Of course, that has more to do with me, the shooter, than the gun. As you can see, I wasn’t as accurate with the Tanker as the other two. I test-fired the Tanker with the same five factory loads as I used previously with the Scout Squad and Loaded versions and have listed the results for all three guns in the accompanying chart. Joel’s review gun’s trigger pull averaged 5 pounds, 8 ounces. The Tanker features a tuned two-stage trigger. The Loaded, Scout Squad, and Tanker all come with 10-round magazines, but I used a 20-rounder for my shooting sessions with the Tanker. Other controls on the Tanker include the blade-type safety located at the front of the trigger guard (move it rearward to engage, and slide it forward to fire), the bolt lock on the left side of the receiver, the op rod on the right side of the action, and the lever-style magazine release that’s positioned behind the magazine well.
The first stage takes about 3.5 pounds of pull, and the remaining pull requires about two pounds of force to break, and that certainly fosters good accuracy. The Tanker and Scout Squad triggers are rated at 5 pounds however, my Tanker’s pull averaged 5 pounds, 8 ounces for five measurements with my RCBS trigger pull scale, and it was consistent. The Loaded model’s is tuned by Springfield to break at between 4.5 and 5 pounds of pull. The Loaded, Scout Squad, and Tanker M1As all have tuned match triggers. The one on the buttstock is fixed, whereas the one on the fore-end swings. The Tanker’s stock also features sling swivel assemblies on the buttstock and the fore-end. Obviously, that’s not needed with the semiautomatic Tanker, but underneath it on the Tanker is a hidden compartment for accessories. Swinging up the hinged buttplate and placing it atop the shoulder was supposed to provide additional control when firing the M14 in full-auto mode.
The stock features a hinged buttplate that is a carryover from the military’s M14, which was a select-fire rifle. Underneath is a hidden compartment for a cleaning kit.īack to the Tanker’s stock. A carryover from the military M14 rifle is the hinged buttplate. Shooting Times reported on the Precision Adjustable M1A in 2016, but the Loaded M1A I have worked with wore the standard synthetic stock. It’s currently offered in black and Desert FDE colors. There are two types of synthetic stocks for this model, with one being the Precision Adjustable version that allows the comb height and the length of pull to be adjusted. The Loaded M1A also is offered with either a walnut stock or a synthetic stock. The Scout Squad I worked with a couple of years ago wore the synthetic stock. The Scout Squad is offered with either a black synthetic stock or a walnut stock. As the photos show, the buttstock has a bit of figuring. The walnut stock on the M1A Tanker I’ve been shooting is pretty nice. The Scout Squad also comes with this type of muzzle brake, but the Loaded model has a flashhider with longitudinal slots rather than ports. The Tanker has a ported muzzle brake up front with three rows of either five or six small ports on each side at the 11- and 1-o’clock positions. However, as our photos suggest, it definitely exudes a World War II military vibe. The sight has the distinctive elevation- and windage-adjusting knobs.īy the way, I will say right here and now, the Tanker was not an official military configuration for the M1A. The rear sights on all three versions are the standard military aperture sight. The Scout Squad and Loaded have military-type National Match front sights with the traditional protective ears on each side of the plain post. In addition, the Tanker wears an XS post front sight with a white stripe and a tritium insert. Obviously, the barrel lengths are different. The Tanker’s muzzle brake features three rows of ports on each side at the 11- and 1-o’clock positions. The front sight is unusual in that it features a white line and a tritium insert. Let’s take a quick look at how the Tanker compares to them. The M1A Tanker resolves both of those drawbacks.Īs I said, I’ve handled and fired a lot of Springfield M1As over the years, and in addition to the Tanker featured here, two other favorite versions are the 18-inch-barreled Scout Squad and the 22-inch-barreled Loaded.
It weighed close to 10 pounds, and with a 24-inch-long barrel, it was a little unwieldy. The other downside to the Garand was that it was cumbersome. I never lost any of them, but I came close more times than I like to remember. One was the eight-round stripper clip that held the cartridges and ejected out the top of the action after the last round was fired. That Garand was highly accurate, but it had two shortcomings. I’ve been shooting Springfield M1As for almost three decades, and before that I had a favorite M1 Garand that I shot quite a lot.
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