This is a 222 page book written by Lt Col Roy E. Rayle (who passed away in 1997). His career in engineering spans the period from World War II through the 1960’s. He was closely involved with the M14 rifle, M79 grenade launcher, M60 machine gun, and Air Force programs such as the M61 Vulcan cannon and the AC-130’s side-firing armament. For those already familiar with the technical history of the M14, you probably won’t find much new material. For others, it’s an interesting story told by an engineer dealing with the trials and tribulations of that rifle.
Much (if not most) of his career was spent at the old Springfield Armory. He relates taking a T44 (M14 prototype) and a T48 (US FAL prototype) home to his on-post quarters and having his wife practice field-stripping them to get an idea of how an inexperienced individual would handle such a task (she did OK with the T48 but gave up in disgust with the T44’s bolt removal. This was later modified). Not sure if you could get away with this nowadays. The book goes into detail on the whole T44/T48 competition. Early on, it was accepted by many as a given that the T48 would be the choice.
There’s also discussion of the M79’s development as well as the M60 (T161) machine gun and all the issues that had to be overcome.
The book ends with chapters on gas systems, barrel design, automatic weapons calculations, primer setback analysis, and case/chamber relationships (with some math thrown in for those into that kind of thing).
All in all, an enjoyable read for those interested in small arms development.
