Which Springfield Armory rifle? (M1A and others!)

Steve Smith

New member
After learning that the Super Vepr was not the price that I'd been told, I'm back to looking at SA M1As. First of all, though, they're still advertizing the SAR-8's even though I'd heard that they weren't handling them anymore. Would any of you consider this over an M1A? If so, Why?

BTW, the purpose is for long range tactical target shooting.

Springfield is calling some of their M1As "new loaded" is this different then the "loaded" versions? If so, how? What's the general consensus of the "new loaded" M1As? Any reliability problems? Are they really accurate?

Which stock to get? I kinda like the black fiberglass, but I like the walnut too. A local dealer has the camo version...thoughts on that? It looks a little ugly to me. Is there an advantage of one stock over another?

I had been told once that Springfield was going to discontinue their "loaded" M1As...is that BS?

Oh yeah, one more thing...Stainless or carbon for accuracy?

Thanks for answering all these questions!

[This message has been edited by Frontsight! (edited September 06, 2000).]
 
don't get the loaded, unless you've got the $$$$$$$ for the sh!t that you get with it. go to the gun shows and pick up what you need for small $$$$ and save some $$$$$. that's what i did M1A in stainless.
 
IMHO, the Loaded versions will get you the most value for your dollar. You get a lot of the NM parts, but without the NM price. If you need something more accurate than the casual shooter, spend the dough and go for a NM or SM.

I have a Loaded (Fiberglass stock, carbon bbl) M1A and I’ve had absolutely no problems with it. I shoot mainly milsurp ammo (Israeli Match, Malaysian surplus, Brit. Radway Green). It seems quite accurate for me (I haven’t done any benchrest testing yet). I hope to put a scope on it one day, but I think I’ll continue to enjoy the iron sights for a long time.
 
After purchasing my M1A, I discovered something that I sure wish somebody had told me sooner... AR10's Kick A$$! They run in the same price range as the M1A's, but straight out of the box, the standard Ar10 is guaranteed moa, while the standard M1A promises 2 1/2" at the same distance. Not to mention, scope mount built right in!

I have seen Ar10's going for $940 - $1200, with the higher end being the free floated, stainless barrel.

It's just an opinion, and probably not a very good one at that.
 
The M1A's really shoot better with the national match barrel and trigger. The AR10's have had some failure to feed problems, and are not a battle proven rifle. Just to confuse matters more, the DSA SA-58 FAL retails for $1595 with a medium contour barrel, but can shoot 0.8 MOA groups. I would go with either a loaded M1A or the DSA.
 
mine is nm ss barrel, but no match rear sights, the fronts are. that's the way i ordered it. no coupons with the gun, if you call and order from springfield armory you can get it this way.
 
Friend of mine got a Loaded model, it failed to feed as soon as he got it. Sent it back. Springfield worked on it for a month, I guess that there where headspacing problems of some kind. They shipped it back to him and since then I don't think he has any problems. So at least when a lemon slips through they try and make it right.
 
Now I'm totally torn. If I could be assured total relaibility of the AR-10, I'd get it for sure, jsut because I like the looks and the ergonomics.

Bottom line is, that's kinda what I want, rather than the M1A, but I'm afraid of the relaibility issues...thoughts?
 
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