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AndyC wrote:You boys be gettin' all fancy and stuff - rubber 'n' "duck-tape" should do ya

Ah yes... ...the field expedient solution. Fortunately, I don't have to.

Further range report...

With the scope mounted and boresighted, I went to Elm Fork this afternoon with my son. I shot 3 different loads at 100 yards.

The first was Black Hills Gold Match 168 gr HPBT A-Max (ballistic tip). The second was Hornady Match 168 grain HPBT. The third was Federal's Fusion 165 grain soft tips.

This rifle is certainly MOH (minute of hog), but I had some difficulty putting together groups at first. I got it zeroed, but then I wound up chasing that zero all over the map. I finally checked and realized that the scope had shifted forward in the rings under recoil a total of about 3/8" over the course of 30 rounds or so.

I gently loosened the ring caps just enough that I was able to carefully tap the scope back into position using a plastic screwdriver handle without tilting it at all. After that, things got better. Average group size was roughly 1.5" for the day, but the last three groups of the day were .75" each with the Fusion ammo.

I recall being very impressed with the Fusion cartridges in my Remington 700 a couple of years ago when I was picking a cartridge for white tail hunting, and I was equally impressed with it in the M1A today. In the two rifles I've shot it in now, it has delivered close to match accuracy, which is not bad for a mid-priced hunting cartridge. I know that the cartridge is engineered for white tails, but I think that in the .308 caliber it has enough power to be used successful on hogs too.

Anyway, that's what I've got so far.

markthenewf wrote:Wow. That looks smurfy. You've added just about everything I'm intending on putting on mine! I'd kinda like to replace:
- that big bird cage at the front with something like a Smith Industries vortex hider and/or brake
- original standard front sight with a night sight
- stubby mag release with the larger tactical mag release

BTW, how did the install of the Sadlak rail go? All this talk from them about how stuff could be outta spec (and then not fit up properly) has me a bit spooked on spending $250 on a mount that doesn't fit. I know they offer a fitting service, but that'd bring the rail only up to $300 and I'd still be out a scope! I'm not worried about actually doing it myself (I fiddle with 1911 guts on a relatively regular basis), but it'd be a real bummer to not have it fit.

I'm also curios to hear how that cheek rest works as compared to the basic strap-on one.

Have you tried off-hand shooting using a sling to steady? Soooooo much more fun than bench shooting at 100 & 200 yards; gets you concentrating and gives you the fulll 308 kick experience!

I have a Ruger M77 MkII All Weather bolt rifle in .308 that weighs about 6.5 lbs. I am WELL familiar with the offhand recoil available from .308 in a light rifle - particularly a bolt rifle.

I also have a 11 pound Remington 700 in .308 (see pics on page 3 of this thread), and it kicks harder than the Springfield too. I think that the semi-auto action soaks up a bit of the recoil, because it just doesn't seem that bad to me... ...either that, or I'm just so used to it that I don't notice it anymore. I haven't tried a sling yet with it, but I have one. I just haven't attached it yet.

Regarding Sadlak's mount, I didn't have any of the troubles that some people have reported. My receiver was well within mil-spec for the mount. The mount included a testing kit to make sure that the grooves in the receiver are the correct dimensions, and that the receiver width is correct. I found the directions for testing a little bit confusing at first, but I'm no kind of machinist or it would have been probably simple. It does require a good dial caliper, which I have. Once I determined the fit to be correct, the mounting was fairly straightforward. You have to remove the stripper clip guide from its dovetail, but that is the only "modification" required to fit the Sadlak mount to the receiver.

The Karsten Cheek Rest was a breeze to install, and it works better for me than either of the "strap-on" ones I own, neither of which are high enough. I like the range of adjustability, which takes seconds, plus it stays put very solidly, and it comes with a piece of black neoprene rubber you can glue onto it for comfort. Mine is the "A" model, which has the large adjustment knobs on the side for easily changing the height. At the height in which you see it in the pictures, it puts my eye in the perfect spot for height, and for the eye relief on the scope.

I would make one suggestion: Measure as many times as you need to feel confident, because once you drill, it's too late. Me? I spent nearly an hour measuring, over and over and over again, and then about 5-10 minutes drilling the holes and mounting the cheek piece. But all that is required is a hand held drill motor and a 1/4" drill bit. You don't need a drill press if you don't have one. I took the stock and laid it on its side on my bar top, and then my son held it in place while I drilled the holes. One thing... Don't drill straight through. Drill first from one side, and then from the other. Once both holes on either side of the stock have been drilled, then you can run the bit back and forth through both holes to make sure they are perfectly squared up to one another.

Regarding the flash hider... I deliberately left it on because the dovetail which holds the front sight is actually part of the flash hider. Replacing either the flash hider OR the front sight would require re-indexing the front sight. According to the literature that comes with the rifle, moving the front sight 0.008" will move the point of impact 1" at 100 yards — and that is for a 22" barrel. I expect that the shift would be even greater for the 18" and 16" barrels. That is a tiny, tiny amount of adjustment for a fairly significant shift in POI, so I prefer to leave it alone. I did look at the vortex unit. My son has one on one of his AR15s and it is a pretty nifty unit, but the irons on my M1A are zeroed now, so I'm not going to fool with it.

marksiwel wrote:Love it, the perfect rifle.

Like the Green Color as well.

Thanks man. Yeah, I think I'm going to be pretty happy with this rifle. I have a really accurate Remington 700 VSF in .308 that I like an awful lot, and a couple of AR15s (a carbine and a varmint rifle), but I think that this rifle fills the middle ground really well between the bolt rifle and the ARs — the best of both worlds.

And it makes a pretty good "something arises" rifle too.

I drilled the stock tonight and attached the Karsten's Cheek Rest, and I present to y'all the (more or less) finished rifle:



That cheek rest makes the cheek weld position perfect for the scope, and the eye relief is a generous 3.75". It was relatively inexpensive and easy to do. I bought mine from TacticalWorks.com, and the price was only $59.00. The Kydex is extremely thick, and it looks like it will go the distance. Drilling the holes only took a few minutes — although I spent at least an hour last night measuring everything off as precisely as I could before drilling, because you only get one chance to get it right.

I say "more or less" finished because I still have both a replacement front sling swivel which incorporates a short rail and a bipod adapter for that rail coming in the mail this week from Fulton Armory. After that, I've just got to bore-sight it, and then take it to the range. And then down the road, I might have the stock painted in some interesting camo. Maybe not. We'll see.

Heeeeeere piggy, piggy, piggy!

I've also got ONE OF THESE on its way to me. It should arrive on Monday.


That should take care of the cheek weld problem.


EDIT: It came today! (Saturday).

It gets mounted tomorrow.

AndyC wrote:I'ma hafta confiscate that on the grounds that it's way too classy for a Texan

I know, huh? She's real purty.

My 20 year old son came home from work last night, saw it, and pronounced it "sick nasty."

I think that means he likes it.

Latest Update...

I finally received the mount, rings, scope, etc., etc. I have the Sadlak mount attached and torqued down to proper specs. The rings and scope are mounted, but not yet torqued down. I'm waiting for a spirit level for the scope to arrive. Once I've got it, I'll level the rifle with another bubble level and make sure the spirit level for the scope is actually level when it's mounted to the scope. Then I'll hang a piece of string with a weight on it out in front of the rifle, and while looking through the scope, I'll rotate the scope body until the vertical crosshair is parallel to the hanging string. Then I'll torque everything down, attach a cheek rest to the top of the buttstock, and it's off to the range for a zeroing session.

The cool part is that I can still use the iron sights with the scope mounted. I love that.

Here's some pics of the scope mounted to the rifle. The little picatinny rail in front of the windage knob is where the spirit level will mount.

stevie_d_64 wrote:Wait a sec...HE's A LEFTY!!!

Oh yeah. Notice that the Remington in the first picture is left-handed?

FIRST RANGE REPORT:

Well, I went to the range today with it. My son and I were guests of HighVelocity at the Haltom City Rifle & Pistol Club. I brought along two rifles for comparison's sake — one being my new M1A, and the other being a Remington 700 VSF in .308. It wasn't an absolutely valid comparison, as the 700 has a very nice Leupold scope on it, and the Springfield has "just" the iron sights, and there just isn't any way for my naked eye to compete with a high end scope with 14X magnification. I shot both rifles at 100 and 200 yards, and I shot the same ammo in both rifles. I just figured that if the ammunition shot well in the bolt rifle, it ought to shoot reasonably well in the M1A. Since the bolt rifle is extremely accurate, with a 26" heavy barrel and an extremely light trigger, I thought it would provide a good baseline for the comparison. The ammo chosen for today was Hornady's 168 Grain HPBT, and Black Hills' "Gold" Match topped with the 168 Grain A-Max.

Once I got the 700 zeroed for the load at 100 yards on a sighting-in target, I switched over to the hanging steel plate. The plate manfully absorbed the abuse, which was considerable, and with the optics on board, the 700 simply could not miss.

Switching over to the Springfield, I could not even see any of the red sighting dots on my paper target through the iron sights, let alone sight in on them, so I abandoned the idea of getting onto paper with it and switched over to the steel plate. The first shot was low and to the left, so I cranked in 8 MOA of elevation and 4 MOA of windage, and after that I was able to beat that gong like a rented rule. It was awesome.

Then we moved over to the 200 yard line and took another steel plate under fire. Again, starting with the Remington, it was a mere matter of using the bullet drop compensator on the reticle, and I beat that thing like a red headed step-child at a family gathering. Then I switched over to the Springfield. That particular plate is about a 10" square. At 200 yards, it appears about the same width as the front sight post on the M1A. All I had to do was crank in another 2 MOA of elevation, and it was awesome the way those 168 bullets tore at that plate. I would hate to be on the receiving end of that kind of withering fire.

Anyway, it is difficult to give an account of true accuracy on the M1A until I can get a scope mounted to it, but I can say with certainty that if I can see a pig out to 200 yards through these iron sights, he's mine.

Here is a video shot with my cell phone of my son's first shot on the rifle. I've already put about 20 rounds through it. Some guy who was there was asking me about my Remington while I was trying to record this video, so that is the conversation you hear in the background:
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Here are some pics of HighVelocity, my son, and me, on various of the rifles we brought along today...

Me on the Remington 700 VSF:


Me on the Springfield, after the first round ever fired in that rifle:



HighVelocity on the Springfield:

HighVelocity on his AR15:


My son on the Springfield:

On his Rock River Arms AR15 Varmint rifle:

And on his Savage 10FP-HS Precision:


It was a good day at the range, and then we followed it by convening at my house to consume the rest of the turkey I smoked yesterday, and the stuffing, and the potatoes, and the apple tart, and the....

I have to take nap now.

Anyway, I will post more once I can get the scope mounted to the Springfield.

Well, HighVelocity was kind enough to give me a set of medium height Burris XTR Tactical rings, so I've saved myself that expense. I'm off to Cabela's this morning to purchase extra ammunition and stuff. I'll be HighVelocity's guest at the Haltom City Rifle & Pistol Club on Friday, and we'll get a chance to ring her out and see how she shoots.

My scope arrived yesterday morning, so I've got everything I need except the Sadlak mount. I just checked the UPS tracking number that Brownells gave me. It is in route and was departure scanned in OKC at 7:30 this morning. That pretty much eliminates today for delivery, and tomorrow is out, so the best I can hope for is that it will be delivered before 10:00 a.m. on Friday. I'm not optimistic that will happen, so it looks like the initial range session will be with the iron sights only.

But that's OK with me. I wanted to zero the irons at 200 yards anyway, and HCRPC has a 200 yard range. Plus, I've always shot those kinds of distances with scoped rifles, so this will give me a chance to get used to using the irons on this rifle. I understand that these are great sights and can be shot quite well. I have 57 year old eyeballs which tend greatly toward the far-sighted. When I look through these sights without my glasses on, the rear sight is quite blurred, but I have a very clear and focused view of the front sight post and its protective "wings" inside of that blurry circle. I reckon that once I get this rifle zeroed, if my aging eyes can see the target, I can hit it. But I won't pretend to be able to use the irons out as far as they are supposed to be good for. I can't see that far with my glasses on.

Here's what's going up top on this rifle, all of it ordered today...

• Sadlak Aluminum Scope Mount
• SWFA SS 10x42HD Fixed Power Scope with Mil-Dot Reticle
• Burris XTR Tactical Rings, Medium Height
• SWFA SS Kill Flash
• SFWA SS 42mm Sun Shade

It occurs to me that, between the cost of the rifle, which was considerable, and the cost of the above optics equipment, this is easily the most I've ever spent on putting together a long shooting, accurate rifle.

I can't wait to have it all together and shoot it. I'm going to the range on Friday — God willing and the tryptophan wears off.

MechAg94 wrote:If I could make a suggestion, try buying the CMI (check mate industries) mags from http://www.44mag.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. They are close to mil-spec GI mags I have seen, and I think they are the current GI supplier. They are not cheap, but they work. The Promag mag I tried years ago was okay for practice, but not very dependable. Same for all the "cheap" mags I have tried.

I have a standard M1A and it has always ate up all the surplus ammo I have fed it. I'm working on a getting a scope mount working for it, but I am still working on that.

Duly noted, and thanks for the input. I looked at the CMI mags on the Midway website, but shied away from them after reading reviews.

...and as we know, everything we read on the Interwebs is the gospel truth! Oh well, maybe I'll get some next time around.

I swear, I must have bought several dismal mags of different brands - including ones with the Bushmaster logo on them - for my Bushmaster varmint rifle, before settling on the P-Mags I use exclusively now for my AR15s. Now if they made M1A/M14 magazines, I would buy those up in a heartbeat. There must not be enough market for them to get involved. Too bad.

The money pit keeps getting deeper. This morning I ponied up for the new Super Sniper 10x42HD, plus a sunshade and a flash kill.... but I think I'm about done.

Hogs beware!

mr surveyor wrote:wow... great looking Springfield rifle! I would love to own one, with a few thousand rounds of ammunition. But, just my opinion, a $1700+ rifle deserves much better than ProMag magazines. I hope they work well for you.

surv

Yeah, I'm merely hopeful about the magazines, but I'll believe them when I see them. I read the reviews on the Midway site before deciding on which ones to buy. These ones had the most favorable revues. The only other acceptable alternative was the Springfield Armory magazines, which were literally twice as expensive. We'll see.

Last night, I ordered a Sadlak scope mount from Brownells, and I'm going to be looking at scopes today.

AndyC wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:I have finally added a .308 battle rifle to my collection!

I was in Euless Guns & Ammo this afternoon, for completely unrelated reasons to this purchase, and I spied a Springfield Armory M1A Loaded on the shelf behind the clerk.

I was there Sat afternoon as well - I'm pretty sure I saw the exact rifle you just bought

Congrats on a fine purchase

Really! What time were you there? I was there from about 4:00 until they closed. If you were there then, I was the heavy set guy talking to Scott (with the beard). I had my son with me.