I did not ask her what the actor had that I lacked.

But she evidently felt compelled to soften the blow.

Hes not handsome, she assured me.

Man shooting rifle from test bench

Here I listened closely, because so far Robert Mitchum and I had much in common.

But theres something else.

She shrugged, then sighed, Oh, I cantexplainit.

.308 ammo in a rifle magazine with rifle in background

I confess having the occasional crush that defies rational thought.

Last fall I felt drawn to a horse with exceptional trail sense and a sunny disposition.

My feelings for this gelding deepened when he bore my elk quarters off the mountain.

Front sight on an M1A rifle

But rifles have other attributes.

Rifles to be shot must also pass a fit and feel test.

Then there are the intangibles, such as pull me to the M1A.

Man in red shirt holding a semi-automatic M1A rifle

Within 20 years the water-powered Massachusetts facility had a foundry and a manufacturing floor.

Budget cuts shuttered the Armory in 1968.

Riflemen at Camp Perrys National Matches waxed enthusiastic about this rifle, encouraging the Reeses to design sub-models.

.308 hunting ammunition

Add to that the popular SAINT series of AR-pattern guns, and you have a lot of choices.

But for me, it comes down to this rifle and always has.

Frankly, Iwantedan M1A.

Iron sights shot grouping on paper

And I have for a long time.

Last fall I yielded to that decades-long lust.

Besides vaunted reliability and accuracy, the gun has distinguished lineage.

M1A™ National Match Series

Its M14 forebear came of age in the 1950s, a decade that glows more brightly with time.

It upstaged theM1 Garand, hailed by George S. Patton as the greatest battle implement ever devised.

The M14s burly innards wrote American history at cyclic rates of up to 750 rounds per minute.

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But the one I had to have was theM1A National Match reviewed previously by Fred Mastison.

Each rifle features a mid-weight, 22 .308 barrel of stainless or carbon steel rifled 1-in-11 and air-gauged.

The receiver is glass-bedded, its two-stage trigger tuned for consistent 4 12- to 5-lb.

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A .0595 hooded rear aperture sight pairs up with a .062 front blade.

Springfield Armory boxes the rifle in a heavy zippered canvas case, with a steel 10-shot magazine.

Carefully I lifted it, cleared the plastic safety flag and eased the bolt shut.

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Cheeked, my eye to the aperture, the 9 12-lb.

The feel, the weight of this hun pleased me.

I didnt care that I couldnt sayexactlywhy.

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The trigger had predictably generous but surprisingly smooth take-up.

It broke at 4 lbs., 12 oz.

A patch through the bore slid as if on rails.

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This rifle would tolerate, even beg, a sure, forceful hand.

I settled over the bags, snugging my cheek on the pad Id Velcrod to the low comb.

My only alteration, it would put my eye naturally on sight-line.

I pressed the trigger.

Windage and elevation dials moved the rear sight crisply, uniformly.

Soon I was in the black at 100 yards.

Match load and 150-gr.

Interlocks, would no doubt have cut tighter knots had I scoped this rifle.

But the rifle was fitted with good iron sights and designed to be fired with irons.

My first three-shot groups with 150s edged the 168s, punching into .9 and 1.0.

First five-shot groups: 1.3 and 1.8.

Verily, thats all I can expect of my eyes!

A certifiable one-hole Benchrest rifle would not have treated me better under aperture and blade.

Subsequent groups held to those standards.

Conclusion

Over bags and offhand, firing the gun is fun!

Aiming through sights tight to the bore, not tall glass, youre in naked touch with the target.

The trigger begs your nudge.

That 9 12 pounds and gas-driven bolt take the bite out of recoil.

The gun is no rack queen, rather an extension of eye and hand, eager for action.

To grasp the appeal of this rifle, you gotta get behind the trigger.

Leave the explaining for later.

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M1ATMNational Match Series