O/T All Shootists: Need Opinion

[6.8SPC]

Any riflemen/women here own a Springfield MIA SOCOM in .308? What do you think of it? Strengths/Weaknesses? I'm looking to purchase one in the next month or so and would like all the feedback I can get(It is a 12-1400$ rifle)...thanks.

 

[FeverishFlux]

Yeppers, have about 5k down the tube in my socom. It originally came with the shitty springy stock, and it sucked. I strongly advise you to pick up one of the sage stocks, they transform the weapon system. If you are dead set on the small socom, plan on the sage stock also, it's a must. :s:ar-wars
Most socom owners that I know have traded the carbine in for another model. I believe the best of both worlds is the scout carbine. If this rifle is going in your trunk or is for home defense, it's a great pick. If you are planning on punching paper at distance, or hunting, go with a longer barrel model. I've shot just about every type of shitty dirty ammo available through mine, it eats all of it fine. I can't say it's accurate as I haven't tried to shoot past 100m or so, but under that distance it's about what you'd expect from a really short barrel.
Oh ya, one thing I'll warn you about. The break on the socom makes the lil carbine LOUD. I mean blow your ears out at an indoor range LOUD. I orginally got my socom and was going to have the parts put on my registered reciever M14, but decided I liked the lil stuff on the semi. Good luck with your socom, I believe they are socom 2's now, with another shitty stock with the rail.

 

[6.8SPC]

Yeppers, have about 5k down the tube in my socom. It originally came with the shitty springy stock, and it sucked. I strongly advise you to pick up one of the sage stocks, they transform the weapon system. If you are dead set on the small socom, plan on the sage stock also, it's a must. :s:ar-wars
Most socom owners that I know have traded the carbine in for another model. I believe the best of both worlds is the scout carbine. If this rifle is going in your trunk or is for home defense, it's a great pick. If you are planning on punching paper at distance, or hunting, go with a longer barrel model. I've shot just about every type of shitty dirty ammo available through mine, it eats all of it fine. I can't say it's accurate as I haven't tried to shoot past 100m or so, but under that distance it's about what you'd expect from a really short barrel.
Oh ya, one thing I'll warn you about. The break on the socom makes the lil carbine LOUD. I mean blow your ears out at an indoor range LOUD. I orginally got my socom and was going to have the parts put on my registered reciever M14, but decided I liked the lil stuff on the semi. Good luck with your socom, I believe they are socom 2's now, with another shitty stock with the rail.

That's good to know about the shitty stocks lol, I may opt for the Scout or mabye even the big ol' M1A. I want something with a medium to long range (say 800-1000yds.) , so I think you're definitely right about barrel length, Once I pick up a decent .308, It's fifty BMG time! Thanks for the info.

 

[FeverishFlux]

Yes, if you want to punch paper or engage targets at distance, you want the longer heavy barrel models.
Check out Fulton Armory, they do some nice M1A's. I forgot to tell you in my first reply, visit the M1a forums at M-14forum.com, spend some time reading in there and you'll be an expert on all things M14/M1A. Those guys really are the experts on the weapon system. They have alot of combined time in green and alot of high power competition with the rifle in it's various configurations.:sta'-wars

 

[Gunsmith]

Its a good system but like it was mentioned earlier the stock leaves alot to be desired and they are very loud , a guy on our force bought one and went through a live fire house with us and the muzzel blast was abusive to everybody . I like the M1A desgine and idea but for a patrole rifle I think is a little bit much. I personaly carry a custom 14.5" M4 with a surefire suppressor the barrel has a 1-7 twist and will shoot the 77gr Black Hills ammo into 1 moa at 100yds and thats with an EoTech site, past that I break out the bolt gun. I've got a few friends that shoot AR's out to 1000yds but thats with handloaded ammo and 80 and 90gr bullets
in my oppinion the SOCOM is ok I think that its over priced , I would get a better stock like the Sage , Veltor makes a decient stock and McMillan make a few that are top shelf.

If you looking to the 50BMG for long range shooting I'm building a rifle now that ballisticaly spanks the 50 BMG and do it with about 80grains less powder , less recoil and blast and in a 16lb gun !!!

 

[6.8SPC]

Its a good system but like it was mentioned earlier the stock leaves alot to be desired and they are very loud , a guy on our force bought one and went through a live fire house with us and the muzzel blast was abusive to everybody . I like the M1A desgine and idea but for a patrole rifle I think is a little bit much. I personaly carry a custom 14.5" M4 with a surefire suppressor the barrel has a 1-7 twist and will shoot the 77gr Black Hills ammo into 1 moa at 100yds and thats with an EoTech site, past that I break out the bolt gun. I've got a few friends that shoot AR's out to 1000yds but thats with handloaded ammo and 80 and 90gr bullets
in my oppinion the SOCOM is ok I think that its over priced , I would get a better stock like the Sage , Veltor makes a decient stock and McMillan make a few that are top shelf.

If you looking to the 50BMG for long range shooting I'm building a rifle now that ballisticaly spanks the 50 BMG and do it with about 80grains less powder , less recoil and blast and in a 16lb gun !!!

For Cqb I have a bushmaster 16" m4 in 6.8spc(hence my handle) and I love it. I switch between silver state handloads with sierra matchkings, sometimes I'm too lazy and I just buy hornady v-max lol. That rifle is awesome and I just put an eotech 552 on top it's sweet! Since I'm looking for something with long range, maybe a bolt gun a la rem 700/m40a1 would be a better fit for my needs(def lighter than a full-size m1a/m14). Good luck with that build I'd be interested to see how it turns out, maybe send me some pics if ya get a chance. Just curious did you go to Trinidad State for your gunsmithing school? I have an uncle who instructs out there, you might know him. Thanks again for the responses, the more info the merrier! ~Peace.

 

[Gunsmith]

The M1A is a good platform for a battle rifle but I think that their are better ones out their , that goes for CQB and long range ,that said I have built M1's for guys for both reasons. If you wanting somthing to shoot out to 800-1000yds then I would definalty look at the bolt rifles but if you looking for a lighter weight unit the M40A1 isin't it , the barrel alone weighs 6 lbs !! Not knowing what your budget is or exactly what your accuracy requirements are I'll say their are some good guns that will get you to the 1k mark with decient accuracy for under $1000.

My handel is "Gunsmith" because I do build,fix and work on guns but its not my first line of work , most of the work I do is for other officers and some long range hunters. I have worked with some very fine smiths in the last several years but have never attended formal gun trade schools , I am a certified machienst/die and tool maker and thats what counts most in the building part of the job. I've built a few precision rifles (sniper rifle) that are in service with a couple differant police departments and I have built a few that have killed prairie dogs as well as deer and elk out past 1000yds

You mentioned the Hornady V-max bullet for your AR , don't knock that round , in your particular case that would be my first choice for home defense. That thin jacket and polymer tip cause massive damage and help to greatly reduce over penitration and deflected rounds

Here is a pic of my latest rifle , I built it specificaly to shoot rock chucks and prairie dogs at 1200yds in the non magnum class. The caliber is 260 Rem with a reamer made to my specs for my personal hand loads , it'll shoot into the low .2's at 100yds and hold consistant groups in the 5-6" range at 1000yds
**broken link removed**

 

[FeverishFlux]

Why the break on a .260? Nice rifle, I thought you could see hits easy enough without the break though. It's backwards though, the bolt should be on the other side of the rifle:star-w:rs

 

[Gunsmith]

I put the brake on it before I had ever shot itits basicaly their to make sure I can spot my hits and it works very well the gun barely flentches. Tat same tig if out right not getting coated semi goss black with Cera-coat , I have a very nice Laminated stock that it'll be going in and the all black gun will mate better with the wood.

I have an M1A that is setup for a police snipe rifle its got a heavy Rock Creek barrel and is bedded in a McMillan stock the idea came to me from a friend after the Beslan school killings in Russia , thought that the need for a higher capacity fast folow up shot rig would make since , the gun shoots great but I prefer a bolt gun for precision work when lives are on the line as this gun has a match spec chamber and will choke when it gets a little dirty.

 

[EVERLAST]

MIA

I have the national match MIA with the McMillan stock, heavy match barrel and JP Industries muzzle brake. I just wanted to say that if youre looking long range the SOCOM won't perform as well as the MIA set up.
If youre looking CQB then I think youre already set with the rig you have.
But I must admit the SOCOM is a fine looking piece of hardware. Maybe for intermediate distances? (but thats just me trying to justify why I want one)
If you're into precision rifles then it's hard to have only one, or two.
I also have the Bushmaster A2 flattop with a match barrel.
Sometimes its so hard to choose.....

 

[terryd5150]

Why the break on a .260? Nice rifle, I thought you could see hits easy enough without the break though. It's backwards though, the bolt should be on the other side of the rifle:star-w:rs

My guess would be that at 1000yds anything you could do to steady the rifle during the firing process is going to help you get better groups.

 

[FeverishFlux]

Breaks are for recoil. Some high power shooters use breaks on larger calibers as they can see hits without the optic climbing off target or climb as fast off target. I like to see hits, I hate having to check the glass for score.
The break isn't going to help you hit at 1k, such as Wimbledon, at that range you're not firing rapid fire. The break is going to help keep the muzzle down and make follow up shots quicker, and noisier:s'ar-wars
I was going to change the socom parts with my reg. rec M14, but in f/a the break wasn't going to tame it anyway. It would be a neat lil setup, but not very functional, cept for dumping brass.:star-wa:s

 

[Gunsmith]

I like to use brakes on bigger rounds that do kick some especialy if I'm gonna be shooting more than 10 shots of so , you will start to flentch a little even if you don't relize it and that will kill your groups , so yes a brake will help your groups on some hard kicking guns
I have a brake on this gun so I can spot my own hits when shoot at varmints at longer ranges and yes they are louder to the guy shooting and folks to the sides but the noise at the target is greatly reduced and thats a big help when shooting at live targets as it doesn't spook them as bad. I personaly like to use a suppressor but its agains't the law to shoot critters with a can.

The 308 is a very effecient round and it does well in short bareled guns as it doesen't loose velocity as bad when the barrel gets short like the 223 does , so theory it would be alot better "short gun" than the 223 would be.
As for the barake on the SOCOM , I don't realy understand why its their , the recoil from the muzzel blast on the M1 isin't that bad at all and realy don't see any benifit of the brake on a gun of this purpose.

For you guys that might not know , about 35-38 of the 50 states allows any legal gun owner to own and use a suppressor , it does require a one time to unit tax to the ATF of $200 but man is it worth it , it'll aloow you to shoot any highpower rifle with about as much noise as a regular 22 long rifle round and the recoil reduction is about that of a decient brake.