well the DAWG DAZE of summer are here. as a native of this god foresaken dezert june actually wasnt too bad. since im a cheap ass im still running the swamp coolers since dewpoint only made it above 55 degrees for a bout a week with no rainfall at my house. this week hell will be here, with 115 degree daze and thats when ya gotta be smarter than the average bear and hide out. and what better to hide out with than an M-14 or (2). yuck yuck.
im really just going to go over all my springfield custom arrington accurized super duper match fastners and swab the barrel a few times and general lubrication and function fire with 168 federals.
my real focus will be improving a few things that have bugged me after a owning a SOCOM-16 for a few years now. obviously they have been a hell of a sales item for springfield due to shorter barrel length and weight reduction. muzzle flash? HELL THATS VALUE ADDED W/a SHORTER BARREL! FER SURE GETS EVERJUANS ATTENTION AT THE RANGE!
anyway first and foremost for any of you whom ever hefted a M-14 in the winter with gloves on soon realized the BOLT STOP lever is a giant PITA to operate when wearing gloves. well smithenterprises.com here in tempe,az. has come up with an oversized bolt stop lever for them. my FFL is amigoes with smith and is going to pick me juan up for cost. that problems solved.
next a full blown freakazoid M-14 fanatic by the name of mike sadlak(sadlak.com) has been building a number of re-designed better mouse traps for the M-14 due to the wars in iraq and afghan. amazing how a tried and true workhorse gets a makeover.
first of his mousetraps that i have my eyes on for my super duper match is a titanium scope mt. its a damn heavy rifle to lug around and saving grams let alone ounces is paramount. mmmmmm its nice and so is the price tag. check 'em out also makes aluminum models.
next he makes a wayyyy cool TIN(titanium nitride coated-easier to clean) coated NATIONAL MATCH piston. have read some tests where guys have changed their u.s.g.i. piston out for sadlaks and posted tighter groups! hell thats simple and its a standard op cleaning drill everytime ya fire one. so why the hell not! dont ferget to re-install DRY! ie. no hoppes or bore cleaner left on it as per all u.s.g. i. publications.
also sadlak has taken the NATIONAL MATCH spring guide and honed it to a fine dead nuts replica if not better than brookfields( m-14 gurus of yesteryear). the newer spring guide disallows the spring from binding up and therefore you have a smoother action. hell thats only 39 bucks! why not? we LIKE SMOOTH! another simple retard install.
next we will replace the op rod spring and the hammer spring with TUBBS2000 springs. these springs are the best money can buy and exceed all factory specs. once again smooth hammer and smooth op rod guide spring makes for happy happy joy joy smooth action.
next sadlak refined the magazine release lever. wider IS BETTER and LONGER is better. especially with gloves on. if you have ever combat reloaded a legal 5 rd hunting magazine you will know exactly how much of a PITA that is. this lever will alleviate that debacle, and assure a positive release of the magazine under combat wombat BUCK FEVER when ya missed the previous 5-6 shots because the big old buck deer scared the hell outta you and ya need to reload another mag.
i had arrington accuracy here unitize the front end and give it a trigger job a few years back after stuffing 200 rds thru it for break-in. the only optic i will ever put on the socom is a zeiss reflex red dot. i dont want any more weight on this one. its simply a snap shot shooter that can get covered in mud rain snow sand and still shoot iron site or red dot out to 600yds.
if ya cant tell yet.................this will become my "3-gun" shooter for combat wombat matches maybe the end of this year when it cools off. really really really thinking about getting my younger son and myself signed up for this. looks like one hell of alot of fun and ya NEVER KNOW when the DEER and THE ELK may rise up in an INSURRECTION and FIGHT BACK! LOL!
