Springfield Armory M1A

[Gene L]

I went to the Army "Countersniper" 2 week course in about 1984 or so with the M 21. Half the course was GI, half for us cops. Those were 1.5 MOA rifles built by the USAMTU, great triggers and accurate enough at 900 yards...3x9 ART scopes. For the finale, I missed a gimmie at 350 yards or I would have cleaned the course.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

In the late 1980's my best friend was on the Ohio National Guard rifle team. He was issued an Match M-14 (still select fire) and with M118 ammo (Camp Perry Match 173 grain) and match iron sights could shoot 1.5 to 2 MOA out to 600 yards. At the same time I had a semi-auto HK 91 . Using Israeli 1973 ball ammo and the factory equipped sights with the apertures readjusted to 100, 200, & 300 Meters (instead of point blank notch, 200, 300, & 400 meters) I would get 1 MOA and with a 10 power scope 1/2 MOA was very easy. Never tried 168 or 173 grain ammo.
My current AR in 308 seems to be a 2.5 to 3 MOA ( or worse depending on ammo) rifle with a scope and will probably be getting traded for something more accurate. It seems America isn't producing accurate guns in favor of affordable ones currently (I wouldn't call $1450 for a gun that won't group Cheap!)

Ivan

 

[ACP230]

When allergies and other health problems forced me to stop shooting
NRA High Power matches I was shooting an M1A.

It was the best rifle I used for highpower matches. Started with a cut
down 1917 Enfield, moved to an M1 Garand and finished up with the
Springfield Armory M1A. My rifle was another shooter's back up gun.
It came with a fiberglass stock. Later, I traded for a birch stock because
I liked the look of wood better. The rifle seems to shoot the same with
either one. My younger son was the last one to shoot a match with
the M1A. He used it in the Heavy Metal division of a three gun match.

If I was able to go back to high power now I might shoot an AR. It's a
bit lighter and has less recoil.
I'd at least try the M1A once or twice.