New (to me) M1A Range Report

[RJGold]

Finally got a chance to sneak away to the range and shoot my M1A. I hate to admit it but I've owned this rifle for about a month and today was the first time I got to shoot it.

It functioned flawlessly. I shot 40 rounds through it today.

A big plus was that I was in Dallas and my dad went to Elm Fork with me to shoot. He just had hip replacement 3 weeks ago so I was tickled that he got out with me.

A big shout out to Ernie at Elm Fork as well. He came out to the car, picked my dad up in the golf cart, and delivered him to the firing line so he didn't have to negotiate the stairs!!! I forgot how much I missed that range when I moved away from Dallas.

In the "I should have done more research before I went to the range dept", I was told that a 25m zero on an M1A would put you dead on at 250m so that's what I did. After returning home and doing some research, I think I was probably OK on my elevation to start with as published material suggests you should be 1.8" high at 25m to be dead on at 250m. Oh well, just means another trip to the range is in order.

On the attached photo, the groups circled and labeled "1" are the first set of shots I took without adjusting anything. The set circled and labeled "2" are after I made adjustments. These were all done at 25m with open sights.

I bought this rifle sight unseen on this forum and I couldn't be happier with it. Thanks to mcscanner for the great rifle and thanks to TAM for some advice along the way.

[PBratton]

RJ,

My M1A is one of my favorite rifles, It's 1/2 a notch below it's older brother, the M1 Garand.

You'll enjoy yours, I'm sure of that.

Not sure what part of Houston you are in, but if you want to meet up with my M1 family, I'd be happy make that happen.

[RJGold]

RJ,

My M1A is one of my favorite rifles, It's 1/2 a notch below it's older brother, the M1 Garand.

You'll enjoy yours, I'm sure of that.

Not sure what part of Houston you are in, but if you want to meet up with my M1 family, I'd be happy make that happen.

That would be awesome. I live in Sugar Land. I could use some help on setting up optics and would like to find a range out to 300m to shoot. If you know of a good one, please let me know.

Thanks for your note.

Edited to add - I just noticed you are in Sugar Land as well. A meeting should be easy to do.

[RJGold]

In the "I should have done more research before I went to the range dept", I was told that a 25m zero on an M1A would put you dead on at 250m so that's what I did. After returning home and doing some research, I think I was probably OK on my elevation to start with as published material suggests you should be 1.8" high at 25m to be dead on at 250m. Oh well, just means another trip to the range is in order.

Those are generalizations - they should be good enough to get you close, but as you know, you do need to test what you actually get with your rifle and ammo. Definitely another range trip needed :)

Nice shooting.

Thank you. I need to find a range in Houston out to 300m. I lost my deer lease this past year. We had a 200m range set up there.

[PBratton]

RJ,

My M1A is one of my favorite rifles, It's 1/2 a notch below it's older brother, the M1 Garand.

You'll enjoy yours, I'm sure of that.

Not sure what part of Houston you are in, but if you want to meet up with my M1 family, I'd be happy make that happen.

That would be awesome. I live in Sugar Land. I could use some help on setting up optics and would like to find a range out to 300m to shoot. If you know of a good one, please let me know.

Thanks for your note.

Edited to add - I just noticed you are in Sugar Land as well. A meeting should be easy to do.

Excellent, I belong to Bayou Rifles, so we can use the 300 yard range. Unfortunately, it is down for maintenance this week.

I'd be happy to get with you and do some range time.

[RJGold]

RJ,

My M1A is one of my favorite rifles, It's 1/2 a notch below it's older brother, the M1 Garand.

You'll enjoy yours, I'm sure of that.

Not sure what part of Houston you are in, but if you want to meet up with my M1 family, I'd be happy make that happen.

That would be awesome. I live in Sugar Land. I could use some help on setting up optics and would like to find a range out to 300m to shoot. If you know of a good one, please let me know.

Thanks for your note.

Edited to add - I just noticed you are in Sugar Land as well. A meeting should be easy to do.

Excellent, I belong to Bayou Rifles, so we can use the 300 yard range. Unfortunately, it is down for maintenance this week.

I'd be happy to get with you and do some range time.

Awesome!!! I sent you a PM with my contact details. Thanks again for your very kind offer.

[RJGold]

Update...

Progress on optics...

Sadlack Industries scope mount...

[mcscanner]

Update...

Progress on optics...

Sadlack Industries scope mount...

Very sweet! Looks like the old gal is going to get some eyes.

Did you find the receiver and mount were a good fit? I was always reluctant to explore the dimensional quality of the receiver when I had the rifle.

Nice job! I look forward to seeing the scope and follow up with a range report.

Mike

[RJGold]

Update...

Progress on optics...

Sadlack Industries scope mount...

Very sweet! Looks like the old gal is going to get some eyes.

Did you find the receiver and mount were a good fit? I was always reluctant to explore the dimensional quality of the receiver when I had the rifle.

Nice job! I look forward to seeing the scope and follow up with a range report.

Mike

Thanks Mike.

The mount fit OK. The stripper clip mount and the dovetail didn't fit up exactly (The mounting screw wouldn't start cleanly with the mount secured to the receiver). Rather than do some metal work, I altered the mounting sequence and loosely started the dovetail mounting screw into the dovetail piece. I then secured the mount to the receiver and checked that the dovetail wasn't in a bind. It wasn't so I went on from there.

Next step is to find the optics, get them mounted and see how they do in terms of staying anchored and giving repeatable accuracy.

I'll keep you posted!!!