I bought this "Loaded" Springfield Armory M1A rifle back in the early 90's and never really got to shoot it till maybe a few years ago. I changed the stock to the newer type sold by Springfield made of some type composite material and it fit me nice. I installed a Sadlak paratrooper scope mount and a Smith USCG muzzle Brake, a Schuster adjustable gas plug and used American Eagle M14 match ammo. The rifle came with a factory midweight SS barrel. Now please take into account I'm 78, disabled but can still see well with my right eye. After figuring were the rifle best liked the bipod set I could shoot into an inch at 100 yards -- maybe better but don't know if that was by accident or luck. I tried turning the gas off but operating the rifle by hand seemed to disrupt my train of thought so the accuracy was not as good. I didn't get to shoot more than once a month so I guess I never developed any programed body reflexes to shooting this rifle. Is this the best I can expect from this rifle on a good day? Due to my health and the area where I live being some type of Corvid-19 concentration area I may not get to shoot this rifle again for a while and it's been a year since I last shot it. Should I leave it as is and accept what I have? I would love to go to the 300 yard range and see what it would do there but wonder if I would just be wasting ammo.

Yes, normal accuracy.  It is not a precision rifle in the configuration you describe.

If you are at the range having fun, it is never a waste of ammo.

Leave it as is.  Buy a precision rifle if you want to shoot tighter.  You can spend a lot of money and that rifle may never shoot one bit better than now.

I have the same rifle you have.  Same era.  Air gauged stainless barrel, I don't recall if it is Douglas or Lothar Walther.  My rifle needed an extractor and spring right out of the box and the NM peep sight had a burr and was replaced with a hooded NM sight.  

Get some groups at 200M to 500M and really see what the rifle can do.

That's very good.
The best mine will do is a 2" group.
Took the front off and actually crowned it instead of pretend crowning it like it came, and it still won't shoot with a ar10 type.

When I had the rifle in the original GI style heavy stock and  all the original parts were on I had a hell of a time with the muzzle jump and recoil. I think the combination of being able to move the bipod back on the new stock and the USCG brake plus the adjustable gas block seemed to tame things down pretty good. It's been a while since I've been able to shoot but I believe I could actually see the hits on the target. I'm using a Leatherwood scope -- not great but I'm just a hobby target shooter now. Don't know when the world will open up again so I can get to the range. I'm 78 and not healthy so I running on borrowed time.

Op, too bad there isn't someone close that has a bit of land you could go shoot at.
Then you wouldn't have any of that "is it open" bullshit to mess with.
Up here in WY there is a butt load of BLM and public land and you just pick a spot, hopefully the wind isn't blowing 40mph, and blast away.

My dear old Dad is going to be 70 this month.
He is actually doing good for his age but I worry.

I was doing great when I was 70 but my problem is some health problems I was born with have started to take over and the darn Corvid-19 virus is bad right here. My wife and I both got our first vaccinations today and the booster is a month from today. I would love to get to the range since they have electronic targets so I don't have to walk all the way out and all the way back -- walking has become one of my disabilities. The ammo problem is not a problem for me right now since I still have some and can reload and I believe my reloads shot a bit better than the American Eagle match. I can't really drive anyplace, my wife would have to do that and that range would be perfect but I would have to make reservations for a spot there due to the virus, they can't just let people walk in to shoot.

The shoot-n-c targets is all I use just for the reason of being able to see where I just hit. I started using the big square sight-in targets because it actually has 5 targets on it. I liked to shoot so I hit just off center for the same reason you said -- didn't want to loose my aim point. They are 12"X12" and I bought a pack of 50. I should have ordered the little ones because I can only target practice in the back yard. On a good day I might use two of the target locations which means I can save it for another day.

Mine shoots better but it’s a Glenn Nelson era NM model. Same barrel as loaded but glass bedded and unitized gas block.

The accuracy you’re getting is better than expected for a loaded model.

I added the newer composite stock with a lot of extras so it's not a plain loaded version. The only thing I didn't do was that unitized gas block and would have had to pay a pro to do the job and ran out of money and health. It's not like I can shoot like that from any position, I shoot using a bipod off a bench. The original stock kind of gave me fits trying to find the location to rest the rifle on a shooters bag and the recoil made the muzzle jump so much I had to reset my position just about every shot. I went to the new stock and have the bipod back a ways towards the magazine, installed the Coastguard brake and added the adjustable gas piston. I am freaking old and could not take all the resetting work after each shot with all the original loaded stuff in place. I liked shooting the rifle now but with this Corvid-19 stuff around here I can't afford to go out in public till I'm finished with the virus shot. I would have tried the rifle at longer ranges but the 100 yard range is my limit for carrying out a target. Wish I could try it out to 300 yards and maybe I will if my health comes back and the virus moves on. Seems like my hand loads actually did a bit better but I can't find the records. I packed everything away since ammo, powder and primers are hard to locate even if I could go to the range.

Fixed it

Best I could ever get my M1A’s to shoot with consistency, and both are in a chassis and one has a NM barrel, is maybe 1.25 MOA. They can be made to shoot well, but yeah, it takes a lot and they still barely hang with an AR-10 that’ll do the same or better with a lot less fuss and cost.

From personal experience I can tell you that if you are chasing match grade accuracy with an M1A, it’s just chasing the dragon- you’re not going to catch it.  The amount of money and tuning it takes to make an M1A perform is substantial, and it’s fleeting.  Any variation or change to the rifle can result in loss of accuracy.  If you decide to field strip the gun to clean it, your accuracy may be gone because the accuracy is dependent upon the proper tension put on the barrel and gas system.  Years ago I put $3500 into an M1A build before I realized my mistake.  Best I could pull ever was 1.5 MOA, but consistent accuracy was 2moa.  I later built a .308 AR for half that that could consistently punch 0.75 MOA or better.

They have a new one down at the LGS and I always wanted one. But $2k seems like too much for a range play toy. How good are they against zombies?

I have 4 M1As, two SM, one Loaded, and one standard. My worse shooting one is my new SM! I need to work on that one. My new standard shoots really well and so does my loaded. So some are better than others. I'm happy if I can keep in the 10 ring of an NRA 100 yard rapid fire target.

My friend's M1A was NEVER a sub MOA gun.  But it was a hell of a lot of fun to kill pigs with.