I have fired a couple of these rifles and accuracy has not been good. One was the Socom II with rail and Zeiss 4.5-14" scope. The best I could do was a 4 inch group at 100 yards with match ammo. The dealer called Springfield Armory and was told that for better accuracy, they suggest the 18" version.

What have you guys found with the Socom 16"?

barrel length has nothing to do with accuracy

Theoretically yes. But there is vibration and harmonics involved, gas cycling, and a different brake on the 16". This is no bolt gun.

Dan...these are not guns for a guy like you...they only have one barrel and the bolt works itself....

I have a scout and it shoots < MOA at 100 with any decent ammo.

500, I've heard the same results as you describe for the SOCOM. IMO, I've never found the M1A to be an extremely accurate rifle anyway. A friend of mine bought a National Match a few years ago. About MOA was about the best I ever saw it do. A lot of "off the shelf" AR's will embarrass worked over M1A's. Times change.

You might want to consider one of the AR-10's. The military is is starting to use them for their SASS program.

I have the 18" version and it is plenty accurate. Not like a finely tuned AR of course, but still quite good. Just not sure why some of the 16" are not accurate, but apparently some are accurate.

I have shot a friend's AR-10 and it will do clover leafs. However, the ergonomics of an M1A suits me better. Just call me old fashioned.

Well, first of all they are not designed to shoot 300 yards with pin point accurracy. They are designed as "entry" type weapons and for portability/reliability...and a 3" group at 100 yards is plenty good for its intended purposes. Mine will hold to 2" with most factory FMJ ammo and that is good enough for me.

I didn't buy my for accuracy. I bought mine for the raw power. Notice the lack of muzzle rise during firing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...AOY0&feature=related

My results with the M1-A SOCOMs I have shot are the same as 500 Grains. They are not accurate enough for my use.
The 18" bbled M1-A's have all shot very well.
I much prefer them.

It is a shame as I find the SOCOM's very handy, and while I do not need that many inches of rail I do like to attach a light of to my PDW.

The ones I shot would not hold anywhere near 3" at 100 yards, even with match ammo, or WW Ballistic Silvertips.

I could live with 3" groups at 100 yards from a SOCOM, but not 5" or so.

I found that the SOCOM is built for close quarters shooting. The sights are built for close quarter shooting. They give a very poor sight picture out past 100 yards. It is for whomping ass with a fast handling .308 in close quarters. I have the 18 inch Scout. It shoots well under 1 inch at 100 with my handloaded 165 grain Balistic Tips. I have not pushed my load testing past 100 yards yet. I have shot many diffrent modles of M1A's/M14's. From 5 yards in a three gun match, out to 1000 yards in a rifle match. Like any other gun each variation is built to fit a specific mission better than others.