ARH... I replaced mine with another one of the same. Springfield replaced mine for free after I told them what a POS it was. I'm sure they are used to replacing them.
As far as sticking with the 3rd gen and not taking it off...If you ask me thats BS. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to buy a piece of hardware for my rifles or anything else for that matter, that will function "ok" so long as I don't take it off. Well excuse me, the mount is advertised as easy to remove with its over-size screws and should be able to not only function as advertised, but in a normal fashion as well. Besides, the 3rd gens problems go way beyond taking it off. Just mounting the first time can ruin it if the screw holes aren't lined up EXACTLY with the receiver. Anyway, when I strip and clean the rifle, I like taking the scope and mount off.
As far as Ballistic tips suggestion goes, I understand that that mount is pretty much the best out there for the M1A but I feel sort of hesitant about spending $175 on a scope mount alone. Expecially since I'm not a competition shooter or anything. Theres got to be a middle of the road mount out there, I just haven't found it yet, probably because I haven't looked...hehe