M1A w/ Leupold Mark 4

[AllaSnackbah]

Got frustrated trying to decide if i wanted to invest in a trijicon front sight for my M1A. So I got this instead. Leupold Mark 4, 4.5-14x50mm with illuminating TMR reticle. This is my first "nice" scope on anything, and i am super excited. Always thought i would keep this rifle iron sights because i liked having a 7.62 "battle" rifle. But i just couldnt see chit through the peep sights in low light, even with 20/15 vision. And since i am gonna build an AR soon, and am still thinking of getting a FAL, i figured why not make the M1A my go-to paper puncher. I know i could have a lot more potential with a bolt or AR platform, but i just simply love the old school M1A's to death so im gonna play with this for awhile.

If anyone is wondering, this is the newest gen 4 springfield steel scope mount, it is a lot like the ARMS mount, mounts low, and allows for use of the iron sights (if you dont have a 50mm objective lens...) so far i like it, cannot wait to sight her in tomorrow.

Next on my list is going to be a cheek pad and a bipod of some kind. anyone have any preferences or advice? Especially on the bipod, I need to do some research to see what people do.

my only real regret is getting the 50mm objective lens, with how low the gen 4 mount is it is way to big and blocks the iron sights. if i had read a little more online i would have learned that and probably gotten the 40mm. oh well, woulda, coulda, shoulda. how often do you expect to use irons with a rifle that weighs all of 10lbs?

 

[Another_David]

Nice. I have an AR setup with an 4x ACOG and it's great but I've been day dreaming about a high powered mil dot scope to play around with. I think I'm going to get a fixed power though. How do you like the zoom? What distances do you shoot at and what magnification do you use?

 

[shootback]

sweet M1A. I have the scout version and I'm trying to decide how to top her off

 

[PaulD]

Very nice! I have an M1A loaded but I've never put a scope on it. Hmmm.

Anyway, for the bipod, Fulton Armory sells a short length of Picatinny rail that replaces the front sling mount. It includes a sling loop and you have to drill out the existing one. That way you can use any rail mount bipod. I have a GG&G that's quite nice.

 

[Brian5582]

What did you throw for the scope?

 

[Mass-diver]

GREAT looking rifle

 

[AllaSnackbah]

Nice. I have an AR setup with an 4x ACOG and it's great but I've been day dreaming about a high powered mil dot scope to play around with. I think I'm going to get a fixed power though. How do you like the zoom? What distances do you shoot at and what magnification do you use?

i wanted to put an ACOG on this rifle for awhile, but i decided instead it would be better to build an AR with an ACOG or get a FAL, and use the M1A for ranged shooting. the longest range i have access to is probably about 500 yards on my parents property here in lebanon. i normally shoot around 200ish. i think the 4.5-14 is going to be nice, ive never had a scope with more than 3-9x.

Very nice! I have an M1A loaded but I've never put a scope on it. Hmmm.

Anyway, for the bipod, Fulton Armory sells a short length of Picatinny rail that replaces the front sling mount. It includes a sling loop and you have to drill out the existing one. That way you can use any rail mount bipod. I have a GG&G that's quite nice.

i will look into it, i like the sling mount that comes on the rifle, im not dead set against changing it, i was wondering about putting a regular bullet style stud on and mounting either my caldwell or harris bipods to it. idk, need to research more.

What did you throw for the scope?

scope, mount, setup and boresighted for 1600 out the door from JoJo's gunworks in southington CT

 

[AllaSnackbah]

shot her yesterday, all i can say is wow. i loved this rifle with iron sights but with the scope it is just awesome. after sighting it in i was making 4" groups @ 100 yards with junk surplus ammo. i think i will be able to do better once i get a bipod and a good cheek rest. i ordered the rail piece for the front so i can mount a bipod and just ordered this cheek piece from TNVC, its a little pricey but it looks pretty nice.

http://www.tnvc.com/shop/tnvc-rsp-mod-0/

another thing i am going to need is better lens covers, the plastic ones that come with the scope suck. thinking of giving these a try.

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/prod...cat103901580&destination=/checkout/basket.jsp

 

[cmacclel]

shot her yesterday, all i can say is wow. i loved this rifle with iron sights but with the scope it is just awesome. after sighting it in i was making 4" groups @ 100 yards with junk surplus ammo. i think i will be able to do better once i get a bipod and a good cheek rest. i ordered the rail piece for the front so i can mount a bipod and just ordered this cheek piece from TNVC, its a little pricey but it looks pretty nice.

http://www.tnvc.com/shop/tnvc-rsp-mod-0/

another thing i am going to need is better lens covers, the plastic ones that come with the scope suck. thinking of giving these a try.

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/prod...cat103901580&destination=/checkout/basket.jsp

Very nice Glass. My buddy back in the day was an M1a Freek. He has 2 or 3 Springfields and 2 Polytech's. He always brought one to the range when we went. He never could shoot anything better than 6" groups with any of them. One day I grabbed one and the best I could do was a 4" group. He was using Mil Surplus ammo like yourself. I never shot any good ammo out of it and an wondering how accurate they standard model is. I shoot Mil Surplus out of my AR-10 and shot 1.5-2" groups with Federal GM it shoots .5moa all day.

Mac

 

[PaulD]

i will look into it, i like the sling mount that comes on the rifle, im not dead set against changing it, i was wondering about putting a regular bullet style stud on and mounting either my caldwell or harris bipods to it. idk, need to research more.

This is the piece I was talking about:

It gives you both the sling mount in the same spot and enough rail for a bipod.

 

[AllaSnackbah]

Very nice Glass. My buddy back in the day was an M1a Freek. He has 2 or 3 Springfields and 2 Polytech's. He always brought one to the range when we went. He never could shoot anything better than 6" groups with any of them. One day I grabbed one and the best I could do was a 4" group. He was using Mil Surplus ammo like yourself. I never shot any good ammo out of it and an wondering how accurate they standard model is. I shoot Mil Surplus out of my AR-10 and shot 1.5-2" groups with Federal GM it shoots .5moa all day.

Mac

they are all accurate, the national match most of all i suppose, my rifle is a loaded, national match everything except for the sights and the stock is not bedded. i dont think any of them are as accurate as an AR10 would be, my friends stoner is a damn tack driver. with the m1a, i think the massive kinetic energy of the action and force of the op-rod slamming back throws them off some. just a guess. i think i can do better than what i was, especially with a bipod and cheek pad, not to mention this being my first time shooting it in this config. the groups i was getting were all very very tight i would just have one or two of "those little guys" every 5th round or so. so im sure human error is more likely than the rifle. if i had wanted 1" groups at 200 yards i would have gotten a nice custom shop remington 700, but i love my m14's, they are just so cool to me, and ALL of my range buddies shoot AR's. i havent tried shooting any quality ammo through it yet but i am gonna give it a shot, i bet it will make a good bit difference.

This is the piece I was talking about:

It gives you both the sling mount in the same spot and enough rail for a bipod.

yup i just ordered the rail today, that and the cheek piece, definitely psyched to try it out it looks pretty good

 

[AllaSnackbah]

finally got this thing to where i wanted it to be, got the leupold alumina lens covers, and the rail mount for the bipod that PaulD told me about, thanks by the way, it mounted very cleanly and firm, easy install too, just what i was looking for. its wearing my el cheapo caldwell bipod for now but i want to get a harris, gg&g, or something, preferably us made, any recommendations? brought her outside today and snapped some pics.

i also put this TNVC mod 0 cheek piece on it that is very nice and well made here in the US.

taking it to the range again tomorrow after the springfield gun show, excited to see how it does with the bipod setup.

 

[PaulD]

Great looking rifle Sam. You're making me want to scope my M1A.

Like I said above, the GG&G bipod is very nice, much better than the Harris IMO.