[Mt.Cameltoe]

I am a new member to the forum but have been reading on and off for some time. I have a Pre-Ban, Springfield M1A with folder that I have been considering turning into a Bush varient much like the Smith Enterprises Navy one I recently saw posted, but with my folding stock on it.

The rifle and all parts are in excellent condition, and it shoots very very well for a rack grade rifle. The reciever is a Springfield Armory with 5 digit (0xxxxx) serial, TRW Trigger assembley, HRT Bolt and Barrel. The Barrel is in pretty much perfect condition and marked HRT 7790190 11 62 AF.

Here is my question for those of you that know the M1A and its values better than I. I just love shooting them, not a "collector" per say. For my purposes I would prefer a shorter barreled Bush version. Given that it is an original GI barrel and that it is in excellent shape, would I be better off to remove the barrel and store it for later, or possibly to reattach if I wanted to sell for some unknown reason with the original walnut stock and barrel as a service type rifle, and just have a NM Med-Heavy Bush barrel put on in the meatime for my uses? Or perhaps cut down my barrel to Bush length, and not mess with the fitting of a new one given that as it is now everything is working smoothly, shooting very nicely and I dont "need" a new barrel due to wear?

I am curious what the more informed of you, and those more familiar with collecting and values would suggest. For me, unless I need to sell it for some unknown future reason, I would prefer to build it into a more compact, but still accurate as possible personal battle rifle, especially given the addition of the folder. I dont want to spend a fortune to just make it shorter, but if in the long run it would be more in my interest to keep the original GI barrel pristine, or if the added barrel weight of a NM Med-Heavy bush barrel will make a big difference in accuracy then so be it.

Sorry for the longwindedness, but that was as small a nutshell as I could wrap it all into today I guess, lol. I would appreciate any advice you could shed to help me decide.

Thanks

 

[MsgtMaze]

Hi Mt.Cameltoe,
Welcome to the Firing Line..

With the price of U.S.G.I. barrels being what they are and going up almost daily, I'd be hard pressed to cut one down that is in excellent condition. If ypou are looking for accuracy in a Bush barrel you can't go wrong with Smith Enterprise's 17.5" Douglas Med Hvy Wt 1/10. I have one on my Bush and it's very accurate. I have not yet to shot it over 100 yards, but at 100 it will shoot 1- 1 1/2" with Port.

One thing you might have to consider is barrel life. The match barrel will not last as long as a chrome lined G.I. will. I shoot three other M14s so for me it will be quite a few years before I shoot 5000 or so rounds to wear it out.

Of course I do have a solution.... use the U.S.G.I. barrel to build a Rack Grade LRB later. It will help you comply with the "Rule Of Two" :wink: .

Hope this helps? I'm sure others will jump in with more ways to help you spend your money :lol: :lol: :lol:

Greg

 

[dighawaii]

Aloha Mt. Cameltoe:

Welcome Aboard! I think that if you have a good shooter now, then it might be better to leave it alone. If you would be willing to spend the money or convert your rifle to a Bush, then maybe an option is to get or make a "Bush" gun separately.

Achieving a good combination of parts that shoot well, is not an "everyday thing". Apparently, the parts in the rifle you have now are "mated" well to give you good performance.

As a thought, any changes to this, can on the other hand may give you poor performance or performance that does not equal what you have now.

If your existing rifle is not a really "good" shooter, then a conversion or barrel swap may be in order. But, with everything still applying, that performance may go up but it can also go down.

With another rifle (and it doesn't have to be an expensive endeavor), you will have the configuration that you want and something to compare with your exisiting rifle.

At this time, there are so many alternative receivers that are perfect for what you want to do that will not necessarily cost you a lot of money.

Just adding my $.02, FWIW. Good Luck whichever way you go. Have fun and keep shooting!

Aloha and Best Wishes,

Tom O.

 

[MsgtMaze]

I told you someone else would jump in......... Good suggestion Tom :idea:

Greg

 

[Mt.Cameltoe]

Thanks for the advice Greg and Tom.

You both make some good points. I have seen the GI barrels prices going up and thought it might be better to save it for a GI setup rifle in the future and I of course love the idea of having 2 rifles to choose from and compare.

I guess my main problem is that I don't want to mess up the way this one shoots, but can't really afford a second right now, and given that I want to put the folding stock on it I have to worry about keeping it all built on a prepan reciever/gun which would drive the cost of building a new Bush/scout from scratch even higher...Hmmm what to do..

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.

BTW Greg...I love the Smith NAVY you had built. Great looking and Im sure very robust piece. I also like that Ghost sight setup on the gas lock...nice thinking for a short barrel. Would love to see how it handles and comes on sight with the folder. Also...I feel your pain...I just moved back from 4 years in the PR of Kali where my Pre-ban Folder was temporarily neutered.

Thanks guys. Still some thinking to do, will let you know and post some pics when I decide

 

[MsgtMaze]

BTW Greg...I love the Smith NAVY you had built. Great looking and Im sure very robust piece. I also like that Ghost sight setup on the gas lock...nice thinking for a short barrel. Would love to see how it handles and comes on sight with the folder. Also...I feel your pain...I just moved back from 4 years in the PR of Kali where my Pre-ban Folder was temporarily neutered.

Thanks Mt.Cameltoe,
Ron told me he'd have another batch of sights next week. If you are interested you should get an order in now. They don't seem to last long.

If you ever have to make the trip back out here and you are in the Bay Area give me a call. You can check it out first hand.
Greg

 

[bamaboy]

needs pre ban to use folder, I'm kind of in the same boat with my 2

 

[Mt.Cameltoe]

Thanks Greg. I think I will give them a call about the front sight and at least have that part set for whatever I decide. Thanks for the offer to go shooting if Im out in the Bay Area as well. I had been living down in the LA area. Great state and nice country out there, too bad things are so nuts politically. Who knows maybe the governator will help. He can't be much worse than Grey

 

[Chuck S]

I disagree on a couple of items mentioned earlier, but if we all agreed on everything the bookies would be broke....

1. The ringed front sight is an annoyance for me, but I'm used to the winged front sight arrangement and can pick it up immediately on M1, M14, M16, and on my Marlin M1895G rifle where I added it.

2. I like standard (lightweight), not medium or heavy weight barrels. Interestingly enough I weighed a standard SA M1A barrel group with USGI M14 barrel and other parts and another with a SA Bush barrel + Smith Vortex and they're within 0.5 once of each other, maybe closer. The data is at home, but I was expecting the shorter barrel to be much lighter, even with the Vortex. The bush barrel appears to be the same diameter as the M14 barrel, but I didn't mic them.

I'd buy a good SA or Armscorp receiver and build another rifle. A shop like Smith Entrprise (and a couple of folks here) can barrel it with a bush length barrel and cut the chamber to M14 (not SAAMI) specs. You can caniballize your existing rifle for a period while you acquire the additional parts. Buy a USGI bolt when you find one, an op rod somewhere, etc. May take a while, but is a form of hunting.

But whatever I'd not bugger a useful USGI M14 barrel.

-- Chuck

 

[Mt.Cameltoe]

Thanks Chuck.

I agree with the barrel thing. I really would rather not cut the GI barrel down and seems that is what others are saying as well.

If I can find a good PreBan reciever sometime I would like build another over time and $ by $ rather than all at once. Still debating having Smith do a navy/bush conversion of my preban and keep the GI barrel for a new build issue version, just don't want to end up wishing I hadn't given that all is working and shooting very well for a non NM rifle right now.

Thanks all

 

[Chuck S]

Ron Smith's shop put my USGI M14 barrel in my new M1A receiver back around Christmas. Took it to the range and the only firing points open were 25 yards, so I put a 3" bull in the center of a target and fired 5 shots at it offhand, just to get an idea where she was shooting. Couldn't see any holes down range. Shot at the center of a large blank target and darned if there weren't 5 closely spaced holes right at point of aim.

Got out the 7x50s and looked at the first target and all shots were in the bullseye.

This ain't a story about how I can put 5 rounds in a 3" circle at 25 yards, but about how well the rifle was assembled at Smith Enterprise. Rifle was at mechanical zero, literally right out of the box.

-- Chuck

 

[MsgtMaze]

Ron Smith's shop put my USGI M14 barrel in my new M1A receiver back around Christmas. Took it to the range and the only firing points open were 25 yards, so I put a 3" bull in the center of a target and fired 5 shots at it offhand, just to get an idea where she was shooting. Couldn't see any holes down range. Shot at the center of a large blank target and darned if there weren't 5 closely spaced holes right at point of aim.

Got out the 7x50s and looked at the first target and all shots were in the bullseye.

This ain't a story about how I can put 5 rounds in a 3" circle at 25 yards, but about how well the rifle was assembled at Smith Enterprise. Rifle was at mechanical zero, literally right out of the box.

-- Chuck

I've had four rifles done at Smith Enterprise and every one has been Zero'ed dead on when I received them. Front sights have been as close to center on the base also.
Greg

 

[fubar]

what about giving fulton a call and see if they are delivering the chrome lined bush length barrels?

at this point the risk of ruining a GI barrel is too great to cut it down.