[Kangaroo Beast]

Hi all,

I'm new to not just the forum but M1A's in general. Recently I purchased a Springfield Armory M21. While I've shot a friends standard and SOCOM, he is my leading experties at this point, I have some unanswered questions about the M21 (would apply to a Super Match as well).

First, what kind of break in procedures should I be aware of? I know I shouldn't get the barrel too hot for the first 100 rounds or so, have been even told to give the barrel a quick cleaning every 5 to 10 shots durring that period. Is this a good idea? Is there anything else I should know? How far down does it need to be cleaned befor I shoot it the first time?

Second, I'm curious about maitenence and cleaning. I hear a lot about glass bedding, but at the risk of sounding like a moron, where is it and how might I be damaging it by cleaning my gun? How far down should I be breaking it down when I clean? How often should I be getting deep on the cleaning? With many of my guns I simply use G96 between range sessions and have never ever had a problem with a gun I own, but should I be doing something different with the M1A? I've seen that there is "grease" that is used in them, what should I be getting and how much would I use, and where?

Third, still has to do with cleaning/teardown, but what should I be aware in terms of the rear lug that is on the Super Match and M21? How will this feature affect how I maintain this gun compared to a standard?

I know that's a lot of questions, but if they could all be answered in this thread it would make a nice compact resource for new M1A owners in general along with those that own Super Match and M21 variants.

Thanks,

Drew

 

[cachunk]

welcome to the forum, ( sorry dont know the answers to the questions but guarantee someone else with an m21 and a whole lot more lead down range does)

Enjoy

 

[cachunk]

btw, always good to see someone from Sea Town, I love it out there. Hows the weather now, is the mountain out?

 

[Kangaroo Beast]

The weather has been alright. It seems to make sure it is nice whenever I head out fishing or hunting. It is western Washington pheasant season now, so the decent weather has been appreciated.

 

[sac troop]

First of all; Welcome aboard from Shoreline. Do you ever go to Kenmore?
Next I would recommend you check out the reference forum on this site for a collection of information on cleaning, maintenance, minor repairs and modifications. Also check out the threads under many of the experts here. Gus, Art, Ted, etc. There's a lot of good info to be found here.
You'll get a variety of opinions on how far to break down your rifle and how often. Also some people follow specific break in procedures and others do not. I like to do barrel break in as for me the barrels that I've done this to are generally easier to clean over their life. The one thing I worry about in leaving my action in the stock for as long as I can is that I can't inspect the area on the barrel just above the gas cylinder. The exposure to the hot gas in that area can accelerate the chance of rust developing on that part of the barrel.

 

[Kangaroo Beast]

Hi Sac Troop, I don't go to Kenmore, spend most of my time at SVRC in Fall City and planning to join up at Interlake Gun Club in Redmond. I'll be sure to check out those threads and those particular experts. Fortunatly for me my barrel is stainless steel, so barrel rust isn't something I'm as concerned about.

What is Kenmore like? Interlake is right by my house so there is the convinience factor. But I'm looking for a place I could also shoot clays at as well, is that possible in Kenmore?

By the way, I grew up in Kansas and am just now getting around to being my old self (after about 5 years).

 

[sac troop]

They have shotgun and archery too.
You might consider posting on the thread at the link below. We use this to quickly communicate with each other in the area.

http://m14forum.com/pacific-northwest/50126-starting-wa-members-list-10.html

 

[08 Cayenne]

I tore mine apart and cleaned and lubed it before shooting, I do this about once a year now. I followed the Krieger barrel break in instructions on their web page.

This is mine and it will do this.

 

[82nd ABN]

One thing you want to do is make sure the copper does not build up in the barrel. I was using a dedicated copper cleaner then switched back to hoppes #9 it works well if you are shooting a 100 rounds or so, any more and I toss a couple of patches of hoppes copper terminator as well. My M21 has a krieger barrel and I followed there recommendations on there website as well. Cant hurt!

 

[M1A96819]

Aloha and Welcome Kangaroo Beast,

Glad to have you aboard. You have quite a bit of questions and for the most part it will be best to repeat them in the main "M14" forum. That way your questions will be more exposed,....you then make a title and your thread will be read from all members who goes there and be answered as well. Also we all will learn from it too.GI2

 

[elray]

welcome!

 

[Jet]

Welcome from Puyallup. No M21 here just a super match that is still new to me and I've got about 200 rds through it and trying to find an optimum load for consistent sub MOA.

 

[awmp88]

I really like the M21 stock, I have seriously thought about just purchasing one from Springfield Armory for my scout.

 

[Kangaroo Beast]

So finding the right load is a tricky thing. Based on balistics charts I'm going with a 165 grain bullet, most likely the Sierra Game King Spitzer or Hollow Point, both are boat tails. I'll be loading these myself with modest yet north of factory loads.

Q: Why am I using these rounds, they're for hunting, not match shooting?
A: I'm going to be using this gun to hunt, so the consistency of the shot needs to be with a hunting round instead of a target round. Of course there are better hunting rounds out there, but they are also much more expensive when it comes to plinking away at the range. If money were no object I'd be getting the Ballistic Silvertips from Nosler and I'd have the best of both worlds in terms of hunting and target.

Now, I'd love for someone to have a great argument for why I might be wrong about tragectory change of two different types of boat tail bullets of the same weight. But I'm being very deliberate about my bullet testing before I get a scope as I'm having the turrets set up for the gun, bullet, and load so they have perfect 100 yard breaks.

So to why I wrote this, this is how I'm trying to get mine to a consistent sub MOA.

 

[Rawnerves]

Welcome aboard, enjoy.