Opinions on the M1A scout 7.62.

I like my LRB M14.
https://www.lrbarms.com/m14-rifles.html

I know this is not a comment on the M1A Scout.

 

Great rifles , accurate , reliable , relatively soft shooting for a short .308 . Pricey . I like mine .

 

They have for some time been, for me, one of those “short” long-guns that I believe I’d enjoy owning and just haven’t taken the plunge on yet.

 

I've only got the full length model, that I really love, a buddy recently snagged a scout. If I had it to do over I would've bought em both. Very nice piston guns that soak up the recoil, not that .308 is really a problem. Quick and lighter than you'd expect. There's probably one in my future but 1911's are eating up the fun $ at the moment.

 

I have both and love both. Scout is great size for carry and still reaching out. Parts available and Springfields are easy to retrofit with either GI stuff or newer fire control groups. While the LRB and stuff available with forged receivers have a bit of high brow cachet.....you are pretty unlikely to crack/break a cast receiver from a class act like Springfield. Some Polytechs running around that are nice too. Join m14 Forum...pretty informative. View Hickok 45's about his Standard/Scout/SOCOMand then more recently his LRB. I think the normal guy like me/you will be fine with a Springer. I might get an LRB to cuddle with sometime...but for use. M1A is fine.

 

I've had a full size Loaded M1A, and a couple of SOCOM 16s, still have a SOCOM EBR clone in a Sage chassis. I haven't tried a Scout but I'd like to, been thinking of having an 18" barrel installed on my SOCOM EBR. If I was doing it again and buying new I'd buy a Scout instead of the others, handier than the full size, better ballistics than the SOCOM.

 

A great platform for what it is.
Keep in mind...

It will never shoot as precisely as an AR or bolt gun.
Is uses grease
Mags are built like tanks
Its a 4-5” group rifle
Accessories can be expensive

If you buy one, send me a pm, ill send you a 20# mag

 

I currently own a SoCom and really enjoy it, but I had a Scout that I kick myself constantly for selling!

Just like @WC145 said, handier than the standard but more accurate than the SoCom.

If I had it to do over, I'd have sold the SoCom and kept the Scout...

 

I love me some M1A/M14s. They can be a bit of a pain to make and keep accurate, but for a general purpose battle rifle they're awesome. Someone mentioned this above, but they're often referred to as minute of man rifles. If you've got one (standard GI) that will hold 2-3 MOA you've got a shooter.

As far as using one for home defense, I wouldn't recommend it. I can't hear anything out of my left ear from a 240 singing in a hallway. A short barreled .308 indoors would peel your eyes back lol.

 

^^^
Yep, they are LOUD! Another reason to go with a Scout over a Socom...the muzzle break on the Socom is very effective, but it is an ear ringer for sure!

 

Not sure about groups for accuracy on Scouts, but my Loaded with match barrel will shoot 1.5-2.0" all day. Medaled with beater TRW/Springfield M-14 in USN(not the same as NRA or other sharpshooting.

 

How about a pump shotgun for the home?

 

I am thinking my Shockwave will be toe pointing loud as well.

 

My recent experience:

I wanted a M14 battle rifle. Something accurate enough to take out threats, not some fussy paper punching wannabe. My accuracy requirements are sub 1 MOA of Bad Guy.

Turns out the M1A is more of a M14 tribute rifle than copy of a real M14 battle rifle. This was told to me by several folks on the m14 forum. Oops...

You can only shoot light bullet loads or you risk damaging/bending the oprod. Not good. They are a pita to clean (my opinion). I bought a Sadlak scope mount that sits cockeyed on the receiver because the receiver isn't milled right. I have a mill and digital touch probe and verified this.

As someone above said, it isn't as accurate as my LR-308, but that (308) is a heavy rifle set up more as a designated marksman rifle than a battle rifle.

I've been using a combination of grease and oil on my 1911s (and variants) for decades and hundreds of thousands of rounds and much prefer this to just some light oil. So using grease on a M1A was not a shocker to me. Makes sense actually.

Long(er) story short: I traded the M14 for a PTR-91 (US made HK 91) and some cash and am much happier.

Your experiences may vary significantly from mine...

 

OK, I have two SKS rifles, 7.62X39. The stamped Chinese model is pretty accurate and won't stop shooting. I haven't had a chance to de-cosmoline the milled Yugoslavian SKS, but it looks new.

 

never actually heard about the oprod issue. Doubt that would be a big deal to swap out if need be. I do imagine your liking a PTR-91 as I have heard they are nice rifles and they sure look business like.

 

Everyone I have interacted with on the m14 forum said that any 308 cartridge with a heavier bullet than that found in the standard 7.62 NATO cartridge will likely damage (bend) the op rod. The cast replacement ones are not very strong, and the forged M14 ones are getting very rare and expensive. Even the cast ones are not cheap. Everything on the M1A platform is very expensive, especially if you are trying to get the old US gov spec'd/forged components. And a rifle with these components still isn't to the specs the real M14 was built to.

The HK91/PTR91 rifle is a real military battle rifle. Easy to disassemble/clean/maintain and shoots pretty much anything you feed it. The only downside I see is the fluted chamber. While it is good for reliability/feeding it mangles brass so reloading what the 91 eats is not an option. But that also means I can feed it a diet of cheaper steel-cased 7.62 ammo with no worries.