M14: America’s Worst Service Rifle - What Went Wrong?

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Camo

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We still had M14s on my ship in 1999. Also had M16A1s. We got rid of our 1911s at the end of 96 for new Beretta M9s. Got to shoot and qual on all of them. Fun times
I qualified originally on the 1911, then moved to the baretta. Seems like the last 10 years was a crapshoot of assorted different pistols.
 

RickN

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I qualified originally on the 1911, then moved to the baretta. Seems like the last 10 years was a crapshoot of assorted different pistols.
Yea the military started looking for the easiest firearms for non-shooters to use way back in the 70s. Been one weird design after another ever since.
 

Dmc707

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Wasn’t a bad rifle but got shut down by the superior design of the m16.

correct - probably not a popular opinion to some- but using a war to work out the kinks in the design led to some resentment

Lightweight, more impervious to weather, and a 210 round battle loadout which is also half the weight , reasonably accurate - all good things
 
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I shot them on the rifle team when I was in the Army and they are fun to shoot but when you accurize one they become very temperamental , removing one from a bedded stock can totally change how it will shoot.

Its a decent gun and I own a couple of clones but it was wrong the idea at the wrong time. Had it been introduced in WWII or Korea it would have be a world beater for a few years . But really it was obsolete from the get go. I can say this having spent some serious money making one shoot, You can build a couple of very accurate AR rifles for what it will cost you to build an M14 that can shoot under 2 moa. Introduce a scope into the mix and prepare to re zero it when the gun is removed from the stock or not shoot the way it used to.

Be really prepared for spending a lot of money if you want to chase the M21 or M25 dream . Still I have an affliction that calls me to buy and or build them out. I miss the days when those cheap poly techs were around for $400 you could keep the barrel , op rod and receiver and trash the rest of the gun as they were cheap junk parts , and build up with USGI parts for a nice shooting rifle fairly inexpensively .
 

TerryP

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I haven’t taken the time to watch the video but I will.
Built a M1A match rifle in the late 90’s.
After bedding work was done I tried to never remove it from the stock.
Shot a lot of hand loaded ammo (for me) around 500 rounds in about two years.
Mainly shooting positions, groups and steel.
Selling it was a HUGE mistake, should not have done that..
Build an AR and the build will survive thru multiple barrels.
M1A’s need much more attention I think but I really don’t think America has had a poor service rifle.
 

RickN

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I haven’t taken the time to watch the video but I will.
Built a M1A match rifle in the late 90’s.
After bedding work was done I tried to never remove it from the stock.
Shot a lot of hand loaded ammo (for me) around 500 rounds in about two years.
Mainly shooting positions, groups and steel.
Selling it was a HUGE mistake, should not have done that..
Build an AR and the build will survive thru multiple barrels.
M1A’s need much more attention I think but I really don’t think America has had a poor service rifle.
This I agree with. We all have our favorites.
 

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