Israeli M1A1

I bought this at an auction today and I'm trying to find out what I can about it. I didn't have any time to research the rifle before I bought it so I went into the deal on the blind stupid side. I have since found out that these are ex-Israeli rifles that Springfield bought back and changed the recievers on. Any idea of value? Are the parts all USGI except for the reciever? As far as M1A1's go is this a good one? I will recieve the rifle Friday and I'm am as usuall, excited. Here are the pics from the auction.
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I don't recall reading anything about these rifles other than what SA Inc printed in their ads for it. I'm guessing it was around 1990.

The original rifles were Israeli Defense Force (IDF) M14 sniper rifles, which, of course, couldn't be imported. SA Inc bought all parts except for the receivers, which I assume were destroyed or returned to the US military. SA Inc assembled the kits on their M14-clone receivers, which they call "M1A", a copyrighted name. Since the receiver IS the rifle, technically what you bought is a "SA Inc M1A built with an Israeli IDF M14 sniper parts kit". It is not an M1A1.

Since the original rifles were built from USGI service grade M14 rifles, I would expect many parts to be USGI. The Nimrod scope, mount, & stock are definitely not USGI, & fire control parts are missing. The barrel may have been replaced.

I really don't think you were taking much of a chance. These are as close as to a military M14 sniper rifle that most of us will ever get. I'm looking forward to more photos & a range report from you.

Guts

I have picked up some of these IDF Sniper items over the years I thought I would put them all together for some pictures for them that like to see all the variations. I may as well add them to your thread.

Preface; This rifle not one of the 600 or so Springfield Armory Inc. produced M1A's made with Israeli Defense Force rifle parts ( those were marked with a star of David on the heel).


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Israel was given a large number of M14's by the US back in the 70's. After mods at IMI some became the M14 SWS ( Sniper Weapon System) in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and were eventually replaced in the 1990's by whatever the heck they are using now.

I just wanted to look at some of the proprietary things they did to and made for to the M14.

The stock, scope, monter case and Night vis mount are the pieces that I have. You have the one point scope mount with integral 26mm rings that was made. I have seen them from time to time but have never picked one up because I prefer the 3 point split ARMS mount that I am using now.

The original IDF mount.
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The night vision mount is also a single point mount. Laid out here so you can see how it would line up.
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Lets look at the stock.

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The black krinkle coat on this one was added by Springfield Armory Inc when they marketed their version of the SWS back in the 90's. It is a std. USGI fiberglass stock that has been heavily modified with a fixed raised cheekpiece . This makes it a dedicated sniper as you can not get down to see the irons. The cheekpiece is reminiscent of the one used on the IDF 98K Mauser Sniper to permanently raise the comb. Commercial butt pad material has been fashioned into a sort of a two piece butt pad that extends up to encompass the cheekpiece too. Plenty of room here to spread out recoil. Some extra sling attachment points have beep added. This sucker is very butt heavy. There is also a Harris stud attached for bipod use.

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The practically bombproof case is made with a heavy vinyl exterior ( rudely painted in my example) with foam molded compartments for the scoped rifle, two mags, Night vision mount and some other small accessory. It has a steel reinforcing bar exposed at the bottom. The whole shebang weights at least 12 pounds with no rifle in it. It is very heavy duty and keeps a rifle well protected.
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I have seen similar molded cases for the Galil sniper in photographs.

The scope here is the Khales ZF fixed 6X. The later Nimrods can also be seen on these set ups but those appear to be std for Galil snipers and only incidental on the M14 SWS. The Khales scope is great and in regular use by me.
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I have not fired my rifle with the Modified Israeli stock as a little fitting is required in the trigger area and I will do that when I strip the krinkle coat off to return it to it's original color.

I have seen the SAI Israeli style rifles infrequently. I personally would not attach much value to what SAI did to them. It's not like they have any provenance as actual snipers, being reassembled back here on krinkled stocks with the parts all mixed up.

While the IDF snipers are not exactly legendary they did make and modify some interesting things for the M14 rifle. While I suspect the single point scope mounts would not match up the what we enjoy today, they do represent a little backwater of M14 parts and kit collecting.


JR

Just a note: I have used the Israeli M14 sniper rifle system in combat in the reagion. The single point mount and Nimrod scope are as accurate and rugged as they need to be. The mount needs a bit of blue lock tite to keep it secure. Once you zero the weapon with the ammo you will use it holds zero very well. Keep in mind that sniper weapons used in combat are not fired as much as they are on the rifle range, and don't tend to lose there zero as long as they are not dropped hard or dissasembled. Keep in mind that in combat it's not how many you shoot, it's who you shoot that counts. A sniper may only fire 2 or 3 rounds in a 24 hour mission. The Nimrod scope is quick and easy to use in combat, and holds up very well in those conditions.

usmcret

Thanks for your in post. Because I have some of this kit I am interested in any other observations you have about working with this equipment and the Israeli modified rifles in general.

Were there any other accuracy modifications done like trigger jobs, NM flash hider reaming or unitizing the gas cyl.

The stock set that I have is finally stripped of that horrid crinkle paint. Under that black garbage posted above I have found some Israeli markings that had been made into the stock and cheek piece. I’ll post some pics soon.

In your experience had these fiberglass stocks been painted in the field or were they in the standard ruddy USGI reddish brown paint. The cheek piece I have is molded of a dark chocolate brown fiberglass.

JR

I have is finally stripped the crinkle paint off my Israeli Sniper stock.

There are a some markings that were covered by the black goop. One is on the cheek piece and the other seems like a serial # on the left side of the stock. The same Hebrew character is molded on the bottom of the cheek riser itself.
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Here you can see the nuts that that hold the cheek riser are countersunk into the USGI fiberglass stock.

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The selector has been nicely filled in. But there is a repair that made with some shrunken up compound. I have filled that with some glaze so it won't show when repainted.
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I am going to repaint these as close to the original colors as I can. The cheek riser is molded in a choco brown fiberglass so I an going to hit that with a shade that is darker and colored like the Israeli 98K sniper cheek riser. My base is Alumahyde 2 earth brown then covered with these two colors.
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JR

That is the most different "real deal" item I've seen for a M14.
It's a great start for my first day on milsurps.com... Thanks!! :thup:

I finally got this thing repainted over the summer.

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JR

Gorgeous!

I ran an armory in Israel for about 2 years. We had a bunch of M14s that were all similar in color to your fresh one. In addition, I did my M113 driving course at the same base as the IDF sniper school. Some of their trainees were tented 2 over from mine and I saw their rifles frequently. Mind you, I was seeing sniper-trainee rifles, but I don't recall seeing any that were oddly or differently colored.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by usmcret

Just a note: I have used the Israeli M14 sniper rifle system in combat in the reagion. The single point mount and Nimrod scope are as accurate and rugged as they need to be. The mount needs a bit of blue lock tite to keep it secure. Once you zero the weapon with the ammo you will use it holds zero very well. Keep in mind that sniper weapons used in combat are not fired as much as they are on the rifle range, and don't tend to lose there zero as long as they are not dropped hard or dissasembled. Keep in mind that in combat it's not how many you shoot, it's who you shoot that counts. A sniper may only fire 2 or 3 rounds in a 24 hour mission. The Nimrod scope is quick and easy to use in combat, and holds up very well in those conditions.

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Why would the USMC use an Israeli sniper rifle?

Regards

Jim

Thanks for the info Johnny. Now that I have it back to some form of normal I can just let it wear in. I am still interested in knowing any accuracy mods the IDF did, if any.

This one had the serial # scratched into the stock so I am guessing it was at least kept with the rifle with the matching # for some period of time.


JR

Sorry, can't help with any modification info.

Very nice rifle:thup: Thanks for sharing!
Tom

Hey Rotor,
The IDF M14's were nothing more than M14 rifles fitted with the Nimrod scope and mount. Some of them were glass bedded such as our M21 and NM M14 rifles, most were not. Some still had there wood stocks, but most of them were had there own IDF design like yours. The M21 and NM weapons that they were givin did have all of they gas system modifications, the others did not. Some of the fiberglass stocks were painted with a desert cmmo some black and some with that same finnish that is on yours. This was/is a very effctive and leathel sniper weapon.
The only real reason that the IDF is replaceing them is the lack of spare parts to keep them running as is needed with any military weapon.

Didn't use it while I was a Marine

this is one very interesting rifle and a very fun thread , thanks , ive never seen one of these before

Hi all - I've been looking around for some time for one of these "repatriated" Israeli M14 sniper rifles that Springfield brought back in the 90's. I had one of these in the late 80's, and these basically USGI M14's that did have some tuning done to the actions, along with the mounted scopes and Harris bipods.

Rotor - great job refinishing that rifle and thanks for sharing the details and pics.

Please do contact me if you know of one of these Israeli M1A's / M14's for sale.

Thanks.