What's your experience with the M-14

[Backlighting]

In 1968, as a result of the draft, I found myself in Basic Training @ Ft. Jackson, S.C. It is there that I first encountered the M-14. It's been a long time since but here's what I remember of that training & experience.
The rifle was heavy, especially since we had to force march with it with full backpacks and steel helmets (this was in the S.C. summer). There was no rubber butt plate...just a steel one that let your shoulder know it, after a day at the range. We fired it from various positions: including the prone, seated, standing and the squat. I remember that at the prone position the man-sized targets were far away...I think 300 yards. You could barely see it but you did eventually hit it. No scopes.
The most difficult position by far was the squatting one. I don't remember the distance but I do remember it was difficult to maintain a steady hold.

I've had a dozen or so rifles since then but can say if I were limited to 1 rifle I would choose the M14, perhaps because of my familiarity with it and what I learned it can do.

Of all the things I encountered during Basic, grenade throwing & shooting the M-14 were the most fun.

 

[graygun]

Basic at Ft Bragg,Jan-Mar of 1969...used it except for one day with M-16. I liked it.

 

[Snake45]

Had never touched one until I bought a Polytech in the early '90s. Been years playing with it and sorting out its minor problems. I absolutely love the thing, flaws and all. I think I like it even better than my IHC Garand.

 

[Big Old Boy]

Let me tell you a story. B co 864 Eng. VN 69-70. I always keep my m14 on the pan I was operating and had a m1 carbide I used going from the job back to our compound. While working on the road we were building a convoy going past our location got hit by VC and we backed them up. I went for the M 14 and the bolt was rusted closed. I know yes it was my fault. I broke the action out of the stock dipped it in the fuel tank gave it a good kick and low and behold it worked like a champ I don't know how many mags I feed her that afternoon but I do know I love the M 14.

 

[GunnyGene]

Started out in early '63 with M1. First M-14 issued was in late '64. Carried a select fire version in VN, and a few years after till we were issued M-16's. Always fired high expert with the M-14 (and M-16). Different KD range for Marines than Army. Prone was 500yds.

DaNang, late '65.

 

[Fox Mike]

Went through basic with a M-1 (1960). I later was on the Marksmanship High Power Rifle team and shot the M-14. Of course these were Match weapons. We shot 100 yds offhand, 200 kneeling, 300 sitting, 500 and 1000 prone. It was one great rifle in my estimation.

 

[exavid]

I never saw combat but but was issued an M14 in basic. Loved that rifle. Lighter and easier to handle than the Garand but almost the same ballistically. I would have paid the Army to shoot on the KD range at Ft. Leonard Wood. It was that much fun. The furthest 3/4 man silhoutte was at 500 meters. I don't remember for sure but think it popped up for seven seconds. Piece of cake. That range was just like a shooting gallery and a lot of fun. We had to hike out from the barracks to the range but I didn't mind because it was the about the only thing in basic I really enjoyed. The fact that I could really shoot that rifle kept the NCOs off my back too. No problem qualifying expert. It didn't hurt that I'd shot over a thousand rounds through a Springfield '03 in the year before I was drafted. I was well used to a 30-06 recoil so that gave me a big leg up over the other guys in my company.

 

[Snake45]

Here's my Polytech. It now lives in a real USGI walnut stock, and has a genuine TRW bolt to cure the generous headspace.

 

[wunbe]

Basic Ft leonard Wood 1962. They showed us one and said it was an article 15 if we touched it.

wunbe

 

[Bob Wright]

............................ We shot 100 yds offhand, 200 kneeling, 300 sitting, 500 and 1000 prone. It was one great rifle in my estimation.

Pretty much the same course for the M1 rifle, except we fired 300 yards both sitting and prone, and no 1000 yard for qualification.

Only M14 I ever saw was a T- something or other. I liked the M1's clip over the box magazine.


Bob Wright

 

[blackhawknj]

BCT Fort Dix Summer of 1967, C-4-2. I recall in BRMC (those who were there know what that stands for) they demonstrated the M-14's lack of "kick" by having an instructor fire one on full auto from his chin-and his crotch, usingItracers so we could see they were using live ammunition.
I don't recall feeling sore after a day at the range though I am somewhat on the large size. Recall a couple of the smaller recruits did better when they were allow to putt the buttplate up. We got bayonet training then, much better than with the M-16. Mine was a Harrington & Richardson.
At Fort Dix on the 1000 Inch range if you fired a tight group, all three rounds touching you had fired what they called a "Ballantine group" and they announced your name on the PA system. Ballantine was a popular brand of beer in the New York-New Jersey area, its logo was three onterlocking rings.

 

[graygun]

I remember a sgt shooting a 14 at a piece of coal that had been thrown into the air to demonstrate "quick kill" firing. That was impressive...turn,fire in an instant...coal disappeared in a black mist.

 

[Colonialgirl]

I had an M-14 in Basic and again over in Korea. After the Pueblo got stolen, they locked Osan AFB (and the other bases) down. I was in the Commo section for HQ Btry for the 38th Bde (AD) HQ. They wanted a commo check from our Battalion Hqs back to Bde Hq ( we had two, one was a Hawk Missile Bn and the other was a Nike-Hercules Bn.)
There was an E-7 driving the jeep, an E-8 in the back seat (both with 45 cal side arms) and I was in the right front with my M-14 and two 20 round magazines; before letting us out the Gate, the AP's had to see me lock a magazine into the M-14, Didn't need a round in the chamber though.
I WANT an M-14; I want an M-14.

 

[contender]

I have had the pleasure of shooting a few real m-14's,,, but not in combat. And the M1-A,, is very, very close. Snake's gun is a M1-A. The only thing missing is the selector switch.
I own a Springfield M1-A BECAUSE of having shot the m-14. And mine has a true M-14 stock.

 

[wunbe]

The off the chin and crotch demos were done with lowwe powder charges than the the standard rounds. More then a few 'cruits' found this out the hard way.

Thw point of the whole thing was to overcome inital recoil flinch/fear. Things do get out of hand.

wunbe

 

[gramps]

I have never been in the military. One of the fireman on our department in the late 70's had been in Vietnam. He loved his M-14 so much he tried to bring it home with him. The second time he had it broken down and in his duffel bag. They told him the next time he would see Leavenworth. I don't know if it was just a story he told or truth.
gramps

 

[Snake45]

Snake's gun is a M1-A.

No, it's not. That's a registered trademark of Springfield Armory. Mine is a Polytech M14S. That's what's stamped on it, anyway.

 

[Mobuck]

The M-14 could perform some pretty awesome things especially when equipped with a scope (standard or Starlight). Never used it for things like hosing the jungle-that was the job of the M-60. Closer shots(0-400M) were M-14 fodder--Uncle Ho @ 400 M was in deep doo-doo. With the Starlight, it was like moving a cardboard box in the dark and turning on a flashlight before stomping the roaches-they just stopped and blinked when the first ones got stomped.

 

[vito]

My basic training was with the M1 (yes, I am old) and I was used to the wooden front hand grip. After being given an M14 for a day at the range, when firing was done I foolishly grabbed the rifle by the front hand grip and received a nice burn from the very hot plastic front hand grip. When I arrived in Vietnam, and thought that finally my training with the M1 and M14 would pay off, they handed me a plastic toy gun called an M16. I'd love to own an M14 today, but I guess I would find it much heavier than I remember. But for firing from a prone position the weight wouldn't matter at all.

 

[contender]

I stand corrected Snake. My apologies. I always understood the designation was that the M-14 was a selective fire rifle, while the semi-auto ones were a M1A. I learned something today.

 

[cas6969]

Other than Springfield, most semi only M14's of various makes are marked in some version of M14. M14... M14A, M14S, M14SA.

Of course most select fire M14's had the select fire disabled.


I sold mine recently. I didn't want to register it and I didn't want to make it NY compliant. I no longer shot it in matches after the ammo prices went so high. While I'd choose it as a weapon first, for general enjoyable recreational shooting I found it a bit boring compared to my Garands. Another factor was when I realized my stockpile of .308 was worth more than my rifle itself. So with a tear in my eye I let it go.

 

[wizofwas]

I was issued one in the Army and just loved it. If I find one at a reasonable price, I'd get it. Fun to shoot and very accurate.

 

[Jeepnik]

Basic training at Lackland AFB was with the M16 (original not an A1). Growing up shooting it felt like a toy but was reasonably accurate. About a year later the one I was issued suffered a case head separation. This left the case body in the chamber and the rifle tried to chamber another round.

This was before a broken shell extraction tool was available, though we did have issued cleaning kits that weren't bad. This failure happened at an inopportune time. A Remington Rand 1911A1 didn't fail. As a result I "found" an M14 and used it until I left SEA.

Today I do own an AR15. It's a Stag lefty given to me by my sons. It's a nice range toy. But push come to shove I'll grab my Springfield M1-A Scout Squad. Surprisingly it isn't all that much heavier than current M16/AR15's. I do believe the 7.62 NATO is a more effective round. But mostly I know that the M1-A is more reliable. In fact, I think it is what we should have had instead of the M16.

General LeMay was a very smart and driven man. But when he was looking to replace the M1 Carbine he made a poor choice.

 

[Don Lovel]

I just shot my Dad's Springfield Armory MIA standard rifle at Whittington last month. Nice rifle, I like my Garand better, but tried to give it a fair chance to impress me. Magazine woes about ruined it for me. Dad has some of the worst feeding problem mags I have ever dealt with. I need to buy a Tapco for him and see what difference that makes. I shoot my Garand much better but was able to hit a few 500 meter rams with his M1A. My Garand has a Smith muzzle break on it, big help, would like to try the same brake on Dad's M1A and see what that does

 

[ronto]

Trained with the M-14 in basic (1966). I remember being trained on disassembly in the cold pouring rain in a Ft. Dix parking lot. It's no wonder Ft. Dix was the URI capital of the world. I wouldn't mind having a M-14 in my collection. It was a quality, accurate weapon.
Regarding the grenade throwing range, the Sgt. in charge was a nervous wreck and I understand why given the draftees with an attitude in my company.

 

[krw]

I have had a couple through the years. They were ok at best. I currently have a LMT MWS. It will do everything a M1A/M14 pla tform will do and better. I generally notice its the 60yr old+ crowd that likes M14 platforms. As I get older I appreciate more and more what the AR platform rifles will do. I just wish the military would have adopted an AR-10 platform so parts would interchange like in the 15/16 platforms.

 

[Snake45]

I stand corrected Snake. My apologies. I always understood the designation was that the M-14 was a selective fire rifle, while the semi-auto ones were a M1A. I learned something today.

No problem. "M14" is sort of a generic term for the breed, but a true M14 was built for the US government with the capability of select fire, though many of them (I believe) had the full-auto locked out or the parts not installed (someone correct me on this if necessary).

M1A is and always has been a trademark of Springfield Armory, and their various iterations of the M14 type rifle. These don't have the FA capability.

Various other companies have called them various things. My Polytech is stamped M14S or M-14S (I forget whether it has a hyphen or not). Who knows what the S means--probably "semiautomatic."

Mine was made after the Bush import "assault weapons" ban, hence its solid fake flash suppressor, but before the Clinton general AW ban of 1994 which brought even these to a halt. Shame, because these Chinese M14 clones have forged, hard receivers (unlike Springfield Armory, which are investment cast like Rugers). Most of them had/have very generous headspace, which can be corrected by replacing the bolt with a new USGI unit (such as my TRW). I bought my bolt around 2005 or so. Paid $125 for it and was glad to get it at all, as they were starting to get very scarce even then.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

I sure like mine, Snake.

What kind of 'scope mount are you using. My old eyes need some help.

 

[Snake45]

I sure like mine, Snake.

What kind of 'scope mount are you using. My old eyes need some help.

Here's a close-up. I honestly don't remember where I got it. Maybe at a gun show. I don't know who made it. It has two big thumbscrews. One screws into a mount that replaces the clip guide. Getting that clip guide off the rifle was the worst part of the whole exercise--it did NOT want to move!

The "thumb" screws don't want to. Using only hand/finger pressure, they start loosening up in just a few shots. I've learned to bear down a little with pliers, and even then I re-check every five or so shots. A little blue Loctite might be in order.

I haven't shot the thing that much--probably under 200 rounds. Wish I could afford to shoot it more. I wish I'd stocked up on all the CHEAP 7.62 NATO that was floating around in 2005. I bought some (Australian and South African), but not nearly enough. By 2006-07 when I decided I wanted to shoot this thing a lot more, it had started to dry up and prices were rising, and they haven't come down since. I'm kind of holding onto what I have left for the coming Zombie Apocalypse.