I am seriously considering selling or retiring my 264 win mag and starting to do all my hunting with an M1A that I have. The m1 is a decent shooter, I may want to redo the rear peep sight on it though. I am not planning on putting a scope on this rifle Most shots I have taken on game are less than200 yds. This rifle has a Kreiger SS barrel with a 1-11 twist. It shoots 150 gr. bullets best but not too bad with 165s. Do any of you hunt big game (antelope through elk ) with the M1A (308)? If so are you pleased and do you have any recomendations?

why not? 308 winchester is a great round.

even if you use the NATO round, still a great killer.

I put a scope on mine, and it is a good(not great) 1.5+ MOA with milspec ammo.

If I were to use the peep exclusivley, I would stick with shots under 150(my eyes) unless I had good light, good contrast, and a stationary target.

quote:

Originally posted by mikem0553:
I am seriously considering selling or retiring my 264 win mag and starting to do all my hunting with an M1A that I have. The m1 is a decent shooter, I may want to redo the rear peep sight on it though. I am not planning on putting a scope on this rifle Most shots I have taken on game are less than200 yds. This rifle has a Kreiger SS barrel with a 1-11 twist. It shoots 150 gr. bullets best but not too bad with 165s. Do any of you hunt big game (antelope through elk ) with the M1A (308)? If so are you pleased and do you have any recomendations?

I've been using my Fulton Armory M14 for several years now in our sharpshooting program and have killed many deer with it. It works very well in this role. I use a Leupold 4.5 - 14 x 40 scope during the day and switch it out with a night vision scope after dark. I use the ARMS scope mounting system and have no trouble with returning to zero when changing sighting devices. Good luck deer hunting with your M1A. You'll enjoy it. (BTW, we use Federal ammo loaded with the 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets. Devastating on deer!)

I just picked up my Springfield M1A National Match this weekend. It has a Leupold Mark4 4.5-14 LRT on it. Ran some handloads with 168 BTHP'S through it. Incredibly accurate and I can't wait to take it antelope hunting next year. Will try it on hogs first.

Scott

quote:

Originally posted by HAY-MAN:
I just picked up my Springfield M1A National Match this weekend. It has a Leupold Mark4 4.5-14 LRT on it. Ran some handloads with 168 BTHP'S through it. Incredibly accurate and I can't wait to take it antelope hunting next year. Will try it on hogs first.

Scott

I use that same scope on my lomg range coyote rifle. Its the best scope I own. My reason for going to the open sights is that everyone seems to use a scope for hunting these days and I'm looking to do things a little different. More of a challenge I guess. I load for the M1 with 150 gr. Sierras to a velocity of 2800 fps. The 165 gr. are running about 2650 to 2700 fps. I'm still playing with different loads and any recomendations would be helpful.

If you don't mind packing 10lbs (+/-) of rifle around it will work just fine.

No, I don't mind carrying around a 10 lb. rifle. My concern was loading the rounds a little lighter than I do for my sons bolt 308 and using 150 gr. bullets vs, 180s. With a little thought, I'm sure they will be just fine for any big game I plan on hunting. Thanks for the input, I'll let you know how it works out.

My Brother in Law has one he uses for thining out the wild hog population around here.
He loves it, the Hogs hate it.

Cheers, John

quote:

Originally posted by Phatman:
My Brother in Law has one he uses for thining out the wild hog population around here.
He loves it, the Hogs hate it.

Cheers, John

bet thats right!!

I also use my M1A for hog hunting. I love it, too.

Mike, you said in your original post something about sticking to iron sights but redoing the rear peep.

I don't know exactly what you have in mind, but I have a Polytech (actually not a bad rifle at all, but the Chinese bolts are soft and you really need to have a GI bolt fitted or you'll have headspace problems) with a National Match rear sight and a Springfield Armory with a standard rear sight.

The standard rear sight is head and shoulders superior to the NM rear sight in low light conditions. A much better hunting sight.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by China Fleet Sailor:
I also use my M1A for hog hunting. I love it, too.

Mike, you said in your original post something about sticking to iron sights but redoing the rear peep.

I don't know exactly what you have in mind, but I have a Polytech (actually not a bad rifle at all, but the Chinese bolts are soft and you really need to have a GI bolt fitted or you'll have headspace problems) with a National Match rear sight and a Springfield Armory with a standard rear sight.

The standard rear sight is head and shoulders superior to the NM rear sight in low light conditions. A much better hunting sight.[/QUOTE ]There is probably nothing wrong with the rear sight that some adjustment won't fix. It's a standard 1 moa dial up per click but it slips sometimes and doesn't dial up like it should. Maybe just getting worn or need some adjustment to tighten it up so I can count the clicks. My windage won't adjust either but it's set dead center and works good there. I just hold left or right for windage. I have a rear sight from a SOCOM with the ghost ring peep. I may go back to that and see if it dials up better. I can get on target quicker with the ghost ring than the standard. I probably better get it to a smith that can get it back in shape for me.
My thinking of going to the M1a for hunting come from the country I was elk hunting in this year. Very brushy or a lot of dark timber. I used a 264 win. and just felt like I had too much speed and not enough knock down power. I punched a pretty hole in a bull but just about lost him in the brush.
I know there may be better choices for a brush gun but I have the M1a so I thought I might as well use it.

I used an M1 Garand on many a deer with milspec ammo...it always worked and I know one hunter that had a 308 conversion he was very happy with...WHY NOT a MIA?? Wish there had been some easy, cheap way to convert my M1 to M1A configuration...at least I thought that at the time...now I just wish I had that MI back again.

What's wrong with a 10# rifle anyway...my Marlin 336 switchbarrel levergun chambered in 458 American with scope, full short tube, 5 rounds in a stock sleeve and leather lace on recoil pad weights in at 9.89 lb on the digital scale. I'm 70 years old and broke down beyond repair and I don't think that's all that bad...10# is light compared to a few of my large bore cannons that run 12-16#. That extra weight soaks up the pounding heart thumps and makes follow through in moving game much smoother.

Hey...use what you have and enjoy...venison tastes the same taken with ANY caliber or rifle/pistol/shotgun/bow/air rifle, or whacked by your vehicle.

Luck

My brother has done all of his deer/elk hunting for about twenty years now, with his Garand. It's pretty good at killing stuff...

I must admit , it's my horse who has to pack around my 10 lb. rifle most of the time so the weight issue isn't that big a deal for me. I can understand the sheep and goat hunters wanting somthing very light.

I have had the privlege to shoot a Garand on several occasions and the one I shot was the most accurate iron sighted rifle I have ever shot. The dial ups are exactly 1 moa and I got to shoot as far as 800 yds. with it. I was very impressed with that gun. No wonder Patton was so high on them, and there have been several thousand men who have carried those 10 lb. rifles way further than I ever will.

I'll spend this winter working on my 6 x 284 for coyotes and developing my load for the M1a. Think I'll go back up to the 165 gr bullets for elk hunting. If you have any better ideas on loads for a 1 in 11 twist I'd love to here them