I watched "Guns: Machines of War" on the National Geographic Channel last night.
I can't find an official webpage for this show on their site or any uploaded videos on Youtube or Google Video for this show.
It had a short segment on the M14 during the evolution of the rifles.
They showed the M14 shooting at a Vietnam era US issue helmet in full auto mode at 450 metres.
It didn't appear to hit the helmet at that distance, just a lot of hits and dust around it. There was no semi-auto shooting done by the M14. That was the intention of this shoot.
This was intended to show the design of the stock, being of the hunting rifle style, where the trigger hand is gripping on the top of the stock. This type of stock was partially to blame for the inaccuracy during firing. The recoil caused the rifle to pivot upwards at the location of the trigger hand on the stock they said.
This problem was solved by Eugene Stoner with the design of the M16 style rifle. The stock was built so that the recoil went straight back into the shoulder instead of making the barrel rise. The trigger hand was under the stock with a pistolgrip and the top of the rifle's barrel and stock was made into a straight line. A smaller cartridge also made for lighter recoil and was easier to keep on target.
When they showed the helmet after being shot at by both rifles at the same range, there were holes made by the M14 as well.
Kinda PO'd me off at the way the M14 was portrayed but it made me feel better to see those 7.62mm holes acknowledged.
Just thought I'd pass this info along.
Initially designed to save lives, the modern machine gun can destroy the enemy from more than a mile away and can fire 1,200 rounds in just 17 seconds. How did the machine gun become one of the most powerful Machines of War? NGC explores its 150-year history and evolution from the 19th-century machine gun that can chop down a single tree, to the first gangster "hit" with a Tommy Gun, to one of the deadliest weapons in the world.
I can't find an official webpage for this show on their site or any uploaded videos on Youtube or Google Video for this show.
It had a short segment on the M14 during the evolution of the rifles.
They showed the M14 shooting at a Vietnam era US issue helmet in full auto mode at 450 metres.
It didn't appear to hit the helmet at that distance, just a lot of hits and dust around it. There was no semi-auto shooting done by the M14. That was the intention of this shoot.
This was intended to show the design of the stock, being of the hunting rifle style, where the trigger hand is gripping on the top of the stock. This type of stock was partially to blame for the inaccuracy during firing. The recoil caused the rifle to pivot upwards at the location of the trigger hand on the stock they said.
This problem was solved by Eugene Stoner with the design of the M16 style rifle. The stock was built so that the recoil went straight back into the shoulder instead of making the barrel rise. The trigger hand was under the stock with a pistolgrip and the top of the rifle's barrel and stock was made into a straight line. A smaller cartridge also made for lighter recoil and was easier to keep on target.
When they showed the helmet after being shot at by both rifles at the same range, there were holes made by the M14 as well.
Kinda PO'd me off at the way the M14 was portrayed but it made me feel better to see those 7.62mm holes acknowledged.
Just thought I'd pass this info along.