The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

OK, just for the sake of argument... we had a debate in the shop today sparked by a customer asking the honest opinion of the sales staff. He wanted to know what we would go with for a semi-auto .308... an AR10 platform or the Springfield M1A. I said M1A without batting an eyelash and stood firm no matter what anyone else said. But AR10 seems to be the choice of everyone else in the store.

So... what say you? AR10 platform, or M1A?

M1A with out a doubt. Forget that plasteek junker. How about a saiga? M1A is a military surplus weapon and better looking to boot.

Wolf308 wrote:OK, just for the sake of argument... we had a debate in the shop today sparked by a customer asking the honest opinion of the sales staff. He wanted to know what we would go with for a semi-auto .308... an AR10 platform or the Springfield M1A. I said M1A without batting an eyelash and stood firm no matter what anyone else said. But AR10 seems to be the choice of everyone else in the store.

So... what say you? AR10 platform, or M1A?

MIA in a New York minute everyone else in the shop ....I don't stupid, crazy who knows?

I prefer the M14 platform over the M16 platform for .308, and I just ordered another M1A (the Scout with wood stock), but I know guys in love with their M16's...
You can always get the M1A with a poly stock if you want to go that route. Or just get an FAL and damn them both

M14, I wouldn't stake my life on any of the Mattel specials, fine for plinking, but that's as far as I go with them. The M14 is based on the M1 Garand, the finest fighting rifle ever made, there are no substitutes.

I have a friend with a Armalite AR10 and my brother is letting me babysit his Springfield synthetic scout model M1A as we speak. They both are awesome and a hoot to shoot. But if given the choice I would take the Springfield all day long without hesitation. However you won't hear me knock that green plastic Armalite- ever. To have such a lightweight weapon with that kind of power with so little controlled recoil....... Dang I need cigarette. Oh yeah. Forgot. I don't smoke. But .308 does!!!:P

Here is a couple quickies of the Springfield. If I had my choice I'd go with wood over synthetic, but only for the looks. Synthetic stocks are rugged, reliable, and you don't have to baby them. These are not light weight guns. They are built like a tank, and if they run out of ammo could still easily kill zombies with a quick slam of the butt stock! Someone here on the forum has the shorter Socom 16 version, I think maybe longcolt44?

Bunky, good comparison from someone who has both in their possession

It's still a tossup as to if I would grab the M14, or the Garand on the way out the door. Good as the M14 is, nothing feels as natural in my hands as the M1 Garand.

I'd probably grab my M4, just because it's got a flashlight on it, 30 rnds in the magazine, red dot, magnifier, tactical sling, bi-pod, night vision, can opener, spork, and 6 oz of tactical jerky in the pistol grip

Good to know, steal pac's weapon and have something to eat, and a real spork I haven't seen one of them in years .

Oh, it's got an anti-theft system on it, too. It's called a trigger

how bout a nav system or Lojack?

Quote of the day...Tactical Jerky in the pistol grip!

M1A is what i would want.

Junk Yard Dog wrote:It's still a tossup as to if I would grab the M14, or the Garand on the way out the door. Good as the M14 is, nothing feels as natural in my hands as the M1 Garand.

I have shot an M1A (don't own one but certainly would) a number of times along with the Garand and can truthfully say I like the way Garand shoots much better.

I like the feel of the Garand better, and the Garands ability to be shot from concealment easier without the magazine protruding. On the other hand I like the extra ammo capacity of the M14, and the ease of loading with the mag snapping in from the bottom very quickly.

Both The AR-10 and the M1A/M14 are fine weapons. Personnally I prefer the M1A/M14. The AR-10 type weapons are however making inroads to actual Military service with an AR-10 type sniper rifle seeing use by, and receiving good review by the current British forces. For me I have more experiance with the M1A / M14 having trained with an M14E2 in 1991 and having owned two M1As in the past. The fact that the M14 keeps getting pulled out of moth balls for U.S. military service speaks volumns about it. Its a far more durable weapon then the M16 may ever be, despite the gov't continuelly throwing money at the M16 type rifles. Kinda like how the M2 .50 cal is still going strong. Some designs just last. Others are forced to last. Politics and Corporations have had some strange influence on military small arms over the years, and I think the M14 was mistreated by that circumstance.

Semper Fi, Rob