like cosmoline) makes an asphalt sort od stuff not conducive to function.

I also concur that you find some quality US made mil-spec ammo and try it.Black Hills would be an option.

You can only qualify the function of the rifle with the ammo the rifle was designed to use.(And,no,not all the "NATO" ammo available is good)

Only after shooting the Military ammo and proving the rifle can you then determine if your reloads are worthy of a battle rifle.

If not,you may have to upgrade your ammo.

You might search and pursue references used by those shooting in NRA High-Power competition.

Good luck!!

I suspect you have a fine rifle!!Congratulations.

 

[AK103K]

I had a similar cycling issue with my last M1A, a SOCOM. Apparently, it didnt like any kind of oil or lube on the piston at all, and would not cycle, unless the piston and tube were completely dry.

I owned three other M1A's prior to that, and none of those ever had an issue with a film of lube on the piston. None of those required a tool of any kind, for a normal field strip disassemble either, something the SOCOM required.

I was getting the impression then, that Springfield's rifles were starting to follow the out of spec progression their pistols had taken, in the later part of the 90's. That SOCOM was not the same quality rifle my earlier M1A's were.

I never really had any issues with ammo with my M1A's, but I always used either 7.62x51 surplus, or reloads loaded to that spec. As Slamfire mentioned, you do need to pay attention loading for them (the M1's and AR's too) though, as they do require some extra care. Primers can be a particular issue, and Ill add Winchester primers to the mix, as I had issues with them in my AR's a little while back. CCI has always been my choice.

I also stopped using GI brass years ago, especially with the M1's/M1A's. Commercial brass is much easier to work with, and longer lived.

Springfield Armory's quality control has gone down the terlit. I had one of their 45 pocket pistols, was only 95% reliable, sent it back and they didn't fix it nor offer to do anything about it. I was accused of being limpwristed. It was all my fault.

No argument from me there. The Springfield of today, is not the Springfield that first knew back in the 80's. Back then, I would say that both their handguns and rifles were very close to GI spec. As time wore on, that seemed to change. I noticed it more with the 1911's, but saw it in the M1A's as well. The 1911 frames varied greatly, and the finishing and QC declined quickly through the 90's.

One thing you hear a lot is, they have a great CS department, which I really didnt find to be the case. The couple of times I called them, I found them to be arrogant, condescending, and untruthful. That was especially true, with the SOCOM.

 

[SR420]

I had similar problems with my Scout right out of the box in 1999.

Springfield ended up replacing the bolt, op rod, and trigger group with USGI parts under warranty.
They also polished the chamber because it left the factory rough.

It's fixable, but for the money you spend on an M1A you would think these
kinds of issues would be addressed before they leave the manufacturer.

I parted out the Scout and hired Smith Enterprise to custom build a few M14s for me.
These SEI built rifles have been nothing but reliable & accurate.

 

[44 AMP]

It's a military weapon for crissake. It should work when things aren't picture perfect.

Yep, and it probably will. But it can't work right, under any conditions, if its not fed what it needs to run on.

A military truck will get you all kinds of places, run through sand, mud, snow, etc., ground conditions that aren't picture perfect.

BUT, if it is built to run on diesel and you put jet fuel in it, you are going to have issues, real quick.

Load your ammo with black powder (the kind used in muzzleloaders), then shoot them from a semi auto. They will go bang, and the bullet will leave the barrel. Beyond that, the gun will very likely not function normally for long, if at all.

I'm not saying there isn't an issue with your rifle. Clearly, if it doesn't work right, there is an issue somewhere. Odds are good it is the ammo/rifle combination, and that is something you can test by using different ammo.

 

[Kosh75287]

A military truck will get you all kinds of places, run through sand, mud, snow, etc., ground conditions that aren't picture perfect. BUT, if it is built to run on diesel and you put jet fuel in it, you are going to have issues, real quick.

Well, actually, if it's JP-8... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JP-8

But 44 AMP's point still stands. Find some factory-loaded .308 with 168gr. BTHP projectiles, meant for competition, and see how it functions. If it won't eat a steady diet of THAT, SA has produced a lemon.

 

[COSteve]

Field strip and clean your M1A.

Lube it properly.

Go down to WalMart and buy a single box of $17 Winchester White Box 7.62 ammo for it. It's NATO marked ammo and will tell you right off the bat if the rifle or ammo is the issue.

 

[kcub]

Mikhail Kalashnikov could take a dump in his rifle and it would still work. That's all the pudding a true SHTF battle rifle gets.

 

[SR420]

The modern M1A is a commercial copy of a real battle rifle assembled with
cast reproduction parts, never to be confused with a real deal USGI M14.

Visit Tony Ben's YouTube channel, his information & tutorials are priceless.
https://www.youtube.com/user/tonyben3

 

[Fox84]

I have a Wilson case gauge and small base sizer on the way from midway. I will try some factory ammo soon.

 

[Fox84]

Factory ammo was the fix. I even tried the ZO1 $9.95 from Walmart. Rifle runs flawless.

I guess I have some bullets to pull and cases to resize.

 

[Dragline45]

Current production M1A's are nothing but range toys and IMO are not up to par for a serious rifle. Before you use a current production M1A for a duty rifle it should have some of the internals replaced with USGI parts, which are drying up and becoming expensive. At the very least you need a USGI extractor, as the one Springfield uses are junk. I had a bunch of USGI M14 parts and a bunch of 20rd mags put aside waiting for my M1A I was going to buy, until I realized I can put together a MUCH higher quality AR for a lower price. I sold them all off and put the money towards a BCM AR and will never look back.

 

[DaleA]

Fox84 - thanks for coming back with the information. It's always nice to know how these things come out.

 

[30Cal]

Current production M1A's are nothing but range toys and IMO are not up to par for a serious rifle. Before you use a current production M1A for a duty rifle it should have some of the internals replaced with USGI parts, which are drying up and becoming expensive. At the very least you need a USGI extractor, as the one Springfield uses are junk. I had a bunch of USGI M14 parts and a bunch of 20rd mags put aside waiting for my M1A I was going to buy, until I realized I can put together a MUCH higher quality AR for a lower price. I sold them all off and put the money towards a BCM AR and will never look back.

I'm close to the point where I need to start looking for a good deal on a nice barrel. This will be the 3rd barrel.

I don't disagree with the replacing the extractor w/ USGI, but I wouldn't bother with anything else. The reproduction parts will probably run forever, and if not, you'll find out pretty quick. My $0.02.

 

[roashooter]

so many have stated...the SA original extractor is "junk"...so I tracked down a new"gi" extractor....2000 rounds later I am still waiting for the "junk" extractor to fail...


have all replacement parts...for the bolt...wrapped up and waiting...but many have stated...the "junk" will fail quickly...if it will...

 

[Dirty_Harry]

I have a USGI extractor waiting, but my SAI one is is till fine at almost 3000 rounds.

I find it funny how someone is so quick to damn a rifle before they even shoot proper ammo through it.

 

[T. O'Heir]

"...The ammo were my reloads..." Don't bother sending it back. The SA Inc. warrantee is void if you use reloaded ammo.
However, you must work up the load, not just pick one and hope. My semi'd Winchester M-14 likes 150's with IMR3031. Didn't bother with anything else. It got declared evil by our idiot government(thanks to the ATF exporting their stupid ideas) before I got around to it.
As daft as it sounds, is the gas turned on? The spindle valve should be straight up and down.
"...a true SHTF battle rifle..." An M1A is not and never has been a battle rifle of any kind. It's not a "duty rifle", whatever that is, either. It's a sporting rifle.

 

[mehavey]

Op has already reported that his test w/ commercial/SAAMI ammunition functioned OK.
Rifle's OK.

OP states he's going back to work on the reloaded ammunition sizing parameters as the fix.
All's well with the world.