Never have owned one, mostly ARs, My Snap On tool dealer has one that he might be
selling, he can't remember when he bought it, it was in the early 70's, I have seen the
rifle, and its in decent shape, with normal wear you would expect for a 30 + year old
rifle, it is a Springfield, and the serial # is below 1500, and that surprised the heck out
of me, What should I offer him for it?

$150

A 1500 serial number may be an original Devine, Texas made M1A. I can't remember the guy's name but he started S.A. Inc. in Devine, Texas and later sold out to the people who moved it to Illinois. Devine's, as they are called, are pretty desireable to M1A collectors. Get your hands on it, take a good look, IIRC, they are marked Devine, Texas on them somehwere. Make him a reasonable offer.

Edited to add;

The gentlemans name is Elmer Balance. He made less than 3000 M1A's from 1971 to 1974. He owned the LH gun company and used the name Springfield Armory. Look for markings on the barrel that indicate it was manufactured in Texas.

Quoted: Never have owned one, mostly ARs, My Snap On tool dealer has one that he might be selling, he can't remember when he bought it, it was in the early 70's, I have seen the rifle, and its in decent shape, with normal wear you would expect for a 30 + year old rifle, it is a Springfield, and the serial # is below 1500, and that surprised the heck out of me, What should I offer him for it?

www.imageseek.com/m1a/
or
www.imageseek.com/m1a/book.html

I had a Devine many years ago. Sold it a few years ago for a nice profit.
If it's below 1500, it's most  likely a Devine. Snap it up.

Dude, if you don't buy it, gimme his contact info & I WILL!