The M14's charger guide is there so people can top up. You can easily push a single round down into the mag with your thumb and single-feed that way. No sweat.
Yes, that's the normal way, and in doing that, the bolt still has to strip the round from the mag avoiding the potential for a slam fire. The problem is as yomamma says, when people just put a round straight into the chamber and let the bolt close on that.