The California Assault Weapons Ban prohibits flash suppressors on all semi-automatic rifles capable of accepting a detachable magazine. Since the bayonet lug is attached to the flash suppressor, "post-ban" rifles can easily be fitted with a bayonet lug by fitting a pre-ban flash suppressor. Although the 1994 law expired in September 2004, making bayonet lugs on newly manufactured firearms legal again (in most states), Springfield Armory has not restored that feature. Once the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 was passed prohibiting the manufacture of firearms with bayonet lugs (among other features), the M1A no longer shipped with a bayonet lug. Springfield Armory has also omitted the "7.62-MM" caliber designator on the M1A receiver since 1991. Until around the late 1990s, the M1A produced by Springfield Armory retained the cutout in the rear right of the stock for the selector switch found on the M14. The military M14 receivers were manufactured using the drop forge process, which is more complicated and more expensive. M1A receivers are made from precision investment cast AISI 8620 alloy steel. Selector switch cutout in M1A stock manufactured in 1997
Early M1A rifles were built with surplus G.I. "M1A" is a proprietary name for Springfield Armory's M14-pattern rifle. The Springfield Armory M1A is a semi-automatic rifle made by Springfield Armory, Inc., beginning in 1974, based on the M14 rifle, for the civilian and law enforcement markets in the United States. National Match front blade, match-grade hooded aperture with one-half minute adj. Standard, Loaded, National Match, Super Match, M21, M25, SOCOM 16, Scout Squad, SOCOM II, Tanker Springfield Armory M1A with bipod and M6 bayonet