Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles Advise on M1A Scope Mounts

I would be interested in knowing about your experiences with putting a scope on a Springfield Armory M1A. Is the Springfield aluminum mount any good? If not, why not. What would you recommend?

Thanks

The Springfield mounts are junk...won't hold zero.

I, put a Sadlak aluminum on my SA M1a Loaded. Learning curve for me to get it mounted just right. 300+ rounds and tight as the day I mounted it and holding zero.

I use the mount from Bassett Machine which is highly regarded by M1A enthusiests.

I've got one of those around here somewhere and I dont have an M1A.

I had a SA and it seemed to shoot loose. I sold it with the rifle. I also have an old Springfield made in the late 80s, and the index notch on the receiver is not machined correctly. So I can't get a mount on that one. I don't know how rare the receiver issue is, but I have one.

I used the Bassett mount. It held zero as advertised. I will say that I was underwhelmed with a scoped M1A. Accuracy was "meh." I could get a consistent 2" after I installed a national match spring guide, which i highly recommend. The stock needed a riser of some kind, or you'd have a chin-weld. Overall, i found that an AR pattern does everything better for cheaper and went that route. The M1A has excellent iron sights, so I just use those when I'm feeling retro.

I had a Smith steel mount and sold it. Primarily because it made a heavy gun much heavier and the comb of M14 stock just doesn't lend itself to scoping without putting on a riser. To me the M1A, of Fulton Armory M14 I have, really shines in the form in which it was intended to be used. A basic open sight shoulder weapon. For me there is just too much hardware and excess weight involved with scoping an M1A/M14 and I have other rifles for that.

Sadlak, steel version

https://thegunzone.com/best-m1a-scope-mount/

Basset looks a tad clunky, but it's the easiest to install and they hold up and don't lose zero. As mentioned above by S99VG, scope will def show the relative lack of accuracy of the platform. My old match M1A is solid 1MOA; all the other ones I've owned are closer to 3MOA until you bed them, unitize the gas cylinder, and get some fore end tension on the barrel. Even then they're about 1.5MOA. Not like an AR platform where most of them are good for 1MOA with ammo they like.

Sounds like you'll need to get an M1A to attach under the mount.

Thanks for all the good input. I'll probably look for a Bassett mount and be prepared to be disappointed with my rifles accuracy however, it has to be a big improvement over my eyes and iron sights!

SADLAK I've tried all the rest.

I've had one minor issue with the Basssett mount. They include a small wrench designed to torque the mounting bolt the same each time to ensure return to zero by lifting the weight of the rifle by the end of the wrench. Following this procedure, my mount will loosen up after a few rounds. I tighten it using their method, and then tighten it a smidge more which seems to work. I suppose a little longer wrench (or a torque wrench) would accomplish the same thing and be repeatable. Doing it over, I'd likely spend the extra and go Sadlak...

I have a Smith Enterprises mount on my SuperMatch. I shot service rifle matches for many years until my eyes went. It's a good mount and will hold zero, but a little heavy. I put a ARMS #18 mount on my M1A Scout rifle after I deleted the factory scout scope barrel mount. I also use with ARMS quick detach rings #22 as with the ARMS mount you can still use the iron sights with the scope removed. It is a good mount and will hold zero when reinstalling the scope.