Just picked up a SA Socom 16 and

I traded an AR15 plus some cash and only have $950 into it. The guy bought it 2 years ago, shot 200 rounds out of it and it went back into the safe since he has 3 other M1a's. I gave a good once over with a flash light since it was dark out and it looked great. I get it home and it still looked good just need a cleaning. (I have no idea how to clean this thing by the way). I noticed very tiny amount of rust on the bolt face and i scrubbed it with a brass brush and it was gone. I noticed some residue in the barrel that seemed to go away with patch a through it. The barrel from what I could tell seemed smooth and no pitting.....Now, I noticed the muzzle break had some rust on the bottom and in the little holes and I scrubbed the break with a tiny brass brush and got most of it off. Also, from what I could see there might be some light surface rust at the end of the barrel. It's really hard to tell how much surface rust is in there or if its down the whole barrel. How do I fix this and or should I be worried? My local range is closed until January the the nearest one is about 45min-1hr away depending on the weather and I wanted to get some rounds out of it safely. Thanks


EDIT: I used a Surefire light and it seemed there's rust down the barrel. At first it looked pitted but I think its just the rust that needs scrubbing away to make smooth. I'm gonna try a bore snake tomorrow. Any suggestions anyone?

Here's just a picture of my Socom, it came with 3 20rd mags.

best i can come up with as far as rust in the barrel is run an oil covered brush down the barrel and then chase it with a patch and see what it looks like then. if theres

pitting then theres not really a whole lot that can be done other than replace the barrel. if its just surface rust then shouldnt be a problem. clean and oil/grease her up

and see how she shoots before you panic about anything. if the barrel is pitted then call springfeild and see what they can do for you. they have excellent customer

service.

Get a manual and take it apart and clean it thoroughly in a normal fashion and then look it over again to see if there is any rust anywhere. If so, pick up a can or bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil, and get brush the offending parts with it. Soak a patch with it if there's any in the barrel still, and run it through, leave the oil in there overnight. Go back and clean it normally again. You should be fine. I had a DSA STG 58 stolen from me, ( twice actually, once from the thief at home, and the from the Lancaster SC County Police Department), and the thief had left it behind his grandma's washing machine. It had rust on it pretty bad in certain parts. The inside of the barrel, the gas tube, piston etc.

If this is your first M1A, you are going to need to pick up several tools specific to that gun to clean it properly, plus a couple of drill bits ( used to clean the inside of the piston ). Don't attempt to remove the piston plug without the tool that holds the barrel and the gas tube or you wilol severely fuck it up, and make sure you buy a quality tool for the job.

You'll need a .316 diameter bit for the gas plug bore, a .183 and a .323 for the piston bores. You just put them in and twist by hand.
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As far as the gas system, you only need to wipe the piston and gas plug with a saturated patch and wipe dry. The piston will have stains but it won't matter. Gas system should not need cleaning but every 300 rounds or so. The tip test will tell you if it is needed.
(Lock the bolt back, tip the muzzle up, you should hear the piston sliding back by gravity. If it is slow, it needs cleaning.)


Good luck with it. I miss mine. I had a Scout model, and a Loaded with the NM barrel, trigger group, and sights. The things were a dream to shoot, and balanced better than anything I've shot since or before for that matter. I like my ARs for versatility, but that old M14 type weapon has a soul that nothing else has.

I doubt they will cover corossion. That is due to neglect. If it shoots well it doesn't matter anyway. I had a mosin with a horrible looking bore that shot sub 2" groups all day long.

I did this and I don't hear anything sliding around. I opened up the gas plug and shined a light down there and there was some rust just as the barrel. just looked like surface.
EDIT: I reinstalled it and I can hear it sliding back and forth now. I'm going to get some supplies and see if I can get this taken care of today.

I snapped some photos with my Iphone 4s. I also checked the butt stock and guess what, no cleaning kit.

Barrel - Looks worse in the photos, as you can see grooves then there looks like cracks coming off them (thats the rust).



Piston Tube

nice work!!! i contacted him about it too on either 907bigboytoys or alaskaslist lol

I just recently finished building my Socom16 so we should get together and go shooting...

Just please tell me you used the correct tool for removing the plug, and that you won't attempt to put it back together without it. It's easy to damage the rifle without it, and you likely will have trouble getting the gas port lined up correctly. Get a Bore guide for the muzzle end as well. I have one for standard flash hider types still, but don't have anything for that big muzzle break. Brownell's has them. Unfortunately that firearm takes special tools to be cleaned and serviced properly, and without them you will damage it.

There may be other things that work better than Marvel Mystery Oil on that rust, but that's what I've always used, due to many other things being too chemical smelling, or to caustic and corrosive for firearm finishes.

He was pretty firm on the price and I really wanted a Socom. It's hard selling AR's and nobody wants to spend more than $800, so this trade worked out perfect accept this little problem. I'm gonna try cleaning all the rust out today and maybe unload some rounds friday after I get off my first job.

pavlovwolf - what tool am I supposed to use to remove the gas plug? I just used a 3/8 wrench and it came out. Then I hand tightened and just turned it every so slightly since it was already tight.

You need the alignment tool that I have a picture of in one of my replies. It fits around the barrel and gas tube and keeps them from being twisted out of alignment. You can actually damage the tube without it. If you bend that tube more than a tiny bit, it may not allow free movement of the piston. Also, there is a major possibility that you'll wind up with a single shot, or a short stroking gun because you can't get the gas ports lined up right without it. If you intend to keep the gun, spend the $40 bucks for the good tool, and it also has a D shaped hole at the end of it with a machine set screw that will hold the piston for cleaning so you don't lose it in the field.

With an M1a or M14, you need the tools. You also need a ratcheting chamber brush. Make sure you get the ones for the M14 and not the M1 Garand, the ratchet is really too big. You take a section of cleaning road and screw it in the hole, and then it works like a ratchet. Best thing since sliced bread.



Basically, get this kit here.



Get the tool here. This one is more expensive, but it's worth it.



You can use regular drill bits of the correct size, or you can use this tool. Makes it a tad easier, but not necessary.

Get this book. I still have mine, and it's invaluable, and will make owning one of these rifles much simpler. Once you get used to it, it's really simple. I could clean the M1A faster than I can clean my ARs.



I may still have some of the tools and everything else, since I still have the book. If I can find them, I would be happy to ship them to you if you can't get some of it locally. I'll make you cheap deal on it, really really cheap. I'm not offering this for sale to anyone else, just trying to help a new owner out. I'd give it to you but I'm on a very fixed income ( disability ), and can't even afford shipping. lol But if it's out of place, mods please delete it.

I'll go over to the other house and check it out for you tomorrow if you want, I haven't been real well today, and haven't eaten anything, and don't have power at that house ( it's in my back yard ), so I can't look after dark.

I will give you the book in the photo, and some Tipton Moly Super Lube that I used as well as a .44 mag case that you can use as a bolt roller greasing tool. They work great. I have rubber washers in it to take up space so that the grease will get forced into the roller bearing. Just pay for the shipping for the book and lube.



Bolt roller tool.

??? I've removed the gas piston, plug with simple tools and put the piston back in its' place with my fingers. How can I damage the rifle without it?

Just trying to help you here. Torsional forces can mess up things. Rather than have me explain it. There's a guy on here with the screen name of Different, that helped me tremendously over at M14 Firing Line Forum with getting me started on my first M1A. He recommended certain tools to me, and what to look out for, little things specific to the platform etc, especially on using the right tools for the right job.. You can PM him, or just buy one of his books. He has several. He is the #1 guy in the world on M14s. Lee Emerson is his real name.
His 700 page book on the subject is available for download.

This is the text only version.



This is a great book, great info and history with great photos.



He even has a 276 page book on just magazine identification. So when he says something, I tend to listen.

I'm not saying you're wrong. Just want to know why I need a tool for this? It's easy to put the piston in and I just tighten the gas plug with a box wrench.

Isn't the SOCOM 16 different than a regular m14? I've removed the front assembly on the SOCOM easily, it's threaded. Cleaned out the carbon, screwed it back on. Put the gas piston back on and made sure it's dry in there and then screwed on the gas plug.

What am I doing wrong?

Did soldiers need tools to disassemble it that was not provided in the tool kit in the buttstock?

The soldiers need the tools, and carried them in their kit. You can twist the gas tub when you loosen it if it's very tight, which it will be after you have fired it for a while. If the gas tube is twisted out of spec, the piston won't move freely. The other thing, is you may not get the gas ports lined up correctly, and that is very easy to align incorrectly. You'll have a single shot, or it won't cycle correctly.

Thank you for the offer but I couldn't, you have helped me enough with your wisdom. I picked up everything you recommended except that tuning fork thing and the drill bits since I couldn't find one locally. I fired about 75rounds through it without problems but I could only get 2.25" 5rd group at 50meters. I'm not that good with Iron sights. I'm gonna give it another cleaning and take it out after the new year.

Order the tuning thing. lol That's what you need most. You'll be set then. The model you have has a huge front sight, and a large rear for combat. Changing them out with standard sights will shrink your groups. And keep practicing.

It does seem to have a huge front sight, it would cover the whole shoot n see at 50meters. I couldn't even see my clays at 100meters.

i get arounf that problem but sighting in where the target is just above the front sight blade. i believe its called national match sighting but someone correct me if i have that wrong. but i will agree that a narrower front sight post would help a lot.

There are two ways to sight a rifle in for accuracy; Both are fine. One is to put the properly aligned sights exactly where you want the bullet to impact. This type is generally better for combat etc, as the point of impact will always be within inches of where the sights are align. Put the aligned sights on the chest of the guy, the vitals of the animal, or on the can, jug, center of the bullseye and pull the trigger. Less thinking that way, so it's faster, and more accurate in the field.

The other way is used by match shooters. You set the sights so that the bullet impacts in the center of the Highpower regulation bullseye. The highpower targets vary in size according to distance, but the rings and the black, the bullseye itself, increase according to the distance. This way, the bullet will always land in the center of the bullseye with the same 6 o'clock hold. When you're shooting "across the course" matches, which are from 600 to 1000 yards with iron sights, it is difficult to see the center of the target exactly, so that type of hold allows you to have a consistent sight picture at all ranges. When you look through the sights, the black appears to be the same size at all distances.

This is a 1000 yard high power target.




These are the dimensions for the 300 yard high power targets.

Aiming Black (inches) Rings in White (inches)
X ring 3.00 7 ring 25.00
10 ring 7.00 6 ring 31.00
9 ring 13.00 5 ring 37.00
8 ring 19.00

These are the above pictured 1000 yard targets.

Aiming Black (inches) Rings in White (inches)
X ring 10.00 7 ring 60.00
10 ring 20.00 6 area 72x72 square
9 ring 30.00
8 ring 44.00

The black will appear to be the same size at all ranges to your eye, and in relation to the front sight post. So you aim at the bottom of the black, and with a national match sight set on a standard length rifle, the black circle will pretty much balance perfectly on top of it.

I don't think you're looking to shoot high power with it though.
Here's what I did, since I used mine for hunting and was training for high power, ( got too sick to compete with it unfortunately, I did get where I was shooting 94-95 or so consistently but the most distance I usually had was 700 yards, so I had to adjust the score for that. ).

I zeroed my sights for the center target hold for normal shooting, hunting etc. That way, 100 yards was 100 yards, 500 was 500 etc, and all of the marks on the knob pretty much lined up with the yardage/meters on the knob. I knew my come ups for both military FMJ, and M118LR ammo. Now, when I wanted to practice for high power, I knew exactly how many clicks I needed to go so that the shots from a 6 o'clock hold would be in the X ring ( hopefully ).

If you are planning on using this rifle for HD or similar, I'd get a good Eotech or Aimpoint and be done with it.

FWIW, this post inspired me to spend some of my Christmas money and get the drills and gas plug wrench. I've had my M1A since 2003 and have been using a cheap-o dental pic to clean out my gas plug and a plain ole socket wrench to remove the gas plug. Kinda scary that I've been taking the plug off like this for so long without the right tools.

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