NOOOOO not another M1A vs. AR10 thread!

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I own a M1A Supermatch and find it to be pretty darned accurate. Does it have ammo preferences? Sure, most rifles will shoot better with a specific weight/manufacturer bullet. For bench shooting I prefer the M1A over the AR10 type rifle. In the field the both are going to be on the heavy side. I also own an HK91. Is it as accurate as my M1A? Not even close, but it is a reliable battle rifle and shoots well within minute of man, or minute of deer for that matter. Since I'm shooting mostly surplus with it the fact that brass gets battered and pitched from here to eternity doesn't concern me. As for an AR type .308, of the two you mentioned I'd get the RRA. Great rifles for the money with the NM trigger. Personally I'm waiting for HK to start selling its MR762 later this year. To the best of my knowledge the AR15 parts are not interchangeable with the LAR8, or AR10. For all around plinking and especially varmint hunting I use a scoped AR15. Mine happens to be a Stag Arms Model 8. I also have a RRA LAR15 which I use for personal defense. The AR15's lighter weight is a benefit when in the field shooting ground squirrel, or predators like the coyote, or bobcat. The ammo makes for a much less expensive plinking and target shooting rifle IMHO. What does all of this mean? It means you really need to own one of each. Why short change yourself? :D
 
The FNAR is not comparably priced to the M1A. If you're just looking at the base models, sure, but the FNAR is an extremely fine and accurate weapon and the base model M1As are not remarkably accurate. You're looking at spending at least 2k to get an M1A that will be in the same performance category as the FNAR.
 
10mm, you right there. I've finnessed, tinkered and played quite a bit with my M1As and none of them compare to what that ugly FNAR does right from day one. FN Herstal done good with it's design.

The extra mags are way pricey BUT if you are patient, they can be had for $55 from time to time on clearance. Got mine for $49 at Midway a while back. Just gotta shop around. Speaking of shopping around... since the Winchester SXAR version came out, the original black FNAR can be found in the PXs and classifieds for about a grand and almost new. Wish I'd have waited to buy mine and I'd have saved 400. Oh well.
 
FNAR vs. AR10


BTW, approximately 10,000 modernized M14s are now in service... more are on the way.
 
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NWCP said:
I own a M1A Supermatch and find it to be pretty darned accurate. Does it have ammo preferences?
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Both my M1As love to run with Federal's Gold Medal Match 168 grainers.
Kind of pricey but great groups from a factory load. Hard to beat.
 
Yeah, for the purposes of low cost. When the Army decided to get a new semi automatic sniper rifle it got an AR variant the SR-25 and not an M14 variant.
 
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BTW, approximately 10,000 modernized M14s are now in service... more are on the way.
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davlandrum

Let's see - there are 1,477,800 active duty military so that is a staggering 0.7% fielding rate.....
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The fielding rate of the M14 EBR is staggering when compared to the fielding rate of the AR10.....
 
As a new procurment, it will be an AR not an M14. I like the M1a too, but the AR is simply inherently more accurate.
 
Curious...

the M14's utter failure in service ...
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Just how did the M14 fail as a service rifle? Because it didn't fully live up to what it was being hyped as? Well, neither did the M16.

The way I see it, the M14 was pulled from service as a result of a political decision, not because it failed in the field. Could it have been improved? Sure. But the people running the military at the time weren't interested in that. The M16 didn't work as well in the field as was advertised either, (and there are several reasons, not because it was a failure of design), but the powers that be were determined to keep it. So we did. And though it took many years, it became better than it was to begin with.

The AR 10 benefits from the lessons learned with the M16/AR15, and starts out a pretty accurate rifle. My personal experience is that while accurate and easy to shoot, the magazines are the biggest problem. Last year, I did a buncvh of shooting with a friend's AR10, and used nearly a dozen different magazines, about half of them had issues.

Personally, I don't regard the M14/M1A as a target rifle. And I don't demand match winning groups. I have an old rack grade M1A, which shoots as well as I do, and that's good enough for me. If you want a rifle in this class that gives you the tightest groups practical, get the AR. If you want one that works well enough, and works every time, get the M1A. And don't get the match gun. Unless you are going to shoot matches, its a waste of money.
 
Magazines are why I don't own an AR10 or a RRA LAR-8. I do however own a DPMS .308 that has been flawless and uses SR-25 magazines such as P-Mags and I have never had a single issue with any of the 10 I currently am abusing. I was able to keep a 6" group at 200 yards last time I had it out with a standard EoTech and surplus 147gr FMJ. I am such with real optics and good ammo it could do much better.
 
I have read that the AR is inherently more accurate so I bought one, it didn't live up to the hype
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Sounds like some solid statistical evidence and not potentially flawed anecdotal analysis to me.
 
The way I see it, the M14 was pulled from service as a result of a political decision, not because it failed in the field.
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That's a way to see it and has been the refrain from M14 apologists since about 1965, though the reality is that the M14's obsolescence was demonstrated on the battlefield in SE Asia and it promptly went away, giving it the distinction of the shortest tenure as a service rifle in American history.
 
Who cares?

Which one is being "currently" produced and issued?

Seems that would tend to specify what is being considered the better choice for "current" needs. Even if it isnt yours.
 
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