[Pomeroy]

Is it OK to shoot a SA M1A with the gas spindle valve closed? I suppose it would keep the action from cycling so I don't have to chase brass all over the place while shooting from the bench but don't want to do anything that would cause problems with the rifle.

This is my first post. I just found this site and hope to visit it frequently.

 

[Rawnerves]

I've done it many times without a problem.

 

[jelly donut]

FWIW my rifle tosses the brass about 3 feet out at the 1400 position.

That's 2 o Clock for you non military types.

 

[Ole Silver]

The toss

Mine goes about 7 feet @ 1400 position.

Ole Silver

 

[Al Mack]

I made a screen to stop the brass, works good.

 

[bigbang]

dito, but with 1 foot of snow I close my valve too. Don`t want to loose my dignity searching brass in the snow like a truffle pig.
Wolf

 

[Pomeroy]

truffle pig.... Funny you should mention that. My brother and I were talking the other day about bird (quail) hunting and were wondering if pigs, since they can shiff out truffles, could be trained to sniff out quail. His bird dogs have all passed on, and he was contemplating trying to train a bird pig. I don't know why it would not work. We could always have a BBQ if the experiment failed.

Thanks for the advice on the spindle valve. I just wanted to make sure I would not be harming something if I turned it off. All I could see in the manuals was that it was used when using a grenade launcher. I trained with an M14 in ROTC back in the early '70's, but had not used one since. I picked up a standard SA M1A the other day and am looking forward to getting it out on the farm for some shooting.

 

[ripsaw]

Be advised that with some tighter headspace chambers in the commercial models, you may have to eject the spent cartridge quickly when firing mil-surp, as it will swell and sometimes need the op rod assisted when ejecting if left sitting too long.
By assisted , I mean resting the buttstock on the bench and beat the tar out of the op rod with a rubber mallet while pushing down.......just sayin.......been there, done that.

 

[citxmech]

Is it OK to shoot a SA M1A with the gas spindle valve closed? I suppose it would keep the action from cycling so I don't have to chase brass all over the place while shooting from the bench but don't want to do anything that would cause problems with the rifle.

Anybody use this practice to run heavy bullets?

 

[bricktop]

Be advised that with some tighter headspace chambers in the commercial models, you may have to eject the spent cartridge quickly when firing mil-surp, as it will swell and sometimes need the op rod assisted when ejecting if left sitting too long.
By assisted , I mean resting the buttstock on the bench and beat the tar out of the op rod with a rubber mallet while pushing down.......just sayin.......been there, done that.

Yea, even with regular old DAG, it is a bear to pull the op-rod back when the gas system is off. Gloves are a plus GI6