Unitizing M1A GC
- Thread starter Jason_G
- Start date
Peter M. Eick
New member
Here is what my NationalMatch can do at 100 yards with opens off the bench. If we expand that group out to 300 yrds and you get a good steady rest, you can see it is minute of a deer for 50 shots.
The real question is can yours do the same? If so great, and I wasted the money on the NationalMatch gun with the unitized gas cylinder, better barrel, bedded action and better sights. If not then yes these things probably would help your rifle (and it would make me feel better that I did not waste the extra 500$ on a NM).
Scott Duff's book, The M14 Owner's Guide, has instructions for match conditioning. He lists two ways of unitizing the gas cylinder, by welding of course, or by adding shim washers, which he recommends for "the hobbyist."
The washers, he says, are available at Fulton Armory.
This book is well worth having if you are interested in accurizing your M1A.
Regards and good luck.
The washers, he says, are available at Fulton Armory.
This book is well worth having if you are interested in accurizing your M1A.
Regards and good luck.
If you have match ammo and a steady eye and hand...
About 90% of the accuracy is in the barrel. The rest includes glass bedding on a stable stock, trigger job, better sights, improved recoil spring guide rod and unitized gas cylinder.
Some folks weld them but if done on the exterior where it can be seen, your gun is not permitted for Camp Perry. We had to drill, tap & screw ours. The screws were staked to keep them from rotating. Also, a better piston helps too. One Armorer would swap out pistons and test fire the gun until he had a match. Tedious and he had a supply of pistons - something that can be expensive for us mortals.
About 90% of the accuracy is in the barrel. The rest includes glass bedding on a stable stock, trigger job, better sights, improved recoil spring guide rod and unitized gas cylinder.
Some folks weld them but if done on the exterior where it can be seen, your gun is not permitted for Camp Perry. We had to drill, tap & screw ours. The screws were staked to keep them from rotating. Also, a better piston helps too. One Armorer would swap out pistons and test fire the gun until he had a match. Tedious and he had a supply of pistons - something that can be expensive for us mortals.
This is kind of what I was thinking. I am planning on getting a M1A Loaded soon, and was wondering how necessary these modifications really are. It's going to be a field rifle, I plan to hunt with it mostly. That being the case, I hate to do anything that will make it a PITA or even make it harmful to the rifle to fieldstrip it and clean it. I'm not really planning on shooting matches with it, so I think I'll skip the bedding. I was just wondering if unitizing the gas system is beneficial to the point that it's really worth doing for my purposes. Majority of my shots will be 100 yds or less. The 300 yds I stated in my original post was in case I want to plink with it, in which case, that's about as far as I'd be shooting it without glass.
Jason
That might be true in factory bedded rifles. These come with a one-size-fits-all stock. I'd argue that 90% of the accuracy is in the stock fit.
You can have the best barrel in the worlds, but if the stock fit is less than excellent, then you can expect mediocre performance at best.
Ty
That's true 30 cal. But if you've got great stock to metal fit, it does you no good if your barrel is garbage. Certainly it's important and no one wants a stock that is loose and allows for shifting or changes that accompany temperature or humidity changes, but good guns start with the barrel first.
The question was
Adding just a unitized gas cylinder by itself will not show enough improvement
to justify the expense I.M.H.O.
MacGille, This proceedure is where the front band and gas cylinder are aligined and then screwed or welded together. This is one of many tricks used to add a margin of accuracy to the rifle.
The shims as sold by Fulton are used to align the gas ports in the cylinder and the barrel.
Peter, your $500. was well spent as doing all of the accuracy extras as an add on is going to cost more in the long run.
Not how much better would my rifle shoot if I add a complete national match package to my rifle.
Adding just a unitized gas cylinder by itself will not show enough improvement
to justify the expense I.M.H.O.
MacGille, This proceedure is where the front band and gas cylinder are aligined and then screwed or welded together. This is one of many tricks used to add a margin of accuracy to the rifle.
The shims as sold by Fulton are used to align the gas ports in the cylinder and the barrel.
Peter, your $500. was well spent as doing all of the accuracy extras as an add on is going to cost more in the long run.