Do M1A's have chrome lined barrels?

[fossils and guns]

Just curious if anybody knows if the Springfield Armory M1A's have chrome lined barrels? Thanks in advance.

 

[Big Bubba]

I say no. My brother owns a Springfield M1A, and it is not a chromelined barrel.

Of course, that doesn't mean all M1A's are that way.

 

[KAOS]

Current M1A's do not have chromed line barrels. In general, non chrome lined barrels are more accurate than chrome lined. And unless you plan on being in combat in a hot and humid environment, chrome lining is not required.

 

[russ69]

The good ones are not chrome lined.

Thanx, Russ

 

[fossils and guns]

Thanks for the answers. I live in Arkansas and it gets pretty humid here, I like any extra protection.

 

[Big Bubba]

Don't let the absence of a chromelined bore deter you from buying an M1A if you can get your hands on one for a good price. They are an extremely fine weapon as is the M1 Garand.

I have done more shooting with the Garand, but both are "cut from the same cloth" and are excellent rifles.

 

[Plinker MKII]

I wish they were priced more towards some of us budget minded shooters

 

[martyj]

Mine is a SA and has a chrome lined barrel and it is very accurate.
I did have Fulton Armory upgrade it all to Match except the barrel just to keep it looking original.
Id be willing to bet mine is as accurate as the shooter any shooter.

 

[DGW1949]

The early SA Inc M1A's were built with USGI parts. As time went on and those parts got harder to come by, SA began substituting home made (cast) parts and began using non-USGI barrels.
So..... One MIGHT still find an M1A with a chrome lined barrel. But the majority of them don't have one.

And FWIW......
If ya buy a used SA Inc M1A, it might do to call the factory before firing it. Reason is.... SA has an on-going recall on some of the cast-bolt guns, on account of the bolts will fail. That was a fews years back, but there might still be a few out there that haven't been upgraded yet.

DGW

 

[martyj]

Thanks for the heads up on that.
All that got replaced on mine at Fulton Armory when they still had M14 parts available. They went through everything and it even came back with a different hand guard and spring.
I got a whole box back full of parts all but the sights they exchanged because it was originally off a m1 garand.

 

[DGW1949]

Thanks for the heads up on that.
All that got replaced on mine at Fulton Armory when they still had M14 parts available. They went through everything and it even came back with a different hand guard and spring.
I got a whole box back full of parts all but the sights they exchanged because it was originally off a m1 garand.

"Thanks for the heads up on that.".....
You are welcome. Better safe than sorry.

"All that got replaced on mine at Fulton Armory when they still had M14 parts available."......
Far as I know, FA still uses USGI parts. They also produce THE best M1A that a guy can have.

"They went through everything and it even came back with a different hand guard and spring.
I got a whole box back full of parts all but the sights they exchanged because it was originally off a m1 garand."........
Yeah, that's what they do. They have to, to get the gun up to spec.
And yeah, I bet you did indeed, get a box full of parts back. :lol: .
The M-14/M1A uses a lot of the same rear sight parts as the M1 Garand. You'll also find that is true of the trigger group also.

More FWIW's on shopping for an SA Inc gun....

Look for a canted front sight.
This is most often due to the barrel not being indexed proper...which also means that the gas cylinder. piston, and op-handle aint in proper relationship to the frame....which in turn causes undue wear on both the effected parts AND the reciever...AND accuracy problems.
The early "loaded" models were particularly bad in that respect. About 10 years ago, I looked over a half dozen of them at a dealer and not a one had a single USGI part....but they all had an out of plumb barrel...Yikes!

Make certain that the bolt roller don't be pinched, or bottomed to the op handle when at rest. If it is, you can bet the farm that perty-soon, the roller is going to shatter.

If circumstances permit, pull the bolt ass'y, flip it upside down and insure that the extractor-leg don't protrude from the bottom of the bolt body. That aint uncommon with cast-clone bolts and/or non-USGI extractors...and if it does, it'll eventualy cause the extractor to jump out during firing.....which in turn, causes the ejector and firing pin to also dissasemble themselves from the bolt.

"Play" with the rear sight.
If you don't hear, or feel, distinct "clicks" when running through the windage adjustments, walk away from that one. Reason is....it might merely be a bad sight part. But it might also be a bad reciever...meaning that the wagon-wheel thingy wasn't stamped into the reciever deep enough...or has worn away. Sight parts are cheap. But reciever repairs aint.
Same deal with the elevation adjustment. Run it up and down while feeling for clicks. Then put it to about the halfway point and press downward against the apature with your thumb. If it slips with thumb pressure, it might just be a bad part or a worn spring....but it might also be that the cross-holes in the reciever-ears weren't drilled proper.

Aint trying to scare anybody about SA M1A's, 'Cause they make a perty-fair gun. It's just that I've seen a lot of problems with some of them...and the problems I've seen occour often enough that IMO, it'd pay a guy to look one over real carefull before plunking-down his money.
The good news is.... SA Inc is well aware of what's up with their M1A, they got's a real-good warranty, and some skilled people in their warranty department. Much more skilled that what they got working on the line.

DGW

 

[martyj]

Warning on those National Match Trigger groups. Be careful when shooting them off the bench! Make sure the forearm is held onto, the recoil if not held tight will seem like a double fire and wake you right up.
I called Fulton armory on that and they knew just what I did wrong and never had a problem since.
Be nice if a guy could train himself to do that on purpose.


DO NOT BUY A NORICO RIFLE!!!!!!!!!! I saw one at a gun store and I asked them how they could sell such junk. The barrel was pitted and sand blasted. Rust pits on the outside and I never got a look at the gas system but I would be willing to bet it was dangerous standing on either end of this rifle.

 

[cruzerlou]

I've got a new M1A "loaded"part # 9222 walnut stock on order and yes it's a lot of money but you get what you pay fore and I've alyays wanted one .I hope to do 600yard service rifle matches with it .That will be a blast ,no pun intended LOL

 

[horseshoe]

I have a 1985 NM M1A that is supberb. I bought it from a gunshop after the original owner died. It has the NM stamp on the barrel and the NM hooded back sight and is glass bedded.

I thought that the original owner glass bedded the rifle but after calling Springfield yesterday I found out it was indeed a NM and was glassed from the factory. The reason I am writing this is when I fire it I will just about always have a double tap which I attributed to the disconnect but after reading some post it may be me causing this since others seem to have this problem. The trigger is very smooth as it just pulls straight thru which I find unusual. I was thinking it should be two stage. Maybe the guy who owned it before me did a little too much filing on it. I am going to send the trigger group to Springfield and let them look at it. Does anyone have any suggestions.

Regards
Horseshoe

 

[DGW1949]

Yes indeed it should be a 2-stage.
Pull weight on a NM gun should be 4 pounds, or just a hair more.
Make certain that the disconnector (and it's sping) is up to spec.
The hammer spring should show no evidence of being cut shorter. If it does, some jack-leg has been in there messing around.
Never-ever use any type of grease on the hammer notches, or the sear-edge.
Be sure the recoil spring is up to spec, and that someone hasn't installed one of them aftermarket, X-tra power springs.

If all the above checks out OK, you either got's a hammer/sear problem, or your stock is binding-up the trigger group somewhere, or somethings off with the firing pin and the part of the reciever that makes it retract.

Personaly, If it were mine, and if it needed attention, I'd send the entire gun to Fulton Armory. Reason is, the SA Inc "NM" guns built 20-25 years ago, are a different breed of animal than what SA builds today....and if I had one like yours, I'd want a real pro working on mine.

Hope something here helps.

DGW

 

[cruzerlou]

dgw,are you saying that the sa guns are substandard? man I hope not I'm paying $1750 for my "loaded"M1A and i hope i'm getting a high quality gun .I've always heard that Springfeild's quality was second to none ether in their rifles of handguns .I don't mind paying for quality but I do mind paying that kind of money for a gun that may be a problem right off the bat

 

[DGW1949]

dgw,are you saying that the sa guns are substandard? man I hope not I'm paying $1750 for my "loaded"M1A and i hope i'm getting a high quality gun .I've always heard that Springfeild's quality was second to none ether in their rifles of handguns .I don't mind paying for quality but I do mind paying that kind of money for a gun that may be a problem right off the bat

That depends on your definition of "substandard".
To me personaly, the "standard" for a "high quality" M1A-type gun (reguardless of maker), is that it be assembled with USGI parts, and that said assembly was done correctly.

Thing is though, USGI parts long ago sort of dried-up, and the few that are left, command very high prices.....which left SA Inc with no other option than to begin using commercialy-made parts....all of which are cast, not forged...and which may or may not fit just right. The only exception to that is that sometimes, you'll find a couple of surplus M1(Garand) parts in there, and if you're very lucky.... maybe it'll have a TRW bolt.

On the good-side.....

Aside from the early (cast)bolt recall, I've never seen a failure, stopage, or any undue wear that could be linked to the parts themselves. When these guns fail, or exhibit premature wear, it's most-always due to improper fitting.... which I already covered in my prior post.

SA Inc uses good barrels. The barrels aint always indexed properly.....but they shoot very well.

SA Inc has a very good warranty. No question about that.
I also been my experience that if it came down to needing that warranty, that their warranty mechanics are more skilled than their assembly guys.

Is a "Loaded" M1A worth $1,700.00 ???......dunno....that's up to you.
I just think that it's important that folks understand ahead of time, of just what a "loaded model" is "loaded" with....from a materials standpoint.
That, and that it would be wise to look it over perty-good, before plunking down you're money. A bit of time spent at that, might save ya some grief later.

I don't have an axe to grind here. It's just that I've had experience with a couple dozen of SA Inc's, M1A's.....enough to know what I know. So I figured that I'd pass it on.

Hope it helps someone.

DGW

 

[cruzerlou]

dgw I didn't have the chance to look the gun over they told me when I orderd it it wound be 6 to8 mouths before I got it because of back orders man Ijust hope I haven't screwed the pooch on this deal and when i orderd it they were retailing at 1750 on the sa website

 

[cruzerlou]

Ijust checked the S.a, web site and they hae gone up to almost 1900 now

 

[DGW1949]

Ijust checked the S.a, web site and they hae gone up to almost 1900 now

$1900,00 ?...... Wow, that's a lot of scratch. :shock: .

It's almost left me speechless, except to say that I hope you get yours at a better price.

DGW