Inquiring minds wanted to know more about the M1A shortened to M1 Carbine length. I pulled that pic from a November 2005 TacticalForums thread by DocGKR that I can’t find anymore. The process, however, was fascinating — so I figure I’ll post the rest of the pics below and his comments:
If you want a compact M1A/M14, but can’t go with one of the superb Mike Rock/Troy M14 SOPMOD EBR’s–do not get the 16†barrel M1A SOCOM. Get the 18″ barrel Springfield M1A (Scout/Squad/Bush, etc…), then shorten the buttstock for an 11.5†or so LOP (Marine Tex works great to fill in the stock voids—forget the butt plate/pad, just put some deck tape on the butt if you desire),
move the front sling swivel down to the rear grip area for a single point sling attachment point, bolt on one or more Pic rails to the stock forend for VFG, light, or other accessories,
chop off the muzzle brake/flash hider right in front of the front sight (you don’t need it when using well designed ammo with flash suppressant, including the Hornady 155 gr TAP or Black Hills l50 gr Ballistic Tip/155 gr AMAX loads)
and add an Aimpoint Comp M2 in a quick detach ring or a low power variable scope like the Leupold 1.5-5x VXIII or S&B 1.1-4x Short Dot.
The above simply accomplished modifications yield an easy to use, civilian legal (even in CA), .308 rifle with approximately the same handy size as an M1 carbine.
Later in the thread he says:
Any Pic rail can be bolted to the M14 stock, the ones we use are the long PRI rails as used on the Mk12Mod0 rifles; call Dave Dunlap at PRI and he can hook you up.
M14 Scope Bases–Brookfield Precision, Smith Enterprise, ARMS; also KAC has an M14 rail system or you can get the Mike Rock designed stocks produced by Troy or the Sage copy, both of which have rails.
And in response to a question about chopping the flash hider, he says:
Have had both Fulton Armory & local armorer Don Lazzarini do the cuts. A hack saw, file, and some sand paper followed by some spray paint also works just fine…how it looks is of NO importance–how it functions is all that matters.
That’s all I got. Thanks to DocGKR, whoever he may be!
Sacrilege! Interesting sacrilege, but still just wrong.
Linoge, it’s only interesting in the sense that roadkill is also interesting – how do they get those animals that flat?
You want a short .308 autoloader? Get a CETME, lose several of the M1A’s pounds while you’re at it.
You want an ACCURATE rifle? Get a National Match M1A or M14 and LEAVE IT ALONE!
Don’t Bubba me, bro.