M14 rifle

The M14 (officially Rifle, 7.62 mm, M14) is a combat rifle from the American company Springfield Armory used by the United States Army as a Standard infantry rifle in the period from 1959 to 1970. It was also used in Europe and South Korea, until its replacement by the M16 (in the United States). It currently remains in limited front-line service with the US Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, and remains in use as a ceremonial weapon. It was the last of the so-called "battle rifles," a term applied to weapons capable of firing high-powered rifle ammunition, issued in large quantities to US troops. The M14 was also the predecessor of the M21 and M25 sniper rifles.

Development

American soldier with an M14 in Vietnam.

The M14 combat rifle was the evolution of the M1 Garand of World War II. This was intended to improve the infantry's weapons logistics, trying to compile in a single weapon the characteristics of the M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle, the M1 carbine, the M3 submachine gun and the BAR machine gun.

It used removable twenty-round magazines, although it could also be loaded in the same way as an M1 rifle, with eight-round magazines; it had the automatic (burst) fire mode selector on the right side of the rifle, although there was also a semi-automatic model where the selector was absent.

For the M14, it became necessary to change the cartridge, substituting the.30-06 Springfield (7.62 x 63) for the new.308 Winchester NATO, which was of similar efficiency but somewhat smaller and was adopted by the NATO by American instance as 7.62 x 51 NATO. Like other rifles of this caliber, it was powerful, but difficult to handle in a burst, which is why it was decided to deactivate the automatic mode in the subsequent ones, by means of a lock on the selector.

Early in the Vietnam War, the United States traded it for the improved M16 rifle, with greater durability, semi-automatic and automatic options, and larger ammunition capacity, although this was poorly received due to accuracy and jamming issues. during the reloading because of the material that its first versions presented.

Today, after nearly 60 years in service, the M14 is still active. It is used by members of the US military, since it is considered by many to be a safe and accurate rifle, after bad experiences in wide open spaces (such as the Iraq War in the desert), which questioned the effectiveness of the 5 cartridge, 56 x 45 NATO in open spaces and in battles where the enemy was more than 300 m away. Thanks to some modifications in its sight system and the inclusion of R.I.S rails, the M14 is used as a precision rifle for designated marksman (designated marksman), at distances with a maximum of 800 to 900 meters, obtaining very good results. It should be noted that during the initiation phase of the Navy Seals course, members must learn to handle the M14.

Variants

• M21 SWS: precision rifle based on M14.
• Mk 14 SOCOM It is a shorter version or a turkey-finished snail can be adaptable with a fixed or retractable quantum and was originally designed for Navy's Seals but it has also been adopted by most special forces all over the world including Mexico and the Navy.
• M14 EBR: M14-based precision rifle, equipped with rails for fittings, telescopic cane and grip. Used as DMR rifle for the use of designated shooters (TD).
• M14 DMR: variant of the M14, provided with a handle, canopy and storage of synthetic material. It is a DMR rifle used by designated shooters (TD).
• Springfield Armory M1A: civil version of the M14, which only shoots in semiautomatic mode.

Operators

Designated shooter (Designated Marksman) with M14 DMR.

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• ChileChile
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• United States
• Ukraine Ukraine