[howiebearse]

I carried the M14 63-65

I carried the M14 from basic till we were to leave for Vietnam 65 They took my select fire M14 away and tried to give me a XM16E1 I fired expert with all rifles and machine guns in those years. I wanted my M14 back they said no so I carried the M60 through my Vietnam time 65 66 I never had any problems with M14 at all. Always hit what I shot at. Mine was a TRW The first time in basic I fired expert I was taught to shoot with M1. I think the modern generation is missing allot and they seem to find fault with everything. The 45 served me well. The modern military wants lightness and quantity so the 5.56 and 9mm are their favorite thing. 7.62 and 45 would serve them better if they learned to shoot and not spray and pray.

I carried the M-14 for my four years in the Marine Corps including more than 13 months in Vietnam. I qualified Expert on the range despite the frequent field stripping and cleaning. In my experience the M-14 was durable and served me well. I did not experience any failures nor was I aware of other s having failures.

The picture of the person shooting from the deck of the ship is firing full auto. Count the number of spent casings caught by the camera shot. The shooters stance and lack of proper use of the sling contributes to the lack of control.

 

[DONEILL07]

REALLY?!?!

This guy writes like a 9th grader copying information from questionable Wiki articles...

 

[MH Arnold]

With my M1A I can ring steel at 1000 yards, so what's the problem?

I do have to add, it sure was nice when they took away our M14s and gave us M16s. Even with more rounds the weight of my LBE decreased noticeably, and of course the rifle was lighter.

 

[howiebearse]

In the early 60s they still taught marksmanship and with the M14 you had 100rds and learned to use it wisely. In Vietnam I saw more spray and pray than actual hits on anything. Guys would burn through their basic load of 20 20rd mags some carried less most at least 20 mags. Me and my 60 crew carried 1000 rds and made sure we did not waste it. With Hueys bringing in water and ammo the AR guys never learned to conserve. And the .223 was useless in the jungle deflecting off the jungle growth. I have a excellent Devine Texas M1a one of the early ones. It came with a T14 stock with M1 style buttplate.

 

[Plisken X51mm]

I've read several similar articles over the years and run into numerous M14 haters both in person and on forums. They praise the M16/AR platform and despise anything M14/M1A. It's almost as common as the 1911 hate I run into constantly. At the end of the day I don't listen to fanboys who dont really know. I listen to the men who have carried both into combat and still prefer the M14 over the M16/AR despite any of the drawbacks. I get the appeal of other rifles. Less weight, less recoil, larger magazine capacity are all great reasons to prefer something else. My M14 and my 1911 will be the weapons I grab when things go south. Because I'm good with them both, I trust them and there is absolutely nothing wrong with either of them.

Yeah, I have noticed that alot of the AR15/M16 fanboys have alot of ego! Not saying any other group doesn't have as much ego but I see it the most in the AR15 crowd. I own a DPMS Oracle AR15 and love it as every bit as much as I love my M1A Loaded. But I don't go around hating on other guns and their owners because I prefer something else to the rifle they like. I'm not sure how that helps anybody or the 2nd Amendment as a whole.

 

[Plisken X51mm]

the AR guys never learned to conserve.

I can agree with that statement! I've never been in combat but I can tell you, you really don't feel guilty shooting up 5.56/.223. Cause the stuff is so cheap you can shoot it all up and not feel bothered, when I shoot .308/7.62x51mm NATO I always try to save some back cause its more expensive. Just sharing some of my experience on the matter. I also agree that .223/5.56 is kind of limited I have shot .308 and .223 back to back many times and .308 outshines .223 in almost everything. .223 is great but .308 does stuff it can't do. Especially at greater distances. My Dad and I were shooting at 200+ a few summers ago. He had his R700 .223 VLS rifle and I had my M1A Loaded. His rifle has a .24 inch barrel and mine a .22 inch barrel. Lets just say that even with his match load for his R700 .223 my M1A was outperforming his rifle with ball ammo at that distance in terms of smacking the AR500 steel around. At 200 the .223 seems like its loosing energy pretty fast already.