Yesterday I spoke of snatching myself up an M1A before the “Pelosi/Schumer Ban All Scary Looking Guns Act” goes into effect.
Cabinboy stopped by and mentioned a few things that I took him up on. While I’m grateful for the info, I somewhat wished I hadn’t.
And this is why.
I haven’t looked into the M1A/M14/M21 line of rifles in a very long time. I think they are beautiful rifles. Likewise, they are usually quite accurate and very reliable by design, which is why the eagle-eyed guys in both Iraq and Afghanistan are still using them.
Unfortuantely for us, they’re still using them. I had figured that due to the AWB being over and done with and the market’s demand for them skyrocketing, that someone would be making USGI Spec parts for these rifles.
Long story short, they’re not. Springfield is even running out of NM sights and is restricting who they sell them to and on which rifles they install them.
And unless you have a couple of nice crisp Franklins in your hand and can talk a guy out of them, you won’t ever get yourself a pair. And those are just sights. Any and all MN grade USGI spec parts (which are the only ones worth a shit) are 1. Hard to find, and 2. Fucking expensive.
To shorten up another long story, I’m not paying twice as much as I should because some manufacturer wants to sit on their inventory and make a mint. I’m a faithful consumer who believes in the market at work, and I’m here to say that this section of the market is telling said manufacturer that he’s going somewhere else. Said manufacturer has earned The Order of the Imperial Upraised Middle Finger from me.
I am also not going to waste time looking for one second-hand because finding “the right one” takes time. Buying “the right one” over the internet is impossible and, what with the news of folks buying up AR parts at a high rate after Tuesday’s results came out, just finding one that is close to “the right one” that someone is willing to part with will prove difficult at any price. And because buying anything less than “the right one” will mean that the new purchase needs “something” that I don’t have the extra time/money for.
The US Military is going to take another decade to find a replacement for the M14/M21 so there won’t even be any decent used USGI Spec parts on the market for at least five years after that.
To add to that thought, does anyone here remember what happened last time the military decided to cut loose some of these rifles? It is the #1 reason I was disgusted with Clinton.
He cut thousands of them up and sold them for scrap. Straight up told the DCM to stick it where the sun don’t shine and that he was ordering these excellent rifles to be turned into paperweights. He could have saved my mother from a runaway train, sacrificing both of his legs in the process, and I would still hold that against him.
Who is that that just won both houses of Congress? Yeah, and now you know who will order the next batch of M14/M21s to the scrap heap and not to the parts bins/DCM rack.
I don’t know why someone else hasn’t stepped in to become a parts manufacturer. Everytime I’ve visited Olympic Arms (aka: Schuetzen Gun Works) I’ve asked them and they, quite literally, have no answer. Even if they just pumped out NM OpRods and barrels they would make enough money to cover the loss I’ve heard they’re taking on their Wolverine pistol.
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OK, now that I’m done ranting, here is the plan: FN/FAL or, the one I really like, the PTR HK91/G3 clone.
I have shot both an original FN/FAL and an original G3. I like them both, though again, I like the G3 more because I am more accurate and more comfortable with it’s ergonomics. Parts are plentiful for both, and while not cheap, they are quite reasonable.
I would like to ask folks for their reviews if they own them. If you know of someone who does, send them here so I can annoy them with inquisitive questions.