M1A worth any time?

[Trooper224]

FALs are *way* cool.

Yes they are. I've been tempted to sell mine a time or two, but I always manage to talk myself out of it.

[Ivantheterrible]

I used to shoot the M1A in High Power competition and when my rifle was wearing out its third barrel, it started to have issues. I loved shooting it and shot some really good scores with it but it was expensive to keep maintained in match condition and those knowledgeable on how to maintain them are getting fewer.

That rifle was sold and, last year, on a whim, I bought a new SAI "loaded" model with the plain synthetic stock. I have been really impressed with the workmanship in this rifle (should be the case for what it costs). The stock/receiver fit is great and the gas piston actually passed the tilt test off of the rack. The only modification I did was to fit a new match rear sight. The factory one was a real sloppy fit. Taking it to a recent local 200yd reduced high power match, I shot a decent 768 with it.

I'm just saying that based on this one example, I think the new SAI rifle is significantly better than the one I bought 10 years ago and is a "keeper".

[Hambo]

FALs are *way* cool.

If I were tempted to get a retro .308 it would be a FAL and not an M1A.

[LittleLebowski]

FALs are *way* cool.

PREACH IT!

[JAD]

If I were tempted to get a retro .308 it would be a FAL and not an M1A.

Buy both. The kids will do fine in JuCo.

[mmc45414]

I have this one:

And like it, managed to shoot a small doe with it on this trip:

but I would also considering selling it, just because I am thinking about thinning the herd to fund things I am more actively interested in (I guess that wouldn't be thinning the herd...). Just that if I am going to have money tired up in things that are cool that don't get shot very often, revolvers are easier to get out of the safe and look at. Plus I seem to find myself on a pistol range more often than a rifle range.

It was built by a local guy that was an FFL and former armorer, so it doesn't have a real pedigree, but would be priced accordingly (PM if anybody might be interested, not really actively marketing it).

[psalms144.1]

If I were tempted to get a retro .308 it would be a FAL and not an M1A.

Couldn't agree more. I've been drooling over nice FAL clones almost since I bought my first personal firearm. Never pulled the trigger; maybe I need to rectify that before I retire and I have to live on a fraction of my current salary...

I've owned a couple of Springfield M1As in various models, and, frankly, was never anything but "meh" about any of them. We had a few of the tricked out "modernized" M14 variants in our armory for a while, and gave them some range time, but they did NOTHING that our Mk17s didn't do better...

[DocGKR]

Yup....

[TheRoland]

Thanks for all the feedback. Recommending a lever action over an M1A is pretty severe, and has made me really think in that direction.