[Chainmail]

"but in SE Asia, the M14 was simply out of its element"

I beg to differ, my friend - I carried one for all my 17 months in combat and it was perfect: it always worked, it was effective to 500m or better, and things that were hit with it stayed hit.

I had a buddy who served with the 82nd ABN in Vietnam and when he told me that "the M-14 was too heavy for Vietnam" , I told him that I had wished that he had told me at the time.

He asked why and I said "because I would have sent a big, strong Marine to hold the rifle up for him".

[quadrant]

agreed the m14 functioned well; but the stock tended to warp due to the humidity; and the attempt to switch to a composite stock did not work as the new stock changed the balance of the weapon.