[art luppino]

There are a number of Commercial Spr. guides to choose from, several seem to be of good quality.. The GI spr. guide serves the purpose that was good enough for the Armed Forces. The Commercial guides come in various shapes and claims of superiority. .

The purpose of the guide is to offer a place to latch the mag into the rifle and to help align the recoil spring to the Opt Rod during firing, what do you think the Commercial Guides do better?

The thing to lookout for when fitting a Commercial guide is one that is to thick in Dia.. this over size will cause coil binding, which will leave easy to see rings around the guide itself. This can be corrected by reducing the dia. of the guide. A loose fitting guide is better than an oversize one. An over sized guide also will cause flat surfaces to appear on the outside of the spring coils, weakening the spring prematurely..

Since there are Commercial recoil springs now available it is very important to check your new Guide for fit, do it without lube. The Guide should slip fit at the tightest, drop fit is what you are after. This is one area where a good amount of lube is beneficial, it is not necessary to put lube int the Opt Rod Spr. housing. It is also a good idea to change recoil springs once a year, or every 3,000 rounds fired. Art

 

[DEAN R.]

Interesting info. My question as you (all) have probably read is that I am trying to have this rifle (Springfield,standard) a little bit more accurate. Though I have used different brands a ammo and have noticed some improvement, I would like to notice the improvement useing "NATO" ammo, i.e., Portugese, Hertz ect. Without changeing the barrel I am all ears for recommendations.

 

[art luppino]

Accuracy imporvment

Dean R, The accuracy in a Standard grade M1A using an assortment of US and foreign ball ammo is, this my experience shooting them, approx 5 to 8 inches at 100 yards, this is ten shots fired, iron sights used. Adding parts such as a modified opt rod spring guide is questionable at best in a attempt to improve accuracy. This is also true for all the other add on components on the market, why don't you spend the money on quality ammo, doing so, would reduce the groups more than all the stuff advertised..

Most people do not take this advise, none of them ever admit they should have. Art

 

[DEAN R.]

Dean R, The accuracy in a Standard grade M1A using an assortment of US and foreign ball ammo is, this my experience shooting them, approx 5 to 8 inches at 100 yards, this is ten shots fired, iron sights used. Adding parts such as a modified opt rod spring guide is questionable at best in a attempt to improve accuracy. This is also true for all the other add on components on the market, why don't you spend the money on quality ammo, doing so, would reduce the groups more than all the stuff advertised..

Most people do not take this advise, none of them ever admit they should have. Art

As quality ammo is concerned, I have. Federal Match King 168gr. BTHP. My grouping of ten with iron sight was by means much better than NATO rounds. The grouping was in the area of 3" to 6". Wind at about 10mph from my right. Clear/dry day with a temp in the low 50's. Thanks just the same. I appreciate your feedback and of others here. But, with todays economy, $25+ for 20 rounds is costly. If there is a way that the "standard" model M1A could be a bit more of an accurate rifle by tricking it out a bit, that would be great. I do welcome some suggestions.

 

[lefty o]

trigger job, unitize it, and glass bed it, then take up handloading.

 

[DEAN R.]

trigger job, unitize it, and glass bed it, then take up handloading.

Trigger job, done. Is at 4.5 lbs. Glass bedding? Thought about it. The stock is red birch, "D.O.D. cartouch with selector cut away. I really like the stock. Hand loading will start in about 4.5 years when I retire. I will have more time to fart around with new toys. But, I hear ya.

 

[Snyper762]

As far as ammo is concerned if you want good accurate ammo for a fair price, hit up Georgia arms. practice, more practice is your best bet.

 

[DEAN R.]

As far as ammo is concerned if you want good accurate ammo for a fair price, hit up Georgia arms. practice, more practice is your best bet.

And slough house is the place to do it.

 

[panther308]

As stated by Art, I have found the greatest improvement in accuracy is by using quality ammo

 

[sac troop]

For me I’ve never found anything that will make a bad barrel shoot well. barring that I do have a SAI scout squad that started out as a standard configuration. I’ve installed a Sadlak spring guide, and piston, as well as a unitized gas cylinder and installed shims behind it. It came with a G.I. synthetic stock that has very good draw when you close the trigger group in place. As I have less than 300 rounds thru this rifle I’m still far from going over the trigger group at this time. Shooting South African ball ammo at my last range session I found my dead wind zero and shoot a 100 4X on the SR-1 target at 100 yards a good sub 2 MOA group from 10 rounds. No promises here as your results may vary.

 

[DEAN R.]

Panther, of what type of "quality ammo" are you feeding your rifle? SacTroop, the S. Afican may be good for now but, have you not tried any other NATO ammo? I do realize that there are many factors as concerning accuracy with an M1A/M14. Sometimes it can be the nut behind the stock that makes the difference. It is just that at this time as I shoot matches (I have won and lost for 10 years) with my rifle(s) is that I feel I need to bring the rifle up a notch. The glass bedding should be the first thing to consider. But, once that is done you don't want to field strip it unless it is really necessary. My barrel is H&R (2 61) with about 600 rounds through it. The reciever is the same year with TRW parts. The stock is a red birch with selector notch. D.O.D. boxed and "P" inside circle. I bought the rifle from a shop in which I know the owner. He bought it many moons ago (early 60's) new while he was in the U.S. Air Force. He never fired it. Just before he retired (sold shop) he knew I was a collector and shoot matches. As he was down sizing he showed it to me and well, the rest is history. So, glass bedding this rifle, no. That won't happen. This is not the only rifle I have and won't be the last. Evryones ideas are great and I really like this forum. Thanks guys.

 

[SmokyBaer]

For what it's worth...

I saw the most improvement in my groups using the cheapest "tricks" to dial mine in.

1. Eliminate stock rubs on the gas cylinder, op rod and handguard.

2. A proper shim pack to tighten front band, clock the gas lock and increase dwell time.

3. Added some flat shim to my receiver bed and above my trigger group for more draw.

Three cheap fixes that really dialed my groups from 6 inches to just less than 2. and yeah, Gold Metal Match 168s hold the best group of 1 1/4 inch at 100 yards.

Back on the subject of op rod spring guides... i have recently took a file and stone to my Springer guide and knocked all the ruff edges off. What a difference it made. I'm gonna do the other one too. Just put some bluing paste and slap some grease on it... brandy new and slick!

 

[sac troop]

SacTroop, the S. Afican may be good for now but, have you not tried any other NATO ammo?

Regarding this rifle at this time the answer would be no. This rifle and I are still getting to know each other. In my particular situation the South African ammo is convenient . When I get down to particulars with this gun I'll most likely go the route of trying different quality bullets and loading my own rounds. A different situation for me than the one you spoke of for you.
Just a thought. In addition to the good points that Smokybaer brought up earlier. You might consider placing the action into a G. I. synthetic stock for the match shooting. It's been my experience that I can get good results from these even without adding a bed job. If I do need to bed it I'm not sacrificing a collectors piece of furniture. GI1

 

[DEAN R.]

That sounds good. But, I would have to buy another rifle with a synthetic stock. In a military arms match that wouldn't float. Personally as to when it comes to military arms I like originality. You can trick things out under the hood that do not show on the outside. So, synthetic stock and glass bedding for this rifle is a not going to happen.

 

[High Hat]

Dean R, The accuracy in a Standard grade M1A using an assortment of US and foreign ball ammo is, this my experience shooting them, approx 5 to 8 inches at 100 yards, this is ten shots fired, iron sights used. Adding parts such as a modified opt rod spring guide is questionable at best in a attempt to improve accuracy. This is also true for all the other add on components on the market, why don't you spend the money on quality ammo, doing so, would reduce the groups more than all the stuff advertised..

Most people do not take this advise, none of them ever admit they should have. Art

One of the best posts I've ever seen on the forum! I installed a Sadlak spring guide in my Bush and it did smooth the action some. My magazines also lock in better. But I'm damn sure it didn't help accuracy. I'd suggest rereading Art's post here every time you get in the mood to buy more accurizing parts.

 

[bd111]

USGI spring guide and op rod spring are as good as any - won't bind, won't kink, won't crawl, won't fight your GI magazines - if the rest of the rifle is built tight and straight and locked in that way.