Mainehunter

I just had to mention my new found respect for the M1A rifle. I went out on a shoot this last weekend and had my first opportunity to fire one of these rifles. The owner amazed me by taking out a 9 inch round balloon that was flopping around in the wind at 400 yards using only iron sites! Although I impressed myself by hitting the same type of target at 250 yards with a Ruger Mini-14 this guy and his M1A put me to shame.

I think the next time I find myself with $1500 just sitting around that I might pick up one!

Maine Hunter

Briman

I' m kind of up in the air on whether I might buy an NM M1A or a Bushmaster DCM AR for highpower shooting next year. I' ve shot both and really love the M1A, but I' m leaning towards the AR since it will be pretty much used as a target rifle only and will be cheaper to shoot. Last week I took a few of my coworkers to the shooting range and impressed them by popping off 3 milk jugs of water in a row at 300 yards shooting my ' 03 springfield from a prone position. I' m using this rifle for high power matches this year but the bugger really kicks like a b@st@trd and needs to be replaced with a semiauto for next season.

handloader1

A friend of mine has one and we can hit a large steel gong at 500 yd. all day with National Match Sights. Good shooting.

BigEd

I darn well like mine.

mlaubner

But now for the $64,000 question...
Would any of you consider hunting with this weapon?
Would you feel awkward hunting with a " military" weapon?
If not, then why not use them more often?[:-]

Briman

They have infinately better iron sights than your typical sporting semiauto such as a Rem 742 or Browning BAR. They are more accurate than than sporting semiautos. Because you can.

Iwouldn' t feel awkward using a military style rifle. The There is almost no difference whatsoever in the looks between an M1A and a Ruger Derfield carbine except size. The deer aren' t going to know the difference. The M1A is chambered in what alot of people consider a perfect deer cartridge. An M1A is not a military ' weapon' (I prefer the term rifle) The military dos not use M1A' s and never has- they Use M14' s.

Why they aren' t used more often for hunting? They cost about $1000 more than the typical sporting semiauto so less people are going to buy them. Most people buy them for special purposes such as target and match shooting. I would bet that most people who own an M1A and hunt, probably own a better rifle for hunting such as a scoped bolt action rifle.

BTW: I hunt with actual military rifles. I' ve used a K98, a Yugo M48, and a M96 mauser in the past for deer hunting. [:-]

BigEd

I hunt with mine when I feel like it. Or, one of the other military rifles I own. I got to think whether I have any civi rifles other than my CZ .22 and my Rem. Sendero. Even the Sendero does not look too civi the way she is rigged-up and all my other bolt-guns are mil-surps.

eldeguello

I never hunt with military rifles, even though I have a number of them. I like the Ruger 1A so much better when I have to drag it around in the woods... I guess this comes from many years of HAVING to carry an M1 or M 14 around, whether I liked it or not...

Mainehunter

Considering I hunted for a couple of years with an SKS I guess I would have to say that I would hunt with a military style firearm. I think more than the " style" of the firearm the importance should weigh on the proficiency of the shooter. A skilled shooter with an M1A would be superb hunting combo.

Maine Hunter

eldeguello

There is no doubt that the M1A would do anything a hunter wanted. These can be made very accurate!! But, when I lived in Alaska, I used to drag a Win. M 70 Supergrade .375 H&H around when bear hunting. It weighed 11.5 pounds with scope, sling & magazine full of 300 grain Silvertips! At the end of the day, it sure had become heavy!! I don' t believe I could carry that rifle all day any more!!