M1A Field Strip; w/Hot Water Clean; Rebuild [for corrosive ammo]

[burnhamny]

Nice video, nice rifle!

[goldenpizza]

@burnhamny Yeap. Lots of fun to fire. I shot Dave Tubb's "Final Finish" and "Throat Maintenance System" (TMS) and I can tell an accuracy improvement. Even the recoil seems less.

[buschbeer100]

@1:50 thank you i have a national match and that answered a lot of my questions

[notnutzinjtown]

just purchased an M1a Loaded can't wait to get to the range so I can clean it up little more involved than my AR lol thanks for the video

[killervid]

WHAT IS THE HEX KEY SIZE FOR THE RAIL!!! I CANT FIND IT ANYWHERE.

[goldenpizza]

@killervid The M1A Scout small rail above the barrel? Its a standard (not metric) 7/64th HEX key.

[killervid]

@goldenpizza Thank you. I already figured this out, but it is good to have this out on the internet so others dont have as much trouble as me finding it. Another question though: do you see any problems with using the sling mount holes for a bipod? The harrison adapter is the right size and it seems to look/function just fine.

[goldenpizza]

@killervid Springfield Armory (M1A manufacturer) sells a bi-pod on their web store that attaches to the gas cylinder. The scout has about one inch for this unit to mount onto the gas cylinder (not the best fit) It takes the same 3/8" wrench as the piston nut.

As you can see, I have a very nice walnut stock. I would mount your bi-pod on a scrap stock (go to Fredsm14stocksdotcom) and then switch stocks at the range depending on how you want to shoot. That's my thoughts.

[killervid]

@goldenpizza I have a synthetic, and it is pretty nice. I am not too worried about the stock because the sling mount is obviously meant to take a fair amount of abuse. I was just wondering if you(or anyone else) have had past experience mounting one there.

[M1Amen]

Good video. Nice job with showing how to clean after using corrosive ammo. The Haji's throw their AK's into the streams to clean them. I'd rather use soap and water, something they lack. But I think maybe one point: that piston was designed to operate dry. OK to oil it up for storage, but it has to be dry before firing. You can grease the threads on the plug, but use a little bit. Nice job.

[goldenpizza]

@M1Amen Thanks for you comment. Yes. that's a great note to fire the piston dry.

[possummemberderek]

Seems a little silly to spend all that time zeroing your rifle to just take it home and lose your zero again.

[goldenpizza]

@possummemberderek Not with the 3 shot zero I described. But I rarely use corrosive ammo too so I dont always do full field strip. Just a couple of patches for short term storage. additionally, I have different types of NATO .308 so each one's ballistics needs its own zero. Its really not that difficult and zeroing keeps the math skills sharp.

[possummemberderek]

Can you do all of this with a scope and scope mount on the rifle while keeping the same zero after reassembly?

[goldenpizza]

@possummemberderek Can I do it?No. I use iron sights to 600 yrds. When I retract the sights, I know the number of clicks to get it back to where I had it (1 click=1moa). I quick&dirty sight to 25meters (2 rds) then confirm at 200yrds (1 rd) and thats my 3 rds sighting (based on 4MOA). If one were to leave the scope on during cleaning, I would build a simple gun vise with 2x4s and 1x4s wood to hold the barrel and receiver while having no pressure on the scope. But with $1k scope, take it off.

[Arwrologist]

@goldenpizza That was very well explained. When i had my scope on my 1st and 2nd M1As I just put the barreled action upside down on my cleaning rest. Then draped papertowels over the scope. I've done this for 20 yrs or so & yet to have a problem. When was your 1st Appleseed? I really enjoy hearing peoples first experience with the program. Thanks! Johnny

[godzilla7382]

dude never clean a firearm from muzzle to breech its all ways from breech to muzzle even for handguns. u will always want to go in the direction of the projectile. over time u will change the rifling going against it like that.

[goldenpizza]

@godzilla7382 Poor physics. Brass brush will NOT damage steel . Second, even if one could bore brush and patch clean going only from breech to muzzle, [receiver is in the way] battle rifles are not sub MOA units. Besides, a few rounds of David Tubbs "Throat Maintenance System" will polish that bore back to new. Battle rifles are meant to be field cleaned, stripped and serviced quickly, not in a gun vise. See

Dept of Army Training Manual TM 9-1005-223-12. Section III , part 33 (b) p25

[godzilla7382]

@goldenpizza the military is currently converting all cleaning systems over to the Otis systems because they realized the flaw in muzzle to breech cleaning. the otis system is a pull through system and u can clean a m1a from breech to muzzle with a rod and normal brush just slide the rod through then put the brush on. the reason the military is converting is because they don't issue brass rods we get steel rods now when running patches even coverage of the spade tip is hard to get.

[godzilla7382]

@godzilla7382 i recently had to replace a barrel on a standard issue M-4 flattop my unit recieved for out upcoming deployment. i'll admit half of the issues with the standard cleaning kits is user fuck ups. any way why running patches muzzle to breech she got the rod stuck instead of coming to me or any other 91-F the soldier decided to ram it through using the concrete floor. when i was inspecting weapon for turn in i noticed a hard cut line running full length of barrel. so i dead lined it.

[goldenpizza]

@godzilla7382 Did the solider indicate that the cleaner rod became stuck between muzzle break/flash suppressor and muzzle before applying excessive force/pounding?

[godzilla7382]

@goldenpizza nah he wouldn't tell me what really happened till after the paper work had been done. it wasn't a big deal since it was just assigned to our unit a week before the incident.

[goldenpizza]

@godzilla7382 And an excellent conversion, should save lots of barrels for them piece keepers. While this method will become a superior method, it doesn't make the old way verboten and can still be practiced carefully. Still impossible for muzzleloading rifles.

Bore snakes are all the rage in sport rifle sectors. Also, I've heard the primitive cleaning of an AK is to take wet boot laces with chunky knots spaced in them and run 'em through the barrel a few times. Breech to muzzle of course ;-)

[didactomy]

Never oil the gas piston or gas cylinder. Clean them up and wipe them dry only!

[Pepsifx357]

@didactomy Why?

[goldenpizza]

@Pepsifx357 So the heat does not turn the oil to gum up/ carbon up the piston's travel.

[Pepsifx357]

@goldenpizza I kinda understand, but wouldn't the use of oil to diminish friction and reduce heat out weigh the disadvantage of the carbon build up problem?

[goldenpizza]

@Pepsifx357 Heat is the killer. If you were to fire say 20 rounds over 2 hours, there would be little heat build up and thus a microscopic amount of oil would help, but in a battle or competition situation where one might fire 200 rounds in less then 30 minutes (one well aim shot even 3-4 seconds with 5 second mag changes and some time to acquire target between shots), then that amount of heat would carbonize the piston like a kettle corn crusty pan.

[goldenpizza]

@didactomy I agree with this amendment

[sircharlez33]

What was the brand of grease in the tube that you used?

[goldenpizza]

@sircharlez33 Shooter's Choice All Weather High-Tech Grease in 10mL syringe.

[ssdwellah]

I thought that you would usually push the cleaning rod in through the breach area. Is your .30 cal bore brushes left hand twist or something? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

[goldenpizza]

@ssdwellah I think you are asking why did I clean the M1A from the muzzle end and not the breach end like a bolt action rifle? So if that is the question: A) clean rods have swivel functions- means the brush or pad follows the barrel grooves. B)brass rods cannot enter from the breech easily on M1A/M1/M14 (mines fiberglass). M1As need the cleaning rod entering from the muzzle (and the muzzle brake helps protect the crown in this process). C) TM army manual does not specify direction in cleaning.

[ssdwellah]

@goldenpizza Thanks for the clarification! I bought an M1A recently but I did not clean it yet. It looked different from how you clean most handguns and my AR so I was confused.

[goldenpizza]

@ssdwellah I have heard that some folks use the method of insert rod without any tool, when rod reaches breach, screw on tool (brush, or pad holder, then extract. From a field service point of view, this is not practical. If you wanted to "protect" the rifling, it could be an thoughtful action, just overkill. If you're using a brass cleaning rod (versus fiberglass/plastic) a rod guide (protects the crown, about 2.5 inches long) could be used if the muzzle brake is not attached.

[valkyriemc]

Not "beading" - bedding.

[goldenpizza]

@valkyriemc Thanks.

[redtail5]

pretty sweet, do you collect any other guns?

[goldenpizza]

@redtail5 yes, but in sovietfornia we have to be careful vhat vee say. Bolsheviks working hard to create pervect utopia with them at top of pyramid. ;-)

[goldenpizza]

re-upload of better compressed version. YT still destroys my compression. Argh.