MrJitters

Hi guys,

Long time carbine and Garand collector but I confess I am very new to the M1A & M14 arena. I need some advice before I spend my money.

I am looking at a 60000 range SA receiver Pre Ban M1A built around 1992 as I understand.

TRW Bolt, not sure if the bolt internals are USGI or not.
WRA Op Rod
SA commercial trigger housing (# ends with -I) with USGI internals I am told.
Barrel stamped NM-308. Not sure this is USGI, I suspect not.
Front sight stamped NM- 072. USGI I believe, but not sure
Rear Sight base not stamped. Told it is a AWM which is not stamped. I am not sure about this.
Hooded rear peep sight.
Gas cylinder has a marking on bottom but is illegible.
Flash suppressor with bayonet lug. Not sure if USGI
Stock is walnut with a reddish color and is very nice. No USGI stampings visible. glass bedded.
One 20 round mag labeled SW-1. Seller says this is a USGI mag but I could not google it and come up with anything to confirm that.

Overall condition of the metal is excellent with dark parkerizing.

Seller says he gave SA the serial # and they confirmed via email that this rifle left the factory with a born on date of 11-92 as a SA NM rifle. The seller is the second owner and claims the rifle is unmolested and judging from the condition that could very well be true. Also claims a total of 200 rounds fired between the two owners.

Asking price is $1850 firm. What do you guys think? Is that a ball park figure for what one of these is worth? I appreciate any help anyone could offer on this.

Thank you in advance.

H2O_Man

$1850 firm

mercman

That is pretty top dollar for and SA NM with one mag. I would look further. Is this a private seller? He may be into it for that much if he bought it during the AWB.

MrJitters

Thanx for the input guys! Much appreciated. I should clarify. The reason I asked was I contacted SA, gave them the serial number and they responded that this rifle was manufactured as a NA-9102 in 1991. A google of that turns out that SA is still producing that model today for around the same asking price. That price reflects a brand new rifle, but one with little to no USGI parts. So, am I safe to assume the new ones are overpriced as well? An update: All parts in the above referanced M1A are USGI with the exception of the trigger housing. That one is SAI. Thanx again for everyone's help. M1A newbie here.

Grump

IMNSHO, this USGI parts price premium is silly, especially considering the premium that M14 types continue to command in the marketplace.

The thing was (1950s-era) engineered to be cheaper to manufacture than the Garand. Lot of broaching operations. In 1960 or so, TRW's cost to make them was something really cheap--and they were funding a full pension plan and health benefits and all that for fairly well-paid workers. Look it up and then do the inflation calculations and compare THAT to $1850 of today's dollars.

Personally, I would trust any of SAI's non-USGI parts in general. Anything that's MIM-made, I'd want to go through 200 firng cycles--what I've heard indicates if those are bad, the only way to tell is to use them until they break, which is usually pretty early in the game. The parts failures I've had were further down the line, about 1500 rounds, with traditional stamped pieces that were overly surface-hardened. That gun-maker sorta disappeared in the 1990s, as I recall.

shooterforfun

If you spend the same money to buy the rifle new from SAI, then you have the backing of the factory warranty if anything goes wrong. I pasted a link to the warranty terms from SAI.

http://www.springfield-armory.com/as...s/warranty.pdf

mikebaker1129

Sounds a bit high for around here (Texas).
As you know the Trigger housing is SA inc. ,as is the barrel and most likely the front site as well.
I would be interested to know about the other parts marking also like the op rod and the rear site knobs and the hammer .
If you buy the rifle the warranty will still be good ! SA is one of the best when it comes to warranties !
I would keep looking if it were me, but that may be the going rate in your part of the country .
$1200 would be better .

Different

I agree. The front sight is commercial manufacture. If the stock doesn't look like it ever had a selector cutout, it's commercial made as well. Nothing wrong with either part. Was AWM a USGI contractor for M1 Garand rear sight bases? I'm not familiar with that company. The marking on the magazine is likely BRW S-l.

IMO, $1,850.00 is high end of the market for this rifle.

mikebaker1129

Not sure about the AWM,I have never heard of this even on a Garand rear site base . Could he mean AMU NM style that utilizes the extractor spring and detent installed in the side of a M1A receiver to get the 1/2 MOA ajustments ?

Different

Mike, I'm not sure either. The hemisphere cut on the receiver windage knob ear was made a part of the M1A design by no later than serial number 010048. So, this match grade M1A will have the little ball bearing and detent for the windage knob.

MrJitters

Update I purchased the rifle on Jan 4 and I am very pleased with it. In making my decision, I only compared the price of this rifle to a new NA9102. Same price. A new one has little to no USGI parts, some of the parts are made in Korea and it is now my understanding that SAI no longer uses Wilson barrels but some sort of Korean barrel. They do not bed around the stock liner anymore and no longer install NM hooded sight on the rear unless you spring for the next model up They will not divulge the maker of their barrels now. Even the stocks now look and feel cheaper, but that could be me.

I felt an older SAI in the 0633xx range was much more desirable than one in the 250000 range, especially one that has only a few hundred rounds down the barrel.

USGI parts include a TRW bolt, WRA OP-Rod, HR-R hammer, MX-R Safety, KMT Butt Plate, MCE elevation knob, SA windage. FS, sights and trigger housing are SAI. These parts appear to be top quality manufacture and original to the rifle. The barrel may not be USGI but it is a Wilson Medium weight NM. No slouch here.

The rifle has performed flawlessly and it is a much better shooter than I. Due to fading eyes I shoot 100 yard only.

The only remaining mysteries to this rifle are the gas cylinder and rear sight base. Not sure if USGI or not.

Yes, sorry I meant AMU.

mikebaker1129

I am glad that you picked up the rifle and are happy with it .
Sounds like you did well with the USGI parts on that rifle .
I had no idea about the new rifles using parts made in Korea,I knew they once used parts made in Taiwan made by Wayne machine .
Congrats on the rifle !