BATF " once a machine gun, always a machine gun " 1969 small arms of the world lists M14m. The m stands for modified. The selector shaft had been welded so as to prevent the use of the full auto parts. These M14 ms were sold at Camp Perry in the 60's to CMP members and state rifle clubs. In the early 70's is when BATF came out with the rule once a machine gun always a machine gun and went out to collect the ones sold at Camp Perry. A few people Registered them during the 68 amnesty.
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School me on modern Springfield M1A's
- Thread starter timbo
- Start date
definitely enough of a difference to make it a neccessity
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Hmmmm, I'm not sure they were ever sold to civilians. They were on loan to state clubs through the DCM (back then), and many of those were basically in permanent possession of civilian shooters, but the state directors were in trouble if they didn't have documentation on where each and every one was when the DOD called the rifles back. I wouldn't be surprised a few were lost in the shuffle, but they are considered stolen property.
There were true M14 receivers that had been through the DEWAT (?) process and sold as scrap. A few people bought them and rewelded them together.
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@timbo , I highly recommend something with a forged receiver. Some of the old SA's were reportedly forged, but for new I'd simply go for something made by Bula Defense 22" Traditional M14 - Bula Defense Systems
I bought a .308 barreled receiver + build kit from them. Some of my parts are USGI- sight if I recall correctly plus some other stuff. Found a beautiful USGI stock from a member here- it had been restored by one of the well known M14 builders. I shoot the piss out of that thing and it's always been reliable plus a tack driver. In your case I'd just buy a finished 'M14' from Bula and you'll be good to go.
100 yard target-
This......throw in LRB....
Buy an M25 reviever with barrel/parts of your choice
Its the proverbial...."Measure twice, cut once" situation wrt M1A's
Springfield is ok....and its a good price point.....they stand behind their stuff but who wants to have to send shit back to them for them to fix?.......companies like LRB use USGI or equivalent parts
And their recievers are dimentionally superior/consistent with USGI spec
Why does this matter?.......most commonly observed issue is problems adding a scope mount to a Springfield reciever........the endless complaints/threads over this issue is remarkable.
The best bet for getting a good target M14-type rifle is to inquire with your local Highpower Rifle shooters. With the AR proving itself to be a better, more accurate target rifle for the vast majority of shooters (don't even bother arguing with me), shooters have been slowly unloading their Match M14's onto the market. These rifles are usually very accurate (1 MOA if the barrel isn't shot out), and can be bought fairly reasonably when you consider the price of having one built.
The DCM and later CMP sold all the parts (minus the receiver) for years. Trigger groups, bolts, op-rods, etc for $50 each up until maybe 15 years ago.
They will never be authorized to sell M14 receivers or complete rifles. It's a pipe dream.
Lou is great to deal with i bought a barrel and bolt combo when I did my build. i used a Rock Ola reciever by James River Armory. After completing the build there was a slight hicup in the action.
i posted on M14 forums and Lou PM'd me and basically called it. The angle of the safety bridge was not cut right, common problem from what I,learned later. Although not a safety issue it was beating up my firing pin. Anyhow JRA basically said out of warranty , we dont warranty other peoples work , TFBFY.
I shipped it to lou , he fixed the problem. Replaced the firing pin and checked out the rifle.
Said good to go and the headspace was spot on to where the person who built it said he finish cut it to. i picked up a SA loaded after but my love for the M1a/M14 is non existent, so it went away.
Great rifle though, that $$ went to some rings and a scope and funded some other projects.
All that said yes i know someone who had a LRB built out , the M25 heavy barrel with some xtra fancy walnut - by the time he was done picking the wood blank , fancy scope and all he was right around $8500 or so.
If i had the money I,would not hesitate to grab a LRB or a Fulton
I think for the most part cast vs forged has been put to rest.
Right , but i think cmp will cash in on parts kits if they ever come around again through cmp.
i bought 3 of there parts kits but sold them off when someone offered me consideral money for them during obama scare sales II , severwl years later I fell into the dupage kits for $400 and a rock ola receiver, lrb bolt and barrel. Built up for cmp games , some day i would like to run it XTC for fun.
My first time out cmp games i pulled a 284/7X out of my ass so the gun can shoot when i show up.
your lucky I did not have the cash to by that thing!
Glad you eneded up with it and kept at the cmp games. Now go to the nationals with it and score well , oh you should at least go to that SA armory match .
planning on all of the above sir. Had planned on it last year, but all those old pussies at the CMP got scared of catching a cold.
Sweeney
NES Member
I haven't warmed up to them yet.
Bula M14E2 'Retro-mod' as I like to call it, Pre-ban SA M1A Bush rifle (playing around with it), Pre-ban SEI in the process of becoming an XM25, Bula w/19.25" barrel (camo experiment)....Hey, experiments can fail...back off! and finally a 'not sure what I'm doing Fulton with Wolf modified med weight barrel.
My current favorite;
Bula M14E2 'Retro-mod' as I like to call it, Pre-ban SA M1A Bush rifle (playing around with it), Pre-ban SEI in the process of becoming an XM25, Bula w/19.25" barrel (camo experiment)....Hey, experiments can fail...back off! and finally a 'not sure what I'm doing Fulton with Wolf modified med weight barrel.
My current favorite;
Threads like this make me wonder who on NES is going to be rocking 7.62 NATO in their SHTF plan, instead of "the usual" 5.56.
I'm not an M14 guy (yet; never say never!), but I'm certainly sold on the caliber.
I'm not an M14 guy (yet; never say never!), but I'm certainly sold on the caliber.
Dupage had parts kits for $400 a few years ago. Didn't you grab one too? They sold out so fast that when stock came back, the price was bumped up to 500. Rumor was, Dupage may have traded something to CMP for the parts kits.
I built a USGI clone out of mine. Coincidentally, Bula was having a B/R sale at that time. All in, the rifle was about 1200 to build. The fake selector switch was the icing on the cake. Everyone should own a traditional M14 rifle.
View: https://imgur.com/03ZWpIw
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Got into the game during the Obama years because of a shitty CoP that refused to issue meaning the shelves were bare wrt 5.56/.223 by the time I got my LTC. Saw no sense in buying a firearm if I couldn't feed it be it rifle or pistol(back then 7.62/.308 could be found pretty much everywhere no limits/raping).
Well, truth be told...
I already have a "built by me" AR Carbine 5.56/.223 with decent glass on it that even with a 16" barrel, it's pretty much a tack driver out to 300 meters if I do my part. My Bushmaster is too but it's a 20" "heavy" barrel and not as easy to use in a SHTF scenario.
Where I am moving to later this year (south central Missouri) a .308 is pretty much the de rigueur deer rifle because many shots are well past 150 yards, which is pretty much the max I'm going to get out of my 30-30 lever action Marlin 336. I figured that with the M1A, I'd kill two birds with one stone, as it were. Get a .308 for deer hunting out there and at the same time, scratch an itch I have had for years for the M1A.
I know there are lots of .308s out there that are a lot cheaper than an M1A and lighter too but according to my BIL that lives out there, there's not a lot of tramping around in woods carrying a rifle hunting deer. Most hunting deer out there is shooting from a tree stand or a blind at the edge of the woods.
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I think 7.62 NATO should be part of a self-defense plan, rather than the whole plan.
Put it this way, I wouldn't want to use a M14 or full-sized FAL to clear a room at night, nor would I grab a 7.62 NATO rifle for home defense unless I lived on a farm or in the deep woods and simply didn't have neighbors. For those purposes, I'd rather use 5.56, 5.45, 7.62x39, or .300BLK.
7.62 NATO these days in the hands of the median gun owner is best used in a DMR role rather than as a go-to rifle. People get nervous about 5.56 overpenetration in a house or apartment, let alone 7.62 NATO.
Oh, I'm not deluded enough to think x51 is an optimal MOUT choice, at all. That's what x39 is for, lol.
But if I'm in the woods, my L1A1 or my CETME is going to be what I'm dragging around, most likely.
