LF info on M14

There is a CGN'er calling himself Different. He has written an outstanding online book on the M14. Find him in the members page under D, and link to his website.
 
that book covers about everything that ever happened with the m14- it's about 500 pages of 8.5x11 so you need a couple of black cartridges and a whole pack of paper
 
The book referred to above is on this site imageseek.com/m1a
just add the usual three. Lee's site is a terrific reference on just about everything to do with the M14, highly recomended but make sure you've got time.
 
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The Springfield Armory was experimenting with improvements to the M1 Garand at least as early as 1942. Their experiments with detachable magazines, selective-fire control and new gas systems all contributed to the M14 development path. It is difficult to determine when all this experimentation evolved into a search for a new rifle, but certainly a lot of work was underway before the end of 1945.

In the end, the T44E4 design from Springfield Armory was classified Standard A on May 1, 1957, though it was 1958 before the government ever asked for a final set of drawings to be prepared, and middle of 1959 before the first M14 rifle ever rolled off of a production line. By June, 1960, only 9,471 rifles had been made, almost all of them by Springfield Armory, as H&R and Winchester were having awful problems adapting their WWII mindsets to modern rifle making.

Hence, the average soldier in the US military did not lay eyes on the M14 until late 1960, and the rifle was already headed towards termination (June 30, 1964) before many ever fired a shot from it.

I have a copy of US Rifle M14: from John Garand to the M21, if you are looking for something specific, let me know.
 
The U. S. Army 101st Airborne Division was the first combat division to receive the M14 rifle. This began in January 1960. All U. S. Army combat units in Europe had the M14 rifle by October 1961.

The T20E2 of 1945 is largely the M14 rifle in 1957 with the major difference being the cartridge, .30-06 versus 7.62 mm NATO.

Stevens' book is an excellent reference. It is the definitive work on the transition between the M1 and the M14. It is also very good on the 1960s production of the U. S. military M14.

Thanks for the plug on my work. :)
 
The M1A is a non select fire, civilan version manufactured by Springfield Armoury of the M-14 service rifle. You, I think are confusing the M1a with the M1 Garand.
Both the M1a and the M-14 are in 7.62 NATO although the M1A can be ordered in .243 Winchester and .308 Winchester

Scott
 
basically, although the gas is tapped off sooner, and the mag is set up for 20 rounds, and it can have select fire capability- that's the reason for the connector assembly and the hinged buttplate
 
Well I was hoping to use my M 14 in a vintage rifle shoot but the production date is 3 years too late......oh well guess I'll have to dig some of the safe Queens out

Thanks for all the info
bclinehand
 
"...Is the only major difference..." Totally different gas system and innards, other than the trigger group. And, of course, the mag.
 
bclinehand said:
Well I was hoping to use my M 14 in a vintage rifle shoot but the production date is 3 years too late......oh well guess I'll have to dig some of the safe Queens out

Thanks for all the info
bclinehand
Click to expand...
The principle for 'most vintage military rifle matches' is an arbitrary year cutoff, and in most places that is for designs dated 1945 or earlier. The tolerance of course extends to production runs that extended beyond 1945, particularly for Mausers, Garands and Lee Enfields. But models like the M14, SKS, FN49, MAS 1949, etc are newer than 1945 and are not in the spirit of 'most vintage military rifle matches'. Call the organizers any names you want, but sports is all about arbitrary limitations. That said, many matches lately have an open class if there are enough shooters with those newer rifles.
 
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