The M-14 is definitely not a carbine. 
Picture: 7.62mm M14 Rifle
The M-14 rifle is a 7.62 mm magazine-fed, gas operated shoulder weapon, designed primarily for semi-automatic fire. The M-14 originally had a M2 bipod for use as a squad automatic weapon. The rifle is considered by many an excellent design. Its drawbacks were that it was heavy for infantry soldiers and it was not as accurate when in full automatic fire at 750 rounds a minute.
There were several original manufacturers of the M14 rifle over the years. TRW, Winchester, Springfield Armory, and Harrington and Richardson produced thousands of these fine M-14 rifles.
The M14 rifle is easy to disassemble and clean. It breaks down into the barrel and receiver, firing mechanism, and the stock. The stock was made of either wood or synthetics.
A Brief History of the M14 and M1A
Following World War II, the US military sought to replace the M1 Garand, which was the GI's main battle rifle, with a rifle that could do it all: have the accuracy of the M1 Garand, the lighter carry of the M1 carbine, and the rapid fire of the M3 (the "Grease Gun") and the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle).
Springfield Armory began the design of such a rifle in the 1950's, starting with the .30-06 cartridge used in the M1 Garand, and modifying it to make it lighter, but still as powerful. The result was the 7.62 NATO cartridge.
The military tested many guns, and settled on Springfield Armory's new cartridge and rifle, designating the rifle as the M14.
The first rifles were delivered to troops in 1959. By the time the Army and Marine Corps had completed their orders, Springfield Armory wound up producing nearly 1.4 million M14's.
Vietnam was the test of the M14, and results were mixed. The 7.62 NATO round was very good for penetrating brush. The M14 also excelled at long-distance shots. In the humid jungle, though, the wood stock proved to be a liability, as swelling from moisture affected accuracy.
The plan to have a battle rifle that was also fully automatic proved to be less than desirable, as the relatively powerful 7.62 cartridge had far too much recoil to be controllable under full-auto fire. Most M14's were subsequently modified for semi-automatic use only. (The wood stocks from the converted rifles have a cutout in them for the selector lever, just below the receiver on the right side, but the lever was removed).
By the mid-1960's the M16 had been fully developed, and proved to be more suitable for jungle warfare. The M14 was no longer the standard issue rifle, and was "demoted" to the status of Limited Standard rifle.
The M14 continued to see use by troops stationed in Europe, and was still prized by many soldiers in Vietnam who didn't think the M16's 5.56 cartridge had enough "oomph".
The M14 was converted by the Army into the M21 sniper rifle, a role the rifle filled until 1988.
While the M16 and then the M4 rifles became the mainstay for US forces, the M14 continues to this day to be used not only for training, but also as sniper and "designated marksman rifles", and has been used in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Despite its relatively short career as a standard issue rifle, the M14 has been the longest-serving rifle in the US infantry.
With the M14 orders completed, Springfield Armory of Massachussetts, which had produced firearms for the military for decades, closed in 1968. LH Manufacturing in Texas adopted the Springfield Armory name in 1974.
The commercial Springfield Armory company turned to making a civilian, semi-automatic-only version of the M14, naming it the M1A. The earliest models of the M1A used surplus GI parts until Springfield Armory began producing the rifle using parts that were made entirely in house. You'll sometimes encounter the early models at gun shows, identifiable by the selector lever cut-out in the stock.
The Springfield Armory M1A is nearly identical to the M14 that the company made for the military, with the lack of full-auto capability being the most significant difference.
Over forty years later, the M14/M1A is still one of the most sought-after military style rifles, and continues to be one of the most accurate military rifles ever produced."
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