Yeah, it was heavy, so was the ammo load.
But it never jammed on me, it was not a time hog, as the M-16 was in demanding that I clean it every ten rounds.
It kicked like a mule...but when the fecal matter is striking the rotating ventilation device, one never feels such things.
The cyclic rate of fire was relatively slow, compared to the Mattel, er, uh the Colt AR-16, I mean M-16, but I have personally observed one round take out three bad guys.
I have also personally observed one M-16 round bounce off the belt buckle of a bad guy.
Not saying that all M-16 rounds bounced off, but I do know from first-hand observation, that the 7.62 round fired from the Springfield M-14, did much, much more damage than the 5.56 round fired from the Mattel, er, uh, the Colt M-16.
I really don't know what the reasoning was for replacing the M-14, I'm sure there were good ones, such as weight, ease of manufacturing, economy of maintenance, something of that nature, anything other than how well the soldiers using it liked it.
I was just a Snuffy then, but later, when the whiz-kids decided the venerable 1911A-1 was not suitable for our modern forces, I submitted several missives in support of it, but I assume the fix was in by then, by the Beretta family, to supply that piece of crap 9mm shooting boat anchor.
That's a whole 'nother story.
I learned the Manual of Arms on the M-14.
Done correctly, it is a thing of beauty. I once captured a Soldier of the Year award with it and I am convinced it was the most precision Manual of Arms presentation the board had ever seen.
I practiced for hours and hours with that damned thing.
Have you ever seen a decent rendition of the Manual of Arms on a Mattel, er, uh, Colt M-16?
Why does the Old Guard and the USMC Drill Teams still use the M-14?
Why is the M-14 still in the inventory of Special Operations units?
Why is the 1911 still in the inventory of Special Operations units, for that matter?
Why does the Old Guard and the USMC Drill Teams still use the M-14?
The Drill Teams at Texas A&M (Fish Drill Team and Ross Volunteers) use the classic 30-06 1903A3. Similar to the M14, they have a good balance, few over-hanging and extended parts to catch hands, arms, clothes and gloves, and have a good solid “tone” when caught and thrown hard as a glove hits the wood. Plastic just doesn't sound the same.
The smooth wood makes safer, easier catches and tosses to the other drill team members. As a weapon spins during a throw or a spin, you need to be able to grab it and stop it even if it is thrown a few inches (or feet) out-of-position or out-of-rotation.
We used the M-14 for parades at USMA...and manual of arms.
On one occasion, we road marched 17k with them...somewhat absurd since they were missing firing pins.
We live fired and did blank training with the M-16, and usually carried it in the field.
The most obvious difference is the weight....and the general consensus at the time was that the growing number of females in the Army made it impractical to keep the M-14 - that 17k road march gave me a keen appreciation of how only a few extra lbs can wear you down, when carrying a rifle ‘at the ready’ (btw, I’ve noticed in Iraq footage that the carry ‘at the ready’ with a sling, and a pivot device on their chest, to take the weight off of their arms).
Although I never fired the M-14, the superior quality was obvious - we did have to take them apart to clean for inspection, and the parts are heavy and well machined. Taking apart an M-16, especially the A1, looks almost comical - you have to wrestle some spring loaded collar to get the plastic guards off, and it just goes downhill from there.
I would love to have one some day.
Well he bought the rifle in 308 and I shot it a few times. What a great rifle to shoot, accurate as hell right out of the box. We were shooting 2 liter soda bottles at 100 yards with Open sights.
The M-14’s carried by the Old Guard at Arlington Cemetery have straight grip stocks to make the manual of arms even snappier. Quite a story behind those.
I qualified with the M-14 in 1969 in basic. The next year I fired the M-16A1. Somebody compared it to a large noisy toothbrush. Have never liked it.
After I retired I bought an M1A. Most comfortable rifle I have ever fired & accurate to a T. A pleasure after years of qualifying with the M-16A2.
The Marines recently put in a purchase order for several thousand M1911A1s from Colt. They overpaid, IMO.