Just curious if this is something that is possible. I cannot swallow the $1500 pill for a rifle but I would like to build a Scout rifle is possible.

BM59 kits are still floating around.

People build them over on m14forum. They use a mix of usgi and new commercial parts.

I think you'd be into it for more than a new one.

Yep.  Or go find a used one for sale.

Used M1A prices are in the crapper right now. Many of the ones in the EE have been there for months, if not longer. Pick one and make an offer.

^^^^^^^This^^^

I don't think you can build one for less than you can buy one for, especially if you have to farm out the machine work.

easy to do once you understand how to, and have the equipment to rebarrel,
also need headspace gauges,  and likely a reamer (and know how to use them)

the rest (sights, bolt, etc) are easy to assemble,

After tooling costs. Yes.  And no warranty.  It's up to you to get it to run.

I built two but I cheated, I had the barreled by LRB, one with my Winchester barrel and the other with their criterion 18"

after that it's simple.

I have FAL action wrench and barrel clamp.  Got the set cheap.  Never found a cheap set for Garand or m14.  I did buy the reamer for through the barrel reaming to set headspace in a SAI INC receiver with a stainless barrel.   Easy Peasy   I already had two sets of gages.

Buying the parts as your budget allows can be the way to go for many.

One bonus to doing so is being able to basically hand select the parts you want for your rifle. M14-type rifles have historically expensive compared to ARs.

My thing is to assemble rifles with NOS or serviceable USGI parts.  I don't buy commercial parts personally when I can help it, but that's just one of my quirks.  The gov't spent inordinate amounts of money on QC for materials, geometry, hardness, and other specs to ensure that DoD M14s were assembled from parts that were made to such high standards that a soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine could absolutely be guaranteed to the extent that it's humanly possible that his rifle would work without question.  There were no shortcuts from the time the ore was purchased as it came from the ground to the when the part was phosphate coated and passed inspection criteria.

That is not to say commercial parts aren't of good quality either.  Think of it as parts made by good people that give a damn, but without all the gov't bureaucracy.  Also, affordable precision manufacturing technology has advanced beyond anything we had in the 1960s.

Buy a quality receiver first.  It can be cast or forged.  Me?  I prefer forged.  Buy a USGI or quality commercial barrel like one from Criterion, and bolt.  I prefer USGI contour chromed lined barrels, but that's up to you.  Then, have the receiver manufacturer install the barrel and fit the bolt by lapping with the proper lapping tool if needed.  I've had LRB do this on three rifles that I then completed, and every one of those rifles shoots as straight as one could hope for.  The rear sight is lined up with the middle windage index mark and the front sight blades are too-very satisfying.  Trust me when I say it's worth the money spent to have someone do the install that have the tools and experience to do so.  Expect 1.5-2.0 MOA accuracy from a rifle that is properly assembled firing good ammo.  Instead of a USGI op-rod spring guide, purchase a NM version from Sadlak Ind.  They shrink groups a bit and make for smoother operation during the conduct of fire.

At this point you're easily in for over $1,000.00, but with an M14-type rifle you get what you pay for.  A trigger group ($300.00 give or take), rear sight assembly ($85.00-$115.00), gas cylinder assembly ($165.00), gas piston ($15.00), front sight, flash suppressor, and castle nut ($120.00), and stock (pick a condition and price from Treeline in CO) to complete your rifle.

As an aside, I've found that dropping the rifle into a tight fitting USGI wood stock produces better accuracy than using a USGI synthetic, but expect to fire a few rounds through the rifle before it "settles in" to the stock and produces optimum accuracy.  I personally don't remove the barreled receiver assembly to clean my rifles after I shoot them; swab out the bore, clean the gas cylinder and piston (leave dry), use a Q-tip on the bolt face, ensure the receiver raceways have rifle grease on them, wipe down with an oily rag, and call it good.

Despite the high costs, ten years from now you'll wish you'd had the money to buy two or more at today's prices.

The good thing is, that you don't have to come up with the money all at once in order to add one to your inventory.

I did the same thing as SteeonSteel, i.e., bought the barreled receivers from LRB.  But, I had three parts kits to select from, manuals, and tools.  As another poster mentioned, go to the auction houses - gunbroker has, and this is no lie, about a 1,000 such rifles for sale.  Buy one and get the warranty.

LRB Arms for U.S. made hammer forged steel receivers.

I've heard good things about Bula Defense forged receivers as well.

Old Polytech receivers are forged and made to proper GI specs, as well. Ron Smith himself helped the Chinese get them correct back in the 80s. If one can be found cheap, then they are a great receiver to build upon.

The front end parts are all metric size, like the threads and ID/OD of the gas system. Since all those parts would be replaced for a custom-build, it doesn’t matter.

I need to add one to my collection, just for S&G.  I've heard for years that the receivers were desirable to build on (this was before Lou at LRB and others made quality forged receivers available).

Ron Smith had good things to say about major components like the receiver, barrel, op-rod and gas cylinder.  If I had one, I'd be tempted to replace most of the non-barrel parts with USGI, then shoot the Chinese barrel until it wore out since they're supposed to be quite accurate.

the most painful part of building an M1A is installing the barrel into the receiver and getting it properly headspaced.  I'd recommend farming that out to a reputable M1A gunsmith.  It's not something for the home hobbyist.

Beyond that, assembling an M1A from parts is pretty easy and fun.

But you're not gonna be able to scrounge USGI parts and install them onto a barreled receiver for less than $1500.  Find a good used one with USGI parts in the EE for $1200 or so.

Yes, the full build will run you about $1,400 to maybe $2,000 depending on the barrel and what sort of kit you want. You'll definitely need a barrel vise. Since you'll only use it once, it'll be a massive waste of money.

Also understanding head space, and depending on if you go chrome lined or not you'll definitely have to learn the art of lapping and reaming. You'll need headspace gauges. If you go chrome lined, the good news is most USGI bolts nearly drop in with minor lapping. I dropped a TRW bolt in mine a few weeks ago and I only had to do very minor lapping to get it to drop in.

While it’s more work than an AR it’s not impossible.

Lap your bolt to the receiver first to match lugs and even bearing.  Don’t lap too far or you’ll go beyond the hardened metal.

easier to go stainless or chrome moly so you can use a pull through reamer.   With chrome lining you shouldn’t ream.

The biggest issue is buying the wrenches and vice inserts.  Not cost effective for a one gun deal.  That’s why I paid for it to be done.  I did buy fal barreling stuff.........cheap.

I did fix one of mine.  For a while Springfield inc had some improper receiver dimensions on the bolt roller clearance.  The cut was not deep enough. This artificially held headspace open on the bolt roller.  I had two barrels from SAI set up on the roller and finally gave up and fixed it myself.  Cut the shelf to clearance the roller from the clearance notch, then had to cut headspace deeper because fully turning the bolt closed cams it forward as designed shrinking headspace.  Was a good thing anyhow because they cannot seem to cut a chamber without putting rings in it from not clearing chips.   My cut with a new reaper cleaned their shoddy work.  Oh it was a SS barrel so reaming was the best route.

Thankfully the M14 headspace set up was much more uniform than garands.  While you can swap bolts in a garand you dang well better gage headspace.    I have some garands that cannot swap bolts with the others.