M14 Rifle Mounting Kit

They used to be very common. The mounting instructions are listed in one of the TM's for the M151 series. It was installed at a high level because it required drilling the dash board if I recall.

It was mounted on the front passenger side. The mounting secured the rifle in a vertical manner.

There was an identical kit for the M16, but the butt socket was different. There was also another combination M14/M16 kit which was quite different. (This is all from memory and may be slightly off).

The question: Do I have a set of the instructions? Today I don't know. I used to include a set when I sold these but the last set I sold was in the mid 1980's. I think I have sold the bulk my vehicle TM's but whether I kept that one or not I don't know.

Just a short note about military doctrine in this area: The military rarely includes instructions when an item is procured. The instructions are always printed in appropriate Technical Manuals. This is so they can be changed or altered in the future without having to open the thousands in inventory and change the contents. Carry this to the furthest conclusion and imagine printing the instructions for each sniper set up or each spare barrel. It would be a nightmare.

Those kits are supposed to be generic moutning kits for several vehicles.

I own a couple of M151s (aka MUTT) and one has the kits mounted. It makes it a pain to get in and out of the vehicle quickly with a rifle in the mount, but its cool to drive around the back roads with your M1A or AR strapped in!

All those bags of screws and various styles of lockwashers are typical of anything government. I'd bet it's just a way the contractor can charge out the wazoo for the parts.

There are lots of extra mounting screws because there are several ways the kit fits onto a MUTT. First, if a ROPS (ROll Cage) is installed, the kit has to be mounted farther inboard. Additionally, on the drivers side, the light switch has to be recessed to allow the kit and the ROPPS to fit.

They're not difficult to install - uless you have a heater installed and then you have to be a contortionist or remove the heater to reach the behind the dash to hold the nuts/washers on.

You don't need instructions for the screws, just follow a couple of genreal rules that apply to military vehicle application of lockwashers. Remeber that the Star washer is used where there is likelyhood of water or debris. The stars on the outside will tend to not trap water and cause rust like the inside teethed washers. Also - the direction of the bolt shoudl be so that the threads are exposed to the least water/debris as possible. That means the the ones used to mount the butt plate bracket - th ebolts will be inserted from the bottom of the vehilcle.

There is a section on the back of TM, I believe it's the Direct Support manual, that goes over instalation. Although most of these manuals won't cover the provisions for the ROPPS adjustments, those are included in the ROPPS kits.

That said... here's my favorite rfile mounting system: