Saturday, November 29, 2008

Own an M1A/M14SA?

I don't typically "do" hardware here, but a longtime reader and correspondent, whose judgment I trust, thought some of you would benefit from this. And no, he doesn't stand to make a dime off this:
On sale at US Armorment Precision Shooting Supply .... Lake City M118LR (7.62 NATO).

This ammunition is typically very hard to find because of wartime demands. I know I have been looking for it since about June and have been unable to find it at a reasonable price. People that snatch it up early usually try to resell at incredibly inflated prices (can you blame them for trying to make a buck???). People that need it usually hang on to it and use it sparingly for practice. It seems to only come around a couple of times a year.

Yes ... there's plenty of commercial ammo out there that will work just fine. However, some people that have invested a little extra cash to get an utterly dependable rifle built for them (forged, premium steel parts, proper headspacing, matched bolt/chamber, etc) will also have a rifle that is specifically chambered for this round. I am talking about the M1A or M14 family of rifles built by the likes of Fulton Armory, Smith Enterprise, LRB Arms ... to name a few. Incidentally, these are some of the same type of rifles that Gabe Suarez recommends for the "partisan fighter" or "guerilla sniper" in his politically incorrect book, Guerilla Sniper.

Here's a sample of current auctions/sales online so you can see the current asking prices ....
Item three (note the "buy now" price)

Anyway, I wanted to share this information in case any of your readers were interested and happened to own a rifle that was specifically designed/built around this round. People will post and say that this round is overrated or that any quality commercial ammo is better (i.e. Black Hills, Federal GMM, etc.) which could be true in some cases. Those that own the rifles though might appreciate the tip.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this rifle should be more accurate, still tweaking and tightening things down. I didn't take care of it when I got it 10 years ago, maybe scratched the barrel with cleaning rod? May have to send it to Smith Ent. to have it assessed.

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm94/svc350/ACOGTARGETS.jpg

100 yards, windy.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I think that you can get better quality long range ammo for waaaay cheaper if you re-load! At that price, an RCBS re-loading kit would pay for itself about the first trip to the range

Jeff ( Va. Rebel ) said...

Unreal - that last batch went for $305. for a hundred rounds ! Guess everyone already knows of Pat's reloading - trying to pass on a tip .