I’ve read and seen some stuff that shows the M14 doesn’t do too well in adverse conditions. I remember a guns and ammo TV show they had a fat guy crawling around in mud and the M14 failed pretty bad. And then I’ve read some reports that said the M16 outperformed the M14 in sand. To quote “Comparsison tests of the M16 and M14 before Desert Storm confirmed the superiority of the Stoner system in sand and dust tests” Armalite document of course provide no such reference to the document they mention. And being they sell AR15 rifles, it’s fishy to accept it as a valid source. I think it’s all bs and slander though.
http://www.armalite.com/images/Tech%20Notes\Tech%20Note%2054,%20Gas%20vs%20Op%20Rod%20Drive,%20020815.pdf
In that video you are referring to, if I recall correctly the host dragged the M14 through mud with the bolt open, and then only wiped his finger across the bolt face to “clean it”. The gun fired normally, but would not extract due to the cases getting stuck in the chamber.
Comparatively, another M14 video (I believe from the same show) had an M14 dragged on a rope behind a jeep with the bolt closed. The gun fired and cycled perfectly despite being dragged through mud, across rocks, etc. I know Larry Vickers did a similar video with an M4 and the gun also performed flawlessly.
Basically, there is no such thing as a completely mud-immune gun. Especially when the chamber starts to get dirty like it did in the one video, things can go wrong.
Isn’t the M14 insides very similar to the Garand? The Garand has always been considered a reliable rifle.
Both’ll do you right. I’ve never done any extreme torture tests but a real M14 with real M14 magazines will run well.
I’m pretty sure the M14’s the Marine Corps and Army have been using in Iraq and Afghanistan have been holding up just fine
You would be incorrect.
There has been a large push to get these stopgap weapons replaced with something more suitable to mission.
The Army has some preety strict policies about cycling thier M-14 EBR’s through Rock Island to be maintained.
We realy need to move on and follow elements of SOCOM, the British, Italians, French, Germans, Kiwi’s, Aussies, and others in fielding a modern capablity. Be it a 5.56 M-12 like capablity built on an exsisting MIL TDP or a M-110K the US military has two differant modern capablities availible to meet this requirement which would take 4-6 pounds off the soldiers back, vs the damned M-14 EBR.
A while ago… NSW winter warfare teams used 18" m14’s w/ choate folding stocks. As compared to the m4, the more violent action enabled use in over the beach operations in freezing wx. Larger bore wouldn’t retain water. Ballistic advantage of larger caliber.
For the time an ok solution. Compared to modern offerings, the m14 isn’t so ergonomic, and is more maintainance intensive… at a higher level of repair facility.
Battle rifle OK… As a sniper/marksman rifle, it is a pain to get or keep accurate. The 7.62 AR offerings, Larue, LMT, KAC are much better in all regards.
I don’t know a lot about how the US procures equipment, but it seems odd that they would buy EBR chasis that cost nearly as much as an AR10 type weapon. Why wouldn’t they have bought AR10’s instead if there was something wrong with the M14?
The troops LOVED them in Vietnam. Those seemed to be nominally ‘adverse’ conditions…
The Garand had issues when fielded. Look for a 1942 article in Time.
Is this baised on accuracy or the guns are actualy breaking?
Anytime I see a springfield M1A evaluated for anything I cry there are shit im my book.
Long story, so I won’t go there. At the time, 2005/6ish the Army did not have a fielded 7.62mm semi auto. USASOC had various MK-11 and MK-12 rifles, but not big green. A requirement was written to “PIP” M-14s and a product = to what is now the M-14 EBR was discribed. Various forms of which had been crafted by units since at least 2003, two years into the war.
The "X"M-110 was still in testing so it was not an “valid” option at the time. Several individuals attempted to bury the EBR for something better, but the COMMANDERS asked for a modified M-14, which was all they knew, so they got it.
The rest is history. Variuos folks want to fix the problem, but since the EBR exsists, commanders still ask for IT, vs. some weapon like the OBR they saw on the errornet.
To me the M-14 EBR is also known as a self licking ice cream cone.
They folks I work with is because of weight and weapon handling/profile differances. I believe the USMC has effectively removed the M-39 from service. It was replaced by MK-12’s built by the COrps. MARSOC is also using M-110K conversion kits on their M-110s.
Even though I like my M1A and it’s a very iconic rifle, I’d have to agree that it’s outdated and there’s better choices out there. It would be nice if the rifle replaced it with was just an accurized AR in 5.56 with the heavier bullet so they could simplify logistics, but I’m not so sure the 5.56x45 really cuts it for DM work.
Yes, quite simply the major changes can be summed up by this: Take the Garand, give it a 20rd box magazine, keep the ability to charge the weapon with stripper clips, and chamber it in 7.62 NATO. That’s the M14.
There maybe have been minor tuning of the op rod to accomodate the smaller case capacity and gas volume of the 7.62 versus the .30-'06 which changed the forend configuration as well, but that’s the jist of it.
It’s not as simple as that. The Garand has the operating rod combined with the piston similar to that of the AK, where with the M14 has the piston as a separate unit. The bolt lockup is that of the Garand though. I’m sure there are probably reliability differences between the two.
I once shot 15 mags of Norinco ball through mine as fast as I could pull the trigger… Does that count as Adverse conditions?
Mention M14; cue the haters. 
The M14 (based on a near 100 year old design) has done well but it is obviously dated with weight and overall size being two detriments that come quickly to mind. I have an SA M1A and I love it but I would hate to have to “hump the hills” of Camp Pendleton with one like I did over 45 years ago. That said, they can be damn deadly at ranges well over 500 meters in the right hands and farther in expert ones.
He probably meant exposed to the elements.