(brother has "borrowed it" for deer season :)
Posted on 09/15/2012 10:00:47 AM PDT by smokingfrog
Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, became familiar with their new M14 Enhanced Battle Rifles as they trained for Personnel Security Detachment duty for their battalion Sept. 6, at Johnson Field.
The EBR is a magazine-fed, gas-operated, shoulder-fired weapon that also has a Mark-4 tactical scope and cantilever mount with an aluminum billet stock. The M14 EBR also has a new adjustable buttstock, cheek rest and M4-style pistol grip but can also be returned to its original configuration with no permanent modifications.
“Today we are practicing and familiarizing ourselves with our new M14 7.62mm weapon before we go to the range in preparation for our fall deployment to Afghanistan,” said Spc. Daniel Lueptow, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Bn., 327th Inf. Rgt. “Though I understand the need for adjustment for this upcoming deployment, I enjoyed the older model and did well with it on my last deployment.”
(Excerpt) Read more at fortcampbellcourier.com ...
They're for the base guards (Personnel Security Detachment). They won't be humping them for miles through jungles and mountains. It's good to have something that will penetrate vehicles.
In other news, the specs on the fulton armory piece fall outside of legality for my state :(
Thank God my stay in this state in temporary.
The EBR has been “in country” for many years now. It’s no secret. The Army has at least one Squad Designated Markman armed with and EBR per squad. Sometimes it’s two SDMs per squad.
The M14 is a reliable, hard-hitting weapon. However, there so many other platforms out there which are lighter, just as hard hitting, and more accurate.
I think 6.8 SPC, and 6.5 Grendel round AR uppers and SCAR-L/SCAR-H , and piston-driven, barrel-changing systems are better options depending on the mission and terrain.
My experience (a “while’ back) with original M-14 is that if you keep your extractor clean you’re fine.
I pimped out my ar-15 and it does add alot of weight to them.. But it sure looks perty!
Doesn’t look anything like the M-14 I qualified with back in 1962 (last year in USMC).
I've had a Springfield M1A for many years -- standard configuration. A great drill rifle (when I used one on drill team), but heavy. I don't know if it's real or perceived, but my DSA SA58 (metric FAL) weighs about as much yet feels lighter. In the field all day -- BIG difference. Points faster too, for me, anyway.
Last but not least is recoil -- the M1A beats you up more than the FAL. Don't know why, but it does. That newer compensator makes a difference there on the M1A, though -- works much better than the standard flash hider, although it doesn't look as cool. $;-)
YMMV...
I am one Vietnam combat veteran who disagrees. I served long after the ammunition problems were solved and weapons were routinely and properly cleaned. The M16 was very well suited to that war, it was reliable and, most importantly helped solve our serious soldier load problem. Soldiers carried 300 rounds of 5.56 and 100 rounds belted 7.62 in addition to chow, water, grenades, claymores, etc. Carrying 400 rounds of 7.62 would be a big increase and not worth it in my view.
Iraq and Afghanistan represent a different set of conditions. The enemy appears at longer ranges and takes cover behind walls, automobiles, and other substantial cover. The M14 shines in this environment, but it is still not the standard rifle, it serves a specialized role. My nephew used it on two deployments as a designated marksman and sniper, and then used the M2010 on a third deployment to Afghanistan. While the M2010 is becoming the standard sniper rifle, the M14 will remain available to snipers and will be the primary weapon for designated marksmen.
For humping the mountains in triple canopy jungle with many days between resupply, the M16/M4 is the way to go.
Good info, thanks!
“That’s a beautiful rifle right there...is it usable for left-handed firers?”
Sure, it doesn’t care if they are shooting at you left or right-handed. :)
M-14 is what I carried....I guess I’m dating myself!!!
I qualified with a late 60’s era M-14 E2 (full auto with pistol grips) ... three round burst of man profile target at over 1000 ft with iron sights ... It worked quite well - easy to hit the target... even right handed - the blow back was too much for lefties like me. Both the M-14 and M-16 had their place in Vietnam (Marines used the M-14 a lot)... The M-14 could go a great distance accurately and deliver a real punch. The best thing about the M-16 was quick and heavy fire suppression. Get the Cong’s head down and fill the air with lead .. so a squad could regroup. Firing the M-16 on full auto with one hand over a log, berm or around a tree helped a lot to push the enemy back. I loved the M-14 - qualified on the standard unit in Basic Training .. too bad there was not an ample supply of both weapons in the Vietnam war... The Army should not have gone totally with the M16 - we needed both.
Where you find that old “ Dog”?? I bet you could slip a clip into it and it would be ready to go. Love those old buggers, steel butt plate and all.
Where you find that old “ Dog”?? I bet you could slip a clip into it and it would be ready to go. Love those old buggers, steel butt plate and all.
The standard US military rifle for only six years, the M14 refuses to go quietly into retirement after forty years. It is still seen all over the world today.
Since 1970 the United States military has destroyed or demilled nearly 750,000 M-14s.
While some were destroyed during the Carter administration most survived in arsenal storage through the Cold War. This was because of the fact that keeping an obsolete but still effective weapon will always be infinitely cheaper than producing a new weapon. The end of the Cold War lead to a slaughter of the M-14s that had survived.
No less than 479,367 M14 rifles were destroyed in 1993-94 alone and an unknown number were de-milled (cut with a blowtorch and welded shut) then transferred to JROTC units as non-firing drill weapons.
The photo shows a standard M14 rifle action in the Sage stock with minimal changes. Other EBR rifles have shortened barrels that can take a quick attach-detach sound suppressor. These rifles will be issued to Designated Marksmen in the unit. The DM provides long range over-watch for those armed with the smaller 5.56 NATO weapons (M16 and M4).
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