Scope for M1A Loaded 6.5 Creedmoor?

[Daubs]

Brother has been saving for a Springfield Armory M1A Loaded 6.5 Creedmoor for a while. He finally pulled the trigger and ordered it...now he has tasked me with figuring out what scope to put on top.

I put Leupold Vari-X's on my -06 and 7MAG back in the early 2000's, but I'm confident there have been many industry improvements since then.

He will primarily be hunting deer and antelope here in Nebraska, with possible elk hunt in future. His max range would be 600 yards.

Budget will be $800-ish : )

Suggestions?

 

[rammont]

Regardless of the scope make sure that you buy a good mount. I've worked on M1A rifles since 1975 and I can tell you that there are only three scope mounts that are dependable;

Sadlak
Bassett
ARMS

I know that the Springfield mount is supposed to be an improved model but it still has problems with moving over time.

I've used several scope brands on my M1As but currently I have a Vortex Viper PST Gen II and a Vortex Razor HD. The PST is used for hunting and the Razor is used for long range target shooting.

 

[mallardsx2]

How do you even mount a scope on something like that?

 

[Daubs]

Talking with my brother last night, he said found two mounts, one aluminum and one steel. The steel was much more expensive (?)

Thanks for heads up rammont!

 

[rammont]

The aluminum mounts are lighter but I prefer the steel, I'm an old guy and I tend to like putting steel mounts on steel receivers, the idea being that they will expand and contract at the same rate of the receiver better than an aluminum mount would so there would be less chance of the mount loosening over time.

M1A scope mounts attach to the side of the receiver, the original M14 was designed to have a scope mount attached via a threaded hole on the side of the receiver. Some brand mounts only attach at one or two points and others attach at three points, I prefer the mounts that contact at three points (Sadlak is my favorite). The mount connects to the receiver at the side (the threaded hole), at the stripper clip on the top of the receiver (you have to remove the stripper clip guide), and at the front of the receiver on the top via a tension screw.

The trick to these mounts is to slowly tighten the mounting screws one at a time while rocking the mount so that you sort of walk the mount in to it's tightest fit. Also, use Loctite (blue, don't use red unless you don't mind using a propane torch to break the loctite free) on all the screws/bolts.

 

[tim]

don't go cheap here. rammont is spot on, on this one.