The M14 rifle was a weapon designed in response to the massive firepower that could be wrought
upon by the Soviet’s AK-47.
It also satisfied a desire by high level US commanders who wanted to replace the aging
World War Two era weapons still in service by US troops in the mid-1950s.
The M-14, though designed to be the standard infantry rifle for generations to come, was
soon overshadowed by developments in the M-16 rifle.
Despite this, it still saw extensive combat use throughout the Vietnam war but as US troops
would quickly find out, its unwieldy size and heavy, outdated design would make it difficult
to operate in the humid, dense, jungles of Vietnam was not one of them.
However, even after its eventual replacement by the M16, the M14 was not forgotten.
The rifle was still a favorite among some of the Vietnam War’s top snipers such as
Carlos Hathcock and Chuck Mawhinney in addition to being used by the Navy and Coast Guard
riverine squadrons, Air Force security forces, and a reserve rifle with the Marines and Army
whenever shortages of M-16 rifles were felt.
Additionally, variants of the rifle made a comeback in the 1990’s because of their
relatively long range, and impressive stopping power.
So what was the secret behind the M14s long lasting success even though it had a relatively
short career as the standard issue weapon of the United States military?
Let’s find out.
The M14 was first conceived of in 1958.
At the time the government owned the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts where production of
the rifle began.
The original plan was for the M14 to take the place of several different firearms that
were being utilized by the United State military.
When the M14 was first proposed the United States was using the M1 Garand, M1903 Springfield,
M1 carbine, M3 submachine gun, M1928 Thompson, and M1918 Browning automatic rifle, also known
as the BAR.
The thought was that all of these guns could be replaced by one versatile rifle that could
switch between semi-automatic and automatic firing modes.
By doing this the United States could mass produce the weapon and ramp up production
in a way that was fast and cost effective.
Unfortunately, the manufacturing of the M14 was slow and tedious.
In the end there were many complaints from the soldiers who used it.
The M14 used a gas-operated firing system that was based off of the M1 and housed a
cleaning kit in the butt of the gun just like its predecessor.
The M14 was also designed so that an M2 bayonet or M76 rifle grenade launcher attachment could
be mounted to it.
The M14 could also be equipped with the M2 bipod, which was an important key feature
necessary to improve the accuracy of the gun.
The M14 was able to switch between semi-automatic and automatic firing modes.
This meant that the rifle was versatile and could be used in many different combat situations,
as long as it could be controlled.
This is one of the reasons for making sure the rifle could be mounted with the M2 bipod.
The M14 used 7.62 mm rounds that could also be armor-piercing or tracers.
The magazine of the rifle could hold 20 rounds, and the gun fired around 750 rounds per minute
on full auto.
The rifle’s muzzle velocity was 850 meters per second and had an effective range of 460
meters.
This made the M14 one of the most accurate military rifles of the time at a distance,
which is one reason there was a resurgence of M14 variations in the 80’s and 90’s.
The gun itself weighed around 10.7 pounds when loaded, and for soldiers who opted for
the bipod an extra two pounds was added.
When it came off the production line the M14 was state of the art.
It was designed to be able to fight in city warfare in Europe and the wild terrain of
Russia.
Unfortunately for the M14—but luckily for all of humanity—the Cold War between the
United States and the Soviet Union never escalated into a direct conflict between the two nations.
Instead of finding themselves in cities and deciduous forests, U.S. soldiers were deployed
to the dense jungles of Vietnam, where long distance and city fighting was rare.
After fifteen years of development and production the M14 made its debut.
It was the standard issue rifle when Marines and Soldiers made their combat debut in Vietnam
in 1965 and would dominate the battlefield for the next several years..
However, because Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara opted to make the M16 the standard
infantry rifle of the United States, it began to be gradually phased out of frontline service
beginning with field test trials in 1967.
By 1969, most M-14 rifles had been replaced and after 1970 they were rarely issued save
for the exceptions noted earlier.
Due to delays and problems in production, the roll out of the M14 was slow.
The first and only unit in the United States Army to be completely equipped with the M14
was 101st Airborne Division in 1960.
The Fleet Marine Force eventually switched from their standard issue M1s to the M14s
the following year.
There were other problems with the M14 that eventually led to a halt of the gun’s production
in the 1960’s.
Many of the issues with the earlier M14s had to do with quality control.
The guns were being manufactured to be cost effective at the expense of reliable parts.
This led to components frequently jamming or breaking in the gun.
The United States fixed several of the problems by giving the gun more resilient receivers,
and having stricter quality controls on bolts and hardware used to construct the rifles.
Other problems did not have such an easy fix.
The accuracy of the M14 was not great during automatic firing.
The recoil was immense, causing the muzzle to move all over the place.
The bipod helped, but even when set up properly, the M14 was extremely difficult to control
when firing in an automatic mode.
In fact, the recoil was so bad when firing in automatic that troops in the field had
their own armorers make changes to the receiver to get the rifle to fire slower to make automatic
fire more accurate and sustained.
Later testing back in the United States showed that these modifications, though not as designed
but necessary for combat operations, proved that they could slow the firing rate by about
a third of what it had been designed for.
There were also modified M14s developed during the war to serve as a squad’s main automatic
weapon for heavy firing.
One example of this was the M14A1, but its firepower proved disappointing, and the military
moved away from these designs for more reliable and powerful weapons.
The M14 only served as the primary weapon for United States infantry for 7 years before
it was replaced by assault rifles such as the M16.
The M14 would have been perfect for a war fought in European cities or in Russia, but
its large caliber and uncontrollable automatic fire was not optimal for the war in the Vietnam
jungle.
The M14 was just too long and unwieldy in the dense vegetation.
It’s weight also severely slowed soldiers down.
The gun ran into more problems with the humidity of the jungle than anything else.
The wooden stock of the M14 expanded in the wet, humid, jungle, causing the weapon to
lose its accuracy and control when in fully automatic mode.
Aiming the M14 in these conditions became next to impossible.
Fiberglass stocks were eventually created for the M14, but at that point in the war,
it was too late since the gun was already being phased out of the United States’ arsenal.
All these problems actually led to many soldiers ditching their M14 rifles for the enemy AK-47s
that performed much better in the Vietnam jungle.
Soldiers would literally take the enemy's guns and leave their standard issue rifles
on the battlefield.
It wasn’t until the M16 became standard issue that the U.S. soldiers kept the gun
they were given by the military for combat in the jungle.
(Delete this VO paragraph entirely since as noted in my video notes this might have happened
on rare occasions but was definitely not the norm since US troops would not want to be
accidentally mistaken for the enemy as well as issues with supply in regards to ammunition,
spare parts, and such.)
Even though the M14 was almost completely replaced by the M16 during the Vietnam War,
the United States military was still fond of the rifle and decided to keep a limited
number in its inventory after the end of the war for future use in long range, marksmanship
rifles.
The basic M14 was modified to meet the needs of soldiers in combat situations outside of
the jungle.
Most of the variants were not utilized, but the evolution of the M14 over the years led
to certain weapons that are still being used in combat today.
Modification of the M14 began with the creation of the M15.
This rifle never made it out of initial production, but it led to weapons that would eventually
be used in combat.
The initial differences between the two guns was that the M15s were equipped with a heavier
barrel and stock than the M14s.
However, the military found that the M15 did not work any better than the original rifle,
and was therefore scrapped.
The initial tests of the M15 did lead to a redesign of the M14 which included an improved
selector switch, hinged buttplate, and bipod to create a better version of the rifle.
The next variation to the original M14 was the M14E2.
This version of the gun was given a full pistol-gripped in-line stock.
This was done to reduce recoil and make firing the weapon in automatic mode more manageable.
It helped, but only slightly.
The M14E2 also had a muzzle compensator and folding grip under the front stock.
All of these auditions made the firing of the M14 on full automatic better, but it was
still hard to control and overheated quickly.
Plus the limited magazine size of 20-rounds did not make it an efficient choice for a
fully automatic support gun.
As it became more and more clear that the M14 would not be the weapon of choice for
United States infantry soldiers, the military found ways to modify the gun for other purposes.
An example of this was the M14 SMUD ,which stands for Stand-off Munition Disruption.
This M14 model was used by soldiers specializing in the disposal of explosive ordinance.
They would use the M14 SMUD to safely destroy unexploded mines and bombs from a distance.
Basically this gun was the standard issue M14, but with a scope on it.
After the scope was mounted on the M14 more and more variations of the weapon started
to be designed.
The original concept for the gun was solid, and its larger bullets and longer range made
it more versatile for combat situations outside of the Vietnamese jungle.
Eventually as technology got better the design of the M14 was improved upon, and the components
that made up the rifle were swapped out for better state of the art parts.
This led to designs such as the Mk14 Enhanced Battle Rifle.
The Mk14 was designed specifically for tactical missions.
The rifle included an 18-inch barrel and retractable stock.
This version of the M14 also had more rails for accessories to allow soldiers to customize
their weapon.
The M14 Tactical built on the upgraded Mk14 EBM design.
It used the same stock as its predecessor, but was equipped with a 22-inch barrel and
a Smith Enterprise muzzle brake.
The rifle was adopted by the U.S. Coast Guard who found its range and fire power optimal
for their operations.
The M14 was continually modified, and parts of the gun were upgraded or incorporated into
other weapons, most often sniper rifles.
The M14 was an excellent starting point for the United States military to build off of.
Powerful rifles such as the M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle and M89SR Model 89 Sniper Rifle were
designed through heavily modifying the M14 in the 1980’s.
The AWC G2A, M21, and M25 sniper rifles were constructed in the 90’s and 2000’s using
the M14 design as a base, and modifying it into several different variants.
Today the M14 is still in use by the United States military.
In fact, it can be found in all four main branches.
It is mostly used for training and non-combat situations, but the M14’s successors are
sometimes used as sniper rifles in the field.
The M14 is commonly seen in ceremonies conducted by the honor guards, color guards, and drill
teams.
Even though the rifle was retired as the standard issue weapon for the armed forces before it
saw much combat, the M14 still had a solid design, which the military used for several
decades.
Now watch “The Evolution of the M16 Rifle.”
Or check out “Top 10 Best Military Rifles Around the World.”