Che Guevara wore a Rolex GMT Master. He also drove a Norton motorcycle. He would have loved the Springfield Armory M1A Scout Squad rifle. Like the watch and the bike, it’s a high-quality heavyweight; a well-crafted precision instrument whose durability inspires confidence. OK, maybe not so much the Norton. And on second thought, maybe it’s a good thing that the Cuban revolutionary didn’t have 7.62 caliber Springfield Armory M1A Scout Squad. Meanwhile, lucky you.
The M1A Scout Squad is a gas-operated, magazine fed rifle built out of nearly 10 pounds of parkerized steel and walnut. With its 18-inch barrel and scout optics mount forward of the action, it’s a slightly handier version of the full size M1A: the darling of competitive shooters for generations.
The M1A’s controls are simple and robust. The charging handle’s located on the right side of the action is easy to reach, especially for left-handed shooters. The magazine release is centrally located at the rear of the magazine well. Mag changes are a simple matter of nose-in-rock-back until you feel the magazine locking into place.
The M1A’s bolt catch/release sits on the left side of the receiver. It’s the rifle’s first major ergonomic faux pas; good luck finding and operating the small release under stress. The rifle’s trigger is a breeze: a classic military two-stage affair. There’s just the right amount of take-up before you slam into a crisp, predictable five-pound break. A rifleman can use the combination to press out a shot with minimal effort.
Problem two: like its predecessor, the legendary M1 Garand, the M1A Scout Squad’s safety positioned in the front of the trigger guard. The shooter’s trigger finger has to be inside the trigger guard and in front of the trigger to take the rifle off of safety. During cold weather or (again) stress, this design requires rigorous trigger discipline. I highly advise M1A owners to install a winter trigger guard.
Our test rifle’s safety lever was also extremely stiff. Manipulating a four-year-old into eating her vegetables would have been easier. I solved the [rifle's] problem by disassembling the M1A’s trigger assembly and lightly polishing the safety’s contact surfaces. That was after a four-day practical rifle class. Without that correction, the gun’s ultra-stiff safety made for an extremely tender trigger finger.
The M1A Scout Squad’s sights rock. A fully adjustable rear military aperture teams up with a crisp front sight post. Acquiring a clear, accurate sight picture is fast and easy. Props to the generous sight radius and the .062” national match front sight post. With a bit of practice, novice shooters can hit 20” steel plates out to 500 yards with ho-hum regularity.
The Scout Squad solidly mounted optics rail sits forward of the action. High tech sight lovers can mount their choice of a Long Eye Relief (LER) or a red dot scope. Saying that, the M1A’s mount sits high. Even on the lowest rings, a red dot optic still requires a cheekpiece to maintain a proper cheek weld. To achieve the lowest possible mounting solution, it’s best to combine the M1A’s factory mount and hand guard with a full length Ultimak rail.
Though a scoped battle rifle will piss-off the purists, the Scout Squad is more accommodating to LER scopes. That’s as long as they’re forward mounted in low profile rings, allowing the scope bell to clear the hand guard. A good quality, compact scout scope on the M1A Scout’s factory mount will provide a clear sight picture—that doesn’t require a chin weld to see the crosshairs.
If you go the scope route, don’t scrimp on your glass. That $50 Leapers pistol scope will not hold its zero. Nor will you realize the M1A Scout’s true potential. A good quality LER scope will enable confident precision and snap shots. Might as well have the best of both worlds.
The Springfield’s 18” barrel is an excellent combination of barrel length and handiness. It’s good to go for both long distance accuracy and quick combat-style deployment. It’s easy to mistake the M1A’s proprietary muzzle brake for a flash suppressor—until you fire the weapon. The brake does little to reduce the flash signature of the .308 round in low light conditions.
It does, however, reduce muzzle jump. If reacquiring your target quickly for follow-up shots is a priority, the M1A’s got you (or someone else) covered. Unfortunately, for shooters either side of you, the muzzle brake also acts as a mild blast-enhancer. It’s not a pleasant experience for compatriots who find themselves in the rifle’s sonic sweet spot. [Ed: unless it is.] For the M1A shooter, the .30 caliber BOOM is immensely satisfying.
Over the course of the class, the M1A Scout Squad digested nearly 600 rounds of military ammo. That included Israeli, British,and Chilean surplus, as well as a couple of boxes of Federal Golden Eagle 150 grain hunting soft points.
The rifle fed and fired all its ammo without complaint. Well, almost. Late on day three, the dirtier Chilean surplus brass began to stick in the chamber. It failed to extract. I broke out the chamber brush and solvent and scrubbed my little heart out. Problem solved.
The M1A’s accuracy was excellent. Shooting under time pressure out to 200 yards, the Scout Squad was quick, precise and powerful. Even at extended distances of 400 yards and more, the rifle was more than capable of easily making the hits.
The Springfield Armory M1A Scout Squad gas-operated rifle tames the recoil of the 7.62 cartridge to a positively manageable level. There are no ergonomic after-effects. Just the satisfaction of working with a highly-evolved tool that does its job with deadly accuracy and dependable reliability. The M1A’s a revelation, not a revolution.
Statistics
Caliber: 7.62x51mm NATO (.308 WIN)
Barrel: 18”, 6-Groove, 1:11 Right Hand Twist, Parkerized
Front Sight: National Match .062” Military Post
Rear Sight: Military Aperture, Adjustable for Windage and Elevation
Trigger: 2 Stage Military Trigger, 5-6 lbs.
Magazines: 1-10 Round, Parkerized
Weight w/Empty Magazine: 9.3 lbs.
Length: 40.3”
Ratings (out of five)
Style * * * * *
With the combination of walnut and steel it has all the classic looks of a “rifleman’s rifle.”
Ergonomics * * * *
It shoulders, points, and handles like a dream. Loved the trigger.
Reliability * * * *
It ate everything it was fed but gets finicky about extraction if the chamber is dirty.
Customize This * * * *
It doesn’t need much, maybe a tritium front sight post and a proper flash suppressor. A good scout scope would be a worthwhile indulgence. But there’s a lot of stuff out there to choose from.
Overall Rating * * * *
Captain John will review the $1800 ArmaLite AR-10 next week. For now, if you’ve got the $1500 to spend on a bad-ass rifle, and can afford to keep her fed and happy, the M1A Scout Squad is a do-it-all kind of gun.
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Well I have certainly learned my own lesson by dealing with Springfield Armory. After buying/collecting over 15 SA .45′s of various types, and 4 m1A’s I had the audacity to call them and ask if they could supply me with a metal buttplate for my Scout. You see our local dealer orders them with the synthetic stock and big rubber butt to save a few bucks figuring the buyers will customize anyway. Springfield’s response? We FIRST use the metal buttplates we have to make NEW rifles and if we have any left over, we MIGHT offer them for sale, so you are SOL, customer. When I complained via email, the company didn’t even bother to reply. Needless to say, that was my LAST Springfield product, ever, and consequently, my dealer has a rack full of M1A’s not selling.
My next will be M14′s from LRB, Smith and Fulton. Longer wait, higher, forged quality/attention to detail, and a real investment BACKED with respect for the customer. Don’t expect ANYTHING anymore from Springfield Armory. They apparently are TOO BUSY to take care of their paying customers.
I have an M1A Scout Squad, which I purchased new in 2009. I have called SA Customer service no less than 5 times over the years (including recently during the middle of a retirement party they were having for one of their old-timers) and they have always been courteous, helpful, and, well… just very very nice! Combine this with the fact that they are a company full of heritage and pride, who make a GREAT product. I’m sorry this fella got his panties in a bunch, but seriously, Springfield Armory M1A’s and .45s were good enough for him to buy nearly TWENTY over the years, but they don’t send him a metal butt-plate and so he’s going to LRB? Sounds like someone has an anger issue;) Back to the review though, I absolutely LOVE this rifle and would never sell it (although many have asked).I have an M1A Scout Squad, which I purchased new in 2009. I have called SA Customer service no less than 5 times over the years (including recently during the middle of a retirement party they were having for one of their old-timers) and they have always been courteous, helpful, and, well… just very very nice! Combine this with the fact that they are a company full of heritage and pride, who make a GREAT product. I’m sorry this fella got his panties in a bunch, but seriously, Springfield Armory M1A’s and .45s were good enough for him to buy nearly TWENTY over the years, but they don’t send him a metal butt-plate and so he’s going to LRB? Sounds like someone has an anger issue;) Back to the review though, I absolutely LOVE this rifle and would never sell it (although many have asked).
As for your dealer having a rack full of M1A’s not selling.. you are clearly showing the true purpose of your “review” with that statement. M1A’s are one of the most popular and respected battle rifles in history. There are multiple forums, groups, etc built around this rifle and to imply that suddenly (presumably because they didn’t send someone a metal butt-plate) no one wants them anymore.. is beyond absurd. Its a bad economy, but if I wanted to sell my 2 year old Scout tomorrow I could have 1300.00 for it within 3 days. Guaranteed.
“M1A’s are one of the most popular and respected battle rifles in history.”
The U.S. military mothballed them after only 5 years. And they saw only a relatively small amount of actual combat. So how can they be “one of the most popular and respected battle rifles in history”? I think they are popular and respected by civilian shooters because they are well-suited to the type of shooting that civilians do: Camp Perry-style long-range shooting at stationary paper targets that don’t shoot back
However, they are way to long and too heavy to be useful as an infantry weapon in anything other than open terrain.
Joe,
Were you Infantry? I was for five years and carried an M14 everyday during one of my tours in Iraq. The soldiers I trained are carrying them right now in Afghanistan. You should carry a M240b for a year if you think the M14 is heavy…Cheers
I have about 25 guns of all types, and I can honestly say that my Scout, with composite stock, is the best gun I own. Of all my guns, it is also the most fun to shoot. The accuracy of this gun, with open sights only, is amazing. If I could only own one rifle, this would be it.
In regards to the higher scope mount, people (generally) get better accuracy out of a rifle with a higher mounted scope.
When your head is tilted, your brain thinks there is a imbalance, and your accuracy & precision subconsciously suffers.
By holding your head as vertical as comfortably possible, and pressing your jaw bone into the side of the buttstock will make longer distance accuracy easier. However, if a shooter has spent their entire life turning their head to unnecessary angles, the transition will tough, as well as positioning of the rifle if the scope is very low profile.
I personally like a medium height on my scout rifles, but with the M1A, low rings do the trick.
I like a Leatherwood LER2732. It’s a solid scope, and the variable 2x to 7x option makes it more versatile.
For those who don’t like long eye relief scopes, the Leatherwood A.R.T. was used in combination with the M14 by snipers in Viet Nam with excellent results. 800+ yard first shot kills. And quickly. Reduces amount of math needed for shots of that distance.
@ Josh — I was a 13B for over 4 years, wile in Afghanistan in 09′ i got to leave the M777′s and M109′s and hump my gun bunny a** all over the Wardak province. I saw MANY M14/M21 (for you noob civi’s an M21 is an M14 modded to be a sniper rifle) and as i recall the US Navy and Coast Gaurd issue them all the time. I would have traded my M-4/203 in a HEART BEAT for an M14. So we are in total agreement. (and i doubt if old Joe could even put a 240B to his shoulder)… Further more, the M1-Garand is by far the most respected battle rifle in history (Next to the AK-47), and i must point out that the M14 is a perfected M1-Garand…
Dont have an M1A anymore as I had to sell it and twenty magazines to leave Wyoming- it had to be sent back once for faulty bolt / oprod,Springfield was very quick to fix and also gave me a new SAK barrel and TRW bolt and oprod along with a no charge repair.I have my M1 HRA 1954 and it is my go to now. I had lots of M14′s on the USS Flint and they worked well to say the least. Would rather have a real M14 scout from a real M14 builder but there is no need for carpenters anymore so I will keep my Garand, as money aint happenin right now or even in the future for me. Just my 2 cents worth.