M-14
Posted on 06/15/2003 1:13:08 PM PDT by Mini-14
A petition drive is underway to convince lawmakers to "civilianize" hundreds of thousands of M-14 military battle rifles so they can be legally sold by the government to the general public as a way to pay for the Iraq war.
According to the online petition, "there is a strong demand for an M-14 DCM [Director of Civilian Marksmanship] program, which will curb government waste by providing up to $300-600 million [for] deficit reduction."
M-14 |
"With uncertainty of the price tag of the current war, this will help pay for freedoms we enjoy in this country," says the petition. "With the looming war deficit, our government should not throw away hundreds of millions of dollars by destroying M-14 rifles – some of which are brand new."
The petition, which is being spearheaded by Robert A. Yoder, says as many as 300,000 rifles could wind up in the scrap heap without the government getting any return on its investment.
The DCM program to save the M-14s could work like a similar program involving another venerable military workhorse, the M-1 (Garand) and M-1 carbine series of military rifles.
 M1 Garand |
The DCM sold those through the Civilian Marksmanship Program, a course that promotes firearms safety training and rifle practice for all qualified U.S. citizens with special emphasis on youth.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program also offers for sale AR-15-type match rifles, M1917 Enfields, M1903 bolt-action rifles (a former U.S. military weapon) and .22-caliber target rifles at subsidized rates.
 M1903 bolt-action rifle |
"The U.S. Rifle, 7.62 mm, M-14 was the first rifle the U. S. fielded that improved upon the highly regarded U. S. Rifle, Caliber.30, M1 (Garand) and attempted to give U. S. Forces a NATO-standardized weapon," says the online petition. "The M-14 came into active service around 1957 and remained the standard infantry weapon until the official adoption of the M-16 rifle in the late 1960s.
"Like its predecessor, the M-14 is now relegated to ship's arms rooms, ROTC detachments, storage bins in government arsenals and, of late, the demilitarized scrap pile," says the petition.
I read recently here on FR that some small parish police department in Louisiana was buying SAW M249's.........These are just the ones presstitutes let us in on.
Don't get me wrong I firmly believe in full auto small arms for dynamic entries but to recon by fire in the burbs with a belt fed weapon is BS....IMO.
Stay Safe
Go to the tutorial on this website.
www.shooterready.com
It's a lot of fun. It's on the left side in the column and under mildot ranging. My son bought the game and we had a lot of fun with it. I still have a problem with the wind.
It's a thought, but I don't care to do things on the never-never.
If it's still available four days from now, I'll do it. If not, the money will go for ammo and clips for the very nice match Garand I now have, tuned by Marine riflesmith Rollie Beaver of Arkansas.
After that, I think I'll set some money aside for an M14 and supporting accessories. If the *assault weapons ban* sunsets in the Fall of 2004, M14 magazines should again become available at reasonable prices well below the $40-$50 each they're tagged at now. And if one becomes available from the CMP, swell. If not, building one up on a Springfield Armory M1A or Armscorp aftermarket receiver will do.
You could dunk a 14 in a rice patty and the damn thing actually worked better. You grab one from your buddy in a fire fight, click in you combat zero and it was like your own weapon. Turn that bad boy to "rock & roll" and you got yourself a mini-BAR. Saw a guy chop down a big palm tree with 3 clips. The weapon would rock the enemy's world and only give a little kick.
I loved that rifle. I've owned many a long rifle but nothing, nothing shoots like an M-14. You hit what you aim at without a fancy scope.
I wish they would auction those rifles off instead of destroying a fine weapon. Break them up into lots and give them to VFWs and American Legion posts. Let them raffle them off for 25 buck a pop. Do something, but don't destroy a work of art like these weapons. Boys became men at the butt of them, enemies were thwarted and the mussle of them. They were the best friends of the brave grunts that carried them. Give them a better home, not a roaring furnace.
The 1st Generation will set you back about 500 bucks, 2nd Generation around 600.
Money well spent IMO.
L
Shooter has training and knowledge.
I have not had time to run the numbers and won't for a while.
I will still trust a .223 or a .308 through a playing card.
Since you didn't address that comment to me, I missed it. That's pretty good. I'll have to remember that one.
As Eaker said: Agreed. I was adding a bit of information when people talk about brush busters. Yes, It will go through brush. It just may fail as to where in the brush it may wind up.
This subject had come up once in a while and I have spent hours looking for that particular picture without success. The closest I can tell each of you is kind of a humorous portion of a video that was sold a long time back called "Deadly Weapons". It was a entertaining video with no real science to it. They put some brush in a pile and tried to shoot through it. Some rounds made it and the narrator was shocked that a .50 BMG was deflected. The look on his face was funny. I mentioned the .50 before but I thought I would elaborate on it some more.
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