I've been sitting on this rifle for a year and 6 months now, and for reasons not worth getting into I just finally got it shooting well (Thanks to Forceman). It's not in a fully clone correct configuration and that will change in the future when I have more funds available for another big gun project, but it's close enough for now. This rifle has spent it's life sitting in a shop or in my safe and I was extremely excited to finally stretch it's legs. Other threads have been made about the specific design and the history of the rifle so I won't get too much into that. This is more about it's effectiveness as a marksman's rifle from a shooter's perspective.
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The rifle really is gorgeous and personally it's my favorite configuration of all the M14 variants.
The M2A stock features a streamlined front end that sits well in a tripod or rested on a flat surface and doesn't catch on gear. The lack of pic rail means you're out of luck for any NV use unless you've got a SIMRAD unit. The rifle is too heavy to be used much in an offhand position, but regardless the very slight beavertail and aggressive texture feels great in the support hand. The pistol grip is very old-school. It's very similar in size/shape to the old M14E2 stocks, but it features a finger groove similar to an A2 pistol grip. It fits my hand well, but as with all finger grooves I'm sure there are many people with different sized hands who would despise it. The pistol grip makes it much easier to carry and manipulate compared to other M14 stocks. The adjustable cheek riser was an excellent idea, but horrible execution. The screws come loose and require constant tightening. It's no wonder McMillan moved away from this design. I'll be keeping it as is for the appearance but if I was in theater I would absolutely ditch it and make an improvised cheek rest with tape and isomat like you saw on many rifles of that era. One small advantage is being able to quickly lower it and use the iron sights if necessary. The spacer system allows for pretty fine adjustment of LOP. It's not quickly adjustable however, so if used in a team or used both with and without body armor, you'd have to settle on a LOP that works well enough for all purposes. I do like that the buttstock is in-line with the action. This can make a world of difference for prone shooting or when shooting at an incline. The toe has a very simple crescent shape to it. It's not prone to snag or get in the way, but offers a decent area on the bottom to use with a shooting bag. I'm a big fan of a butt hook personally, but this buttstock shape is still perfectly functional. It features traditional sling mounts, which are great for using your leather sling in a traditional manner. I think QD flush cups would have been a much better option to allow for the rifle to be slung in a ready position with a modern 2-point sling. I've seen some pictures of Marines using 3-point slings for that purpose.
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The bipod is the older Harris style without notched legs and without any swivel function. Adjusting the height of the legs and trying to keep the rifle level is a pain in the ass. I would not have wanted to have to bother with it in a firefight.
The scope is a Leupold Mark 4 3.5x-10x with an M3 (.308) turret and a round Mil-dot reticle. These most commonly featured the Mark 4 fixed 10x scope, but I've seen posts and found pictures that show the variable power version was used in small quantities. For the rifle's purpose, the variable power is a no-brainer. The turrets are 1 moa and feature BDC markings. The scope was designed for quick adjustments for faster shooing as opposed to perfect precision, and that's completely in-line with the function and purpose of the rifle. Like many other scopes of the time, the turrets are MOA and the reticle is in Mils, meaning the shooter has to be very familiar with both and capable of using them interchangeably. I enjoy the challenge of it, but obviously a Mil/Mil scope is a far better idea. I imagine I would have used mil holds most of the time and used a BZO setting in urban settings with limited ranges and fast appearing targets. I'm still a big fan of classic mil-dot reticles. While it can be difficult to achieve accurate holds, they're very intuitive and fast, which is again well suited for a DMR.
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So.. how does it shoot? excellently it turns out. I put 60 rounds through it at a variety of targets 250yd-1000yd. The trigger is a bit heavier and has more pre-travel than a lot of modern gucci triggers, but it's smooth with a clean break. The weight of the rifle really settles the rifle well. I shot it in the prone, supported off of a table, and in a tripod. Recoil is manageable enough for very fast follow-up shots. Target transitions and re-engagements are very quick and with a knowledge of your holds, this thing is very fast inside of 500yds. I stretched it out to 800yds and 1000yds. Happy to say getting hits on steel was not difficult at all. In my experience around the 800yd mark is where .308 starts to get squirrely. I was running the Bullets 1st M118LR loading which is my go-to ammo for training due to lower cost. It's not as accurate as FGMM 175s and has a higher SD, but it shoots well enough to use regularly and save some money. The rifle is absolutely doing it's part though. Considering it's a DMR, being able to put rounds on/very near to a target at that range is more than satisfactory.
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For the urban fighting of Iraq and the mountains of Afghan, I think this rifle would have been my preferred choice until the M110 became available. It's a bit heavy and it wouldn't have been the most comfortable to carry, but sitting in an over watch position or a hide site, I think this rifle would be a huge asset to any sniper team operating independently or attached to a line company. Considering during the early years when this would have been paired with the M40A1, the M40A3 with the 10x Unertl, or an XM3 if you're lucky, I can see this rifle being really popular despite any of it's faults. These have been out of the game for many years now. Last I heard there were a few at Quantico being maintained for competition/historical purposes and there were some at the Urban Sniper course for a while, but those ones are probably long gone at this point.
Anytime I'm heading to the range with some .308 to burn I think this is coming with from now on.
The rifle really is gorgeous and personally it's my favorite configuration of all the M14 variants.
The M2A stock features a streamlined front end that sits well in a tripod or rested on a flat surface and doesn't catch on gear. The lack of pic rail means you're out of luck for any NV use unless you've got a SIMRAD unit. The rifle is too heavy to be used much in an offhand position, but regardless the very slight beavertail and aggressive texture feels great in the support hand. The pistol grip is very old-school. It's very similar in size/shape to the old M14E2 stocks, but it features a finger groove similar to an A2 pistol grip. It fits my hand well, but as with all finger grooves I'm sure there are many people with different sized hands who would despise it. The pistol grip makes it much easier to carry and manipulate compared to other M14 stocks. The adjustable cheek riser was an excellent idea, but horrible execution. The screws come loose and require constant tightening. It's no wonder McMillan moved away from this design. I'll be keeping it as is for the appearance but if I was in theater I would absolutely ditch it and make an improvised cheek rest with tape and isomat like you saw on many rifles of that era. One small advantage is being able to quickly lower it and use the iron sights if necessary. The spacer system allows for pretty fine adjustment of LOP. It's not quickly adjustable however, so if used in a team or used both with and without body armor, you'd have to settle on a LOP that works well enough for all purposes. I do like that the buttstock is in-line with the action. This can make a world of difference for prone shooting or when shooting at an incline. The toe has a very simple crescent shape to it. It's not prone to snag or get in the way, but offers a decent area on the bottom to use with a shooting bag. I'm a big fan of a butt hook personally, but this buttstock shape is still perfectly functional. It features traditional sling mounts, which are great for using your leather sling in a traditional manner. I think QD flush cups would have been a much better option to allow for the rifle to be slung in a ready position with a modern 2-point sling. I've seen some pictures of Marines using 3-point slings for that purpose.
The bipod is the older Harris style without notched legs and without any swivel function. Adjusting the height of the legs and trying to keep the rifle level is a pain in the ass. I would not have wanted to have to bother with it in a firefight.
The scope is a Leupold Mark 4 3.5x-10x with an M3 (.308) turret and a round Mil-dot reticle. These most commonly featured the Mark 4 fixed 10x scope, but I've seen posts and found pictures that show the variable power version was used in small quantities. For the rifle's purpose, the variable power is a no-brainer. The turrets are 1 moa and feature BDC markings. The scope was designed for quick adjustments for faster shooing as opposed to perfect precision, and that's completely in-line with the function and purpose of the rifle. Like many other scopes of the time, the turrets are MOA and the reticle is in Mils, meaning the shooter has to be very familiar with both and capable of using them interchangeably. I enjoy the challenge of it, but obviously a Mil/Mil scope is a far better idea. I imagine I would have used mil holds most of the time and used a BZO setting in urban settings with limited ranges and fast appearing targets. I'm still a big fan of classic mil-dot reticles. While it can be difficult to achieve accurate holds, they're very intuitive and fast, which is again well suited for a DMR.
So.. how does it shoot? excellently it turns out. I put 60 rounds through it at a variety of targets 250yd-1000yd. The trigger is a bit heavier and has more pre-travel than a lot of modern gucci triggers, but it's smooth with a clean break. The weight of the rifle really settles the rifle well. I shot it in the prone, supported off of a table, and in a tripod. Recoil is manageable enough for very fast follow-up shots. Target transitions and re-engagements are very quick and with a knowledge of your holds, this thing is very fast inside of 500yds. I stretched it out to 800yds and 1000yds. Happy to say getting hits on steel was not difficult at all. In my experience around the 800yd mark is where .308 starts to get squirrely. I was running the Bullets 1st M118LR loading which is my go-to ammo for training due to lower cost. It's not as accurate as FGMM 175s and has a higher SD, but it shoots well enough to use regularly and save some money. The rifle is absolutely doing it's part though. Considering it's a DMR, being able to put rounds on/very near to a target at that range is more than satisfactory.
For the urban fighting of Iraq and the mountains of Afghan, I think this rifle would have been my preferred choice until the M110 became available. It's a bit heavy and it wouldn't have been the most comfortable to carry, but sitting in an over watch position or a hide site, I think this rifle would be a huge asset to any sniper team operating independently or attached to a line company. Considering during the early years when this would have been paired with the M40A1, the M40A3 with the 10x Unertl, or an XM3 if you're lucky, I can see this rifle being really popular despite any of it's faults. These have been out of the game for many years now. Last I heard there were a few at Quantico being maintained for competition/historical purposes and there were some at the Urban Sniper course for a while, but those ones are probably long gone at this point.
Anytime I'm heading to the range with some .308 to burn I think this is coming with from now on.
