ArtR

SN B6163 on Gun Broker

SN 2284 seen on proxibid Morphy Auctions SN B3206 seen on proxibid gunslinger auctions. (This might be the same one that Ryche_me reported)

camstuff: The M1A at $1600 15-20 years ago was probably a fair price, for a used Match M1A. A super match might have been a bit more. I saw one today, on Gun Broker, with a synthetic standard stock which has about 19 bids and is currently at $1600. There were a few Super Match with walnut stocks, but they were starting $2500 and up. I agree with the wood stock feelings. I too like the feel and look of a good piece of wood, who cares the finish. The super match may begin to command a more solid price as Springfield no longer offers them. While not quite as popular today for many newcomers in the DCM matches, many old school guys still swear by them, and their scores prove it. As for a standard M1A, it still should shoot well. However, you cannot beat a 2 stage trigger and the plus of NM sights. Glass bedding is again a plus. I no longer have ready access to a 400-600-1000 yard range. I truly miss that. There is nothing like the feeling of placing a good shot at 600+yds....threading the needle so to speak. I know a lot of guys who are shooting competitively and on paper they sound like they are doing quite well, but they are shooting at 100-300 yd ranges and using reduced targets, so they never really have to deal with the wind. If you have ever shot at 500+yd ranges, you know full well what I am talking about. There is a real knack to learning how to 'read the wind' and compensate with your sights. I remember one year at Perry having to put 27 left on my windage to place a good shot. Without that, my shots would have been on the next target over. To get an idea what I am talking about...look at the photos for the 600 yd range and the MR target center in this link. The black repair center is 36" in diameter. The 10 ring alone is 12" diameter. The fellow on his belly, (prone), has to read his target number (alternating yellow and black number boards beneath targets) and then pick his target, the tiny black dot above the number. If you have never heard of cross fires, you have not shot long distance. A real knack to avoid.

WHIG: You will have to let me/us know how you make out with the M1A, when you get a chance. Do not know your location, but here in VT, any serious range work is now months away. I also noticed that your M1A build has the bayonet lug, which is no longer seen on any newer Springfield builds. I have seen takeoffs sold by SARCO and others. Camstuff: Seriously! Look into an M1A. You will not be disappointed. Especially if you go for a match (now the loaded version) or super match (now discontinued by Springfield) rated rifle. Current difference between Loaded and Super Match is Super had heavy weight barrel and oversize stock. My super match also has a 1:10 twist and will really handle some heavy wind killing bullets. While many like the composite stocks, with many state complaining about 'pistol grips', I personally stay away from those. Also, while I am sure they are good, I personally would avoid one with less than the 22" barrel, as the sight radius changes drastically. Probably not a big deal if you shoot scoped sights, but us older guys who still shoot iron sights with diminished eye sight will appreciate the longer sight radius.

tinsoldier: Sling is actually the 12-66 MRT that was assigned to that rifle. They had inscribed the SN on the leather. WHIG: good catch, Shooting coat is a lefty. I am predominantly right handed, but I learned very early on in my shooting career that I was left eye dominant, so I shoot lefty. camstuff: Grey hair.....ouch! But the M14, other than the CMP heavy weight barrel and glass bedding, is all standard USGI M14 A couple hard to find/notice items: ball cap has metal replicas of all rifles that I have fired in competition, as a lefty, at Camp Perry... M1 (yup), M14, M15/16. I never got to fire a 1903 at Perry. The little black dot on white tab taped on door, was my 10 FT target for dry fire practice (A 36" dia 600 yd center reduced for 10 FT or approx 0.2" dia). I did a lot of staring and dry firing at that dot. Lastly, I had found some American Jean brand (no longer made) carpenter pants, that had sewn on padded leather knee pads and also leather butt pads (covered the rear pockets), which were very handy when shooting sitting. With a little tacky glue applied to the jacket black rubber panels, elbows would not slip off the knees. That same tacky glue helped the same on a shooting mat when shooting prone. When the jeans wore out, I had a friend sew the old pads on a new set of jeans.

Ha ha.... Brake thingie? Now I am confused. I will wait a bit for possible other observations before divulging specifics.

My daughter reminded me and found a photo that she had taken of me just before I had to turn in my USAMU M14. Let's see how observant some folk are.

WHIG, just grab a few boxes of ammo, bring your cleaning kit, and plan on spending a "quiet" day at the range some sunny, very calm, day. Do the shoot and clean routine at any short range target BERM!. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ADJUST SIGHTS. You are there to condition the barrel. Generally 50 rounds or so should get the barrel in decent shape. Then, if you still have time, get set up in a good prone position, if you like shooting that way, or from a solid bench, and shoot 2 sighter rounds at a new target at 25 meters (yards). Check to make sure that you are on paper, If so, continue to shoot 3 more shots and do 4 good 5 round groups at 4 new targets. DO NOT MESS with the sights. Look for grouping only. Then sit down and play with the sights. If you are very, very confident in your sighting and shooting ability, on a zero wind day, you can sight in a new barrel (gun) the way that I do. I shoot a control 5 round group at 25 meters (yards). If that group is on paper, where I aimed, then I slowly shoot 1 round at a time at 100 meters (yards) using 1" gradient marked targets and make a minimal windage adjustment until I am satisfied, then I shoot 1 round at a time making minimal elevation changes. When I say minimal, I do it this way. If the shot placement says 3 clicks up, I do 1.5. Follow that with another shot, and if the 1.5 did the trick, I follow with another 1.5 clicks, otherwise, I place another shot, check placement, and again do the 1/2 change. It is an effective way to sight in and not waste ammo. I usually do not make both windage and elevation adjustments at the same time so as not to confuse the issue. Also, by shooting ever so slowly, you are not heating the barrel, which can add a whole new wrinkle to the equations. A competition highpower rifle secret. Once you are confident that you have your no wind zero, always back the sights down, counting 1 click at a time to zero. Mark that down somewhere in a book or on your rifle. If you ever are not sure where your sights are, have changed shooting distance, or have to disassemble the sights, your can always get back to a reasonable no wind zero quickly. When shooting competitively, we never guess. After changing range distance, we always move sights to zero and count back up to the known NWZ for that distance. In the previous photo of my old USAMU M14, notice the 4 yellow highlighted marks. Those allowed quick multiple confirmation of windage zero for the windage knob. The included image is a bit hard to read, but has my NWZ for this rifle at 100 yds is Up 1 with arrow down meaning hood indicator down, and Right 2 and at 200 yds Up 4 down arrow meaning hood indicator down, Right 4. In my shooting log for this rifle I also have the 300, 500, and 600 yard NWZ written down. Enjoy and report back soon.

The importance of 'punctuation' cannot be stressed enough. There are a lot of good examples out there, and here is one of my favorites.

Hey WHIG Unfortunately, "my M14" is now long gone. BUT....like you, I do have a Super Match M1A built by Champions Choice, back in 1998. At that time we all suspected that the USAMU would recall the M14's and many of us purchased M1A's as back ups. Mine has the oversize, heavy weight, but still DCM/CMP legal, stock. A great 'upgrade' as it helped to reduce recoil, which was also a great relief when shooting matches. I am very surprised that you have not shot your rifle. The rifle will scare you with how accurate it is, if built by a competent armorer/gunsmith. If in fact the barrel is brand new, you might look up some of the "new barrel" break in articles that are/were out there. When I was actively shooting a lot, we did the usual shoot 5-10 rounds, either NATO or brand new handloads, clean the barrel, and repeat 5-10 times, and figured that was good enough. Back then, "moly bullets" (molybdenum-disulfide-coated bullets) were the new fad, but were so new that none of us tried them. Later we learned that it was not such a good idea and were totally glad that we had avoided them. You might also look into getting a NM hooded rear sight/aperture for your rifle, which will add 1/2MOA for your elevation changes. It is a not too expensive and easy DIY install. Last I knew, you could still buy 7.62 NATO rounds for relatively affordable prices. Art

Eric Good eyes! What it does not show is the selector on this genuine M14 is 'welded' in the semi position only, required before the USAMU issued to the state rifle teams. Our state service rifle high power team had a bunch of them. Most all had heavy match barrels, but two had medium weight barrels. We 'loaned" the medium weight guns out to ''new' team members until we were sure that they were serious and would continue to compete. All full time team members had heavy weight guns. To be issued a gun, you had to be finger printed, pass a background check, and sign a ton of paperwork. Mine (above) went through the USAMU armorers at Camp Perry in 1996 and had a new 7-92 DCM barrel installed and then was re-bedded just before the matches. It was a literal tack driver at 600yds. I was our state's Civilian Service Rifle Champion two times with that rifle and barrel. When the USA/USAMU decided that the M14 was still a viable weapon for long range shots, they recalled all the weapons, and had them rebuilt with modern black plastic stocks and many added features. Art

JSAR with unreadable SN sold for $9000

Wishing one and all a Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you all get to join loved ones to give thanks. I was up at 5AM and removed giblets from the turkey, and found it nearly fully thawed. Started them cooking and proceeded to dice bread, onions, celery for homemade bread and giblet stuffing. Got the bird stuffed and trussed and had it in the oven for 8AM. Estimated cook time 3.5-4hrs with estimated eating at 12:30-1PM. Menu: Turkey, stuffing, gravy, mash potato, butternut squash, maple glazed carrots, roasted garlic broccoli, sweet corn, cranberry jelly & cranberry-orange relish (I made relish and cooked squash yesterday), olives, pickles, pumpkin and apple pie, cider, coffee, ....did I forget something? ArtR

Turkey has been a New England tradition for nearly as long as time. A recent National Geographic Society article was about how the native American wild turkey has made a comeback, after having nearly been hunted into oblivion. But as WHIG has pointed out, traditions travel with time. Another recent article expounded upon what was the traditional favorite American Pie...Apple, Pumpkin, and the list went on and on because different parts of the country have different traditions and favorites. That is what is so great about this country. And that is the core element, and as WHIG said, "Family at Thanksgiving is the best."

Great to hear from some. Back safely at home, after nearly 6+ hours at my daughters place. She and I worked well together and the meal was on the table about 15 minutes early. As there were 10 of us, and the table is limited in size, she likes to serve buffet style....so....looking from back to front: corn, turkey with stuffing, mash potato, carving board, maple glazed carrots, gravy, extra stuffing, roasted garlic broccoli, home made dill pickles, black& green olives, jellied cranberry sauce, and cranberry relish. After I put the camera down, I took my position carving the bird, ans she stood next to me and served our younger crew. Everyone else then began to load their plates, as I carved away. We killed half of a 15# bird. They forgot the cider, but my son-in-law stepped up and offered Vermont's own Woodchuck Hard Cider, which several of us partook of. The rest had milk or juice. Pies were not in the photo, but two great home made pies. Apple with apples from a local orchard, and pumpkin, which recently was our Halloween prop. Great time and no one went home hungry.

Rarebearcat: if you could, please take a few more photos of the SN from different 'angles' (left, right, up, down) so that the light shows up in the grooves a little different, and I will work some magic on them and see what I might determine. Due to the light source, it is difficult right now for me to make a better determination, but I see what you mean. And humor me. What is the SN on the bolt? And your sling...is a NO BUCKL PAT'D 7-21-14, so definitely WW1 era. ArtR

Ed I have to agree with you, if you made an inquiry and got no response, either positive or negative. Disappointing at the very least. Why would anyone want to even consider trusting them with something as a JSAR for service if this is an indication of their customer service.

SN 0776 was last seen in RIA Premier Auction Cat #71 Sep 2017 and sSold $63,250 LMG

Hi rarebearcat: The following information is provided from the production logs: Receiver SN 8296, Received From: Cranston Arms, Date Received 3/23/1942, Stock No. 2, Barrel No. 4700E, Hammer Block No. 7553, Hammer No. 0303A, Bolt No. 2696, Locking Cam No. 8919, Firing Pin No. A4854, Extractor No. 8919, Magazine No. A0168, Disposition Date 3/24/1942, Transferred to J.A. Inc - N.P.C Without proper and reliable provenance, be very careful about claims of both ownership and usage. Also, if you would like forum members to comment about the condition of your rifle, please post high definition, quality photos showing all rifle views, and any suspected defects. Generally, photos taken with cell phones or quality cameras produce large files. If you crop the photos to the rifle in general, and scale the photos so the size is less than 2MB, uploading should work well, and the resulting photos will give reviewers enough detail to comment. ArtR

On Gun Broker What appears to be 3 cross pins (not sure if front or rear) and what appears to be a recoil stop with 2 screws THIS ITEM SOLD! I figured it might go quick, possibly by posting here.

And for those of you who are not into reloading, when Ed says the RCBS presses were sturdier, he means it. I have one RCBS single stage press, and it weighs a ton. I have seen many just like it, and other than some dirt, grease, or other crud, they are just as good today as they were when they were made, ever so many years ago. When it comes to needing brute force to resize, well lubed brass cases and an old RCBS press are hard to beat. I full length resized thousands of once fired 7.62NATO MG cases through my press, for use as practice rounds in my state issued M14 National Match rifle. I no longer do that since the US Army recalled all the state M14's back in 2007. I had the rifle in my possession for nearly 13 years. Those familiar with the M14 will notice what is unique about this photo.

Tanker -- Glad someone on the forum got those parts. Even if you do not need them now, someone may need them sometime.

Eric I agree. There are so many 'new' and 'other' cartridges/calibers showing up every day. But when you get right down to it, what do they have that some of the nearly to 100+ year old cartridges do not have?? I load for a bunch of calibers, but mostly for old school stuff. .30Carbine, .38Spec, .38+P, .357Mag, .44Mag, .45Colt, .45ACP, 5.56NATO, .243Win, .270Win, .30-30, .30-06, .7.62NATO, .35Rem, .45-70. My feeling is that newer bullet and powder technology has allowed me to keep many of these old standby's very current and useful. Great photo. I especially like the choice old school RCBS single stage presses and other old school equipment. Reminds me of my bench. Especially the Midway wooden load trays, which are now impossible to find. I would (pun?) not trade mine for anything. I understand that there are some 'custom' wood trays available at times $20 a pop. ArtR

Hi Joe, Great to hear from you and many thanks for your valued input. Just for curiosity, if identical, why two numbers, or listing as front and rear? I understand the change for ease of removal, but other than that,???? Just me wondering. NOTE: I think that I have answered my own questions. They are ;indeed the same. On one of the original parts list, the pin is listed as Hammer Block Retainer Pin Assy, PN R-187-X, but it is crossed out, and at the very end of the list is Hammer Block Retainer Pin Assy PN R-370-X. Which leads me to believe, that maybe R-187-X was the pin assy without the grooved top hat, and possibly that R-370-X was the newer pin assy which includes the spec changed grooved top hat part.

While I have not taken time to 'measure', here are a couple photos, to start with