M14's

H Wally

H Wally

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Hey all - since the magpul rfb isn't going to be anytime soon, I may as well contemplate more accessable pastures.

Since I'll eventually need 308 for the magpul (fingers crossed) I'm curious about the m14.

First - How is the M14 in comparison of weight to the SVT 40? I found the SVT 40 too unwieldly for bush or general use, so sold it. I do know it's longer, so that may have been a factor of length and balance rather than weight.

Second - Are scope setups available that allow for use of iron sights without removing the scope? Edit - answered... yes, there are.

Third - Ammo. How reloadable is ammo out of the M14? Does it beat the hell out of brass? Does it fling them all over hells half acre like the CZ 858, SVT, and ljungman?
 
H Wally said:
Hey all - since the magpul rfb isn't going to be anytime soon, I may as well contemplate more accessable pastures.

Since I'll eventually need 308 for the magpul (fingers crossed) I'm curious about the m14.

First - How is the M14 in comparison of weight to the SVT 40? I found the SVT 40 too unwieldly for bush or general use, so sold it. I do know it's longer, so that may have been a factor of length and balance rather than weight.

Second - Are scope setups available that allow for use of iron sights without removing the scope? Edit - answered... yes, there are.

Third - Ammo. How reloadable is ammo out of the M14? Does it beat the hell out of brass? Does it fling them all over hells half acre like the CZ 858, SVT, and ljungman?
Click to expand...

1. The M14 is an excellent battle rifle. I have handled SVT-40's, IIRC, the M14 is heavier. A scoped M14 weighs in at around 13lbs, certainly no lightweight for hunting purposes. A number CGN's use the M14 successfully for hunting. If you're good with the weight, go for it. Me, I'd prefer a lighter bolt action.
2. The M14 is certainly easier to scope than an SVT-40. Get one of the excellent available scope mounts and you're good to go. Not too easy to find a good SVT-40 scope mount. In either case you require a cheek pad to get a good cheek weld. This is easier with the M14. Most SVT-40 mounts seem very high.
3. Ammo for the M14 is very reloadable. I've done an experiment with mine and stopped after 15 reloads for a batch of test cases. Use bullets from 145gr to 169gr and you're good to go. Many excellent hunting bullets are available in this cal and range. Mine throws cases nicely together at around the 1-2o'clock position. All five seem to land in a circle of less than 12" (shooting prone on grass). Cases do experience a few dings, but these are not serious at all.

Good luck with whatever you're ending up with. Any of the rifles you mentioned are fun to shoot :)
 
M14 is heavy. Not a big deal for a stand hunter, but a consideration if you're climbing hills and covering much ground on foot. Mountain rifle it's not.
 
the m14 is an heavy pos. I do like mine though, cause it's bedded, welded and a good load is developped.

see through mounts are a lie if you use anything that has a larger than 30mm objective scope. If you're going to scope it you'll need a cheek riser otherwise you won't get a good cheekweld (I needed over an inch and a half elevation for a 50mm objective), actually you won't get any cheek weld at all, it'll be a chin weld.

As for brass I have only been through 2 loads with my brass, and after 1 firing/resizing they were already measuring 2.035 which looks excessively long in terms of SAAMI specs (max case lenght 2,015). I'm tempted to trim but these chambers are huge. If I did trim, my guess would be that after the third reload they'd all likely split.

I'm very curious how RifleDude could go to 15 reloads
 
charles.emond said:
....
I'm very curious how RifleDude could go to 15 reloads
Click to expand...

I currently have a very tight match chamber (zero headspace) ;) However, I had a CA TRW M14 before that shot like a house on fire and had a headspace of 17 thou. I resized these cases just enough to chamber comfortably, not a full all-the-way-back-to-SAAMI resize.
And that's how I get lots of reloads out of my cases :cool:
 
I find the Norinco M14 with wood stock is heavy; however, IMHO, the weight reduces dramatically if you put on an USGI synthetic stock. btw, the USGI synthetic stock has better contour (hence better look) than the Norinco wood stock (and maybe the new synthetic stock?). the lower 'handguard' of the usgi stock is not as bulky as the Norinco wood stock.
 
RifleDude said:
I currently have a very tight match chamber (zero headspace) ;) However, I had a CA TRW M14 before that shot like a house on fire and had a headspace of 17 thou. I resized these cases just enough to chamber comfortably, not a full all-the-way-back-to-SAAMI resize.
And that's how I get lots of reloads out of my cases :cool:
Click to expand...

Zero headspace? That is usually not a very good idea in an M-14. Who put th barrel on for you?

Scott
 
charles.emond said:
the m14 is an heavy pos. I do like mine though, cause it's bedded, welded and a good load is developped.

see through mounts are a lie if you use anything that has a larger than 30mm objective scope. If you're going to scope it you'll need a cheek riser otherwise you won't get a good cheekweld (I needed over an inch and a half elevation for a 50mm objective), actually you won't get any cheek weld at all, it'll be a chin weld.

As for brass I have only been through 2 loads with my brass, and after 1 firing/resizing they were already measuring 2.035 which looks excessively long in terms of SAAMI specs (max case lenght 2,015). I'm tempted to trim but these chambers are huge. If I did trim, my guess would be that after the third reload they'd all likely split.

I'm very curious how RifleDude could go to 15 reloads
Click to expand...

Trimming has little to do with making your cases split. Go ahead and trim them. If you're full length resizing, which you probably are for an M14, then that is the cause of work hardening and splits. But then again - it's hard to say since you haven't actually experienced a split case, right?
 
I love my M14, it's pretty heavy, though as others said you wouldn't want to lug it around in the mountains. I've found mine is quite accurate with iron sights, and a lot of fun to shoot offhand. I shoot mostly Military Surplus ammo through it, but I've also shot lots of reloads through it and doesn't thrash the brass.

I had mine scoped for a while, and it was fine, but I to be honest I doubt I could ever get it to shoot sub-MOA, and if I want to pound tacks I'll shoot my Remington 700. A lot of the receivers are a little out of whack and have to be ground to fit an ARMS mount (a 3 point mount most guys use to scope their M14's). I also found that it's pretty difficult to shoot a scoped M14 without some kind cheek riser.

All in all they're great rifles, I've literally put thousands of rounds through mine and I don't think its ever jammed or failed to fire.
 
jethunter said:
Trimming has little to do with making your cases split. Go ahead and trim them. If you're full length resizing, which you probably are for an M14, then that is the cause of work hardening and splits. But then again - it's hard to say since you haven't actually experienced a split case, right?
Click to expand...

I've had some actually, half a dozen or the whereabouts
my guess came from the fact this is range brass and upon examination they looked once fired maybe some were once reloaded, idk.

I do know full lenght resize puts stress on the brass, and then the eventual split . It's what I meant too, when you f/l then trim off some brass next resizing will put stress on a case that has had some material taken off and some areas of the casing skim with each full lenght/trim.
 
charles.emond said:
I've had some actually, half a dozen or the whereabouts
my guess came from the fact this is range brass and upon examination they looked once fired maybe some were once reloaded, idk.

I do know full lenght resize puts stress on the brass, and then the eventual split . It's what I meant too, when you f/l then trim off some brass next resizing will put stress on a case that has had some material taken off and some areas of the casing skim with each full lenght/trim.
Click to expand...

Like I said, trim away. It won't hurt anything, and over-length brass can cause other problems.
 
majormarine said:
I find the Norinco M14 with wood stock is heavy; however, IMHO, the weight reduces dramatically if you put on an USGI synthetic stock. btw, the USGI synthetic stock has better contour (hence better look) than the Norinco wood stock (and maybe the new synthetic stock?). the lower 'handguard' of the usgi stock is not as bulky as the Norinco wood stock.
Click to expand...


I believe you will find the USGI fiberglass stock to be heavier than any wood stock.
 
^^^ Gun feels like a club when its in the USGI fiberglass... I like it a lot better. Feels more solid...
 
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