The M14 (officially designated "U.S. rifle, 7.62mm, M14") is an American select-fire battle rifle chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO. Introduced in 1959, its design was heavily based on the M1 Garand, and it served as the standard issue service rifle of the United States military until 1968, when it began to be replaced by the M16. The M14 was the last battle rifle issued in quantity to U.S. military personnel, and is among the shortest-lived main service rifles in US military history. It would also be one of the last weapons created for the US military by the venerable Springfield Armory (the government arsenal, not to be confused with the private company using the name today). Despite its rather unfortunate service record as a primary infantry weapon, the M14 continues to be fielded in combat to this day, serving as a designated marksman's rifle.[1]
The M14 was developed from a long line of experimental weapons based upon the M1 Garand rifle. Although the M1 was among the most advanced infantry rifles of the late 1930s, it was not an ideal weapon, and by the later years of the war it was starting to show its age. Modifications to the Garand were tested out in the final months of the war, with fully automatic fire and detachable box magazines (both features that would eventually be included in the M14) both being experimented with. A number of test rifles would be developed by Springfield Armory in the years following the war's conclusion. One of these prototypes, the T25, was designed for a new .30 caliber rifle cartridge. This new cartridge was similar to the .30-06 used in the M1 Garand, but with the case length shortened down to around that of the .300 Savage. A new type of propellent meant that despite the shorter length, the new round had similar energy on target as the older round. This new cartridge would finalized for adoption as the 7.62x51mm NATO round, one of the most well-recognized calibers in military history.
Beginning in the early 1950's, a number of tests would be conducted by the Infantry Board at Fort Benning, Georgia. Three rifles were included in these tests: the T47 (a modified version of the earlier T25 prototype), the T44 (a cheaper version of the T47), and the T48 (a variant of FN Herstal's FAL rifle). The T47, which did not have a bolt roller and performed worse in dust and cold weather tests than both the T44 and the T48, was dropped from consideration in 1953. During late 1952 and early 1953, testing proved the FAL and the T44 to be roughly comparable in performance, with the FAL holding an advantage in ease of field stripping and dust resistance. During the winter of 1953–54, both rifles competed in winter rifle trials at U.S. Army facilities in the Arctic. Springfield Armory engineers had been specially preparing and modifying the test T44 rifles for weeks with the aid of the armory's cold chamber. The FALs received no such special treatment, and as a result began to falter during continued cold-weather testing. FN engineers opened the rifle's gas ports in an attempt to improve reliability, but this caused early/violent extraction and broken parts as a result of the increased pressures. As a result, the T44 was ranked superior in cold weather operation, and the Arctic Test Board report made it clear that they believed the FAL needed additional improvement.
In June 1954, funding became available to manufacture new T44 receivers specially designed for the shorter cartridge developed for the T47 prototype. This one change to the T44 design saved a pound in rifle weight over that of the M1 Garand. Testing between the T44 and the FAL continued into 1956, with the FAL rifles being improved upon during testing to the point that by the fall of 1956 the two rifles were comparable in terms of reliability. Despite the numerous improvements to the FAL, the rifle board ultimately elected to go with the T44. This was partly due to monetary reasons, as during the testing Springfield engineers claimed that the T44 could be manufactured using old M1 Garand tooling, which would save a lot of time and money over having to procure and manufacture brand new tooling. This claim ended up being false, however, as M1 Garand tooling was incapable of being used to make T44/M14 rifles. Other reasons cited for the selection of the T44 included the rifle's weight (the T44 was found to be a pound lighter than the FAL), fewer parts, and the T44's gas system being preferred over the FAL's. In 1957, the U.S. formally adopted the T44 as the M14.
The US military opting to go with the T44/M14 ended up hurting the FAL in the long run. Originally, the FAL had been designed to use a smaller intermediate cartridge, which made the rifle lighter and easier to control in full auto. However, the US military insisted on a larger caliber, and after initial testing of the FAL asked that the gun be redesigned to chamber their new .30 caliber round. FN decided to back the U.S. and its cartridge, and in 1951 even made a deal that the U.S. could produce FALs royalty-free, given that the UK appeared to be favoring their own natively-designed EM-2 rifle. This decision appeared to be correct when the British Army decided to adopt the EM-2 as Rifle No.9 Mk1, as well as adopting their .280 British cartridge. This decision was later rescinded after the Labour Party lost the 1951 General Election and Winston Churchill returned as Prime Minister, who promptly un-adopted both the EM-2 and the .280 cartridge in favor of the FAL and the American-designed 7.62/.308 cartridge. This was done in the name of compatibility and logistics, as having all NATO countries using the same ammo and rifle would make things much simpler than having each country using its own cartridge and firearm. The 7.62x51mm round would eventually get adopted as NATO standard, however the US still insisted on more rifle trials before it would adopt the FAL, even though FN had rechambered the gun for the American cartridge like they had asked. In the end, the US adopted the M14, and the dream of having a NATO standard rifle shared among all member countries died. And the FAL was now stuck using the larger caliber round, which resulted in the weapon being difficult to control in full-auto and having a lower magazine capacity than it would have with an intermediate cartridge. The US would eventually switch to a smaller caliber anyway with the M16, so the earlier insistence on having a large .30 caliber round ended up being for nothing.
After the M14's adoption, Springfield Armory began production line in 1958, delivering the first service rifles to the U.S. Army in July 1959. However, long production delays resulted in the 101st Airborne Division being the only unit in the army fully equipped with the M14 by the end of 1960. The rifle served adequately during its brief tour of duty in Vietnam. Though it was unwieldy in the thick brush due to its length and weight, the power of the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge allowed it to penetrate cover well and at extended ranges. However, the M14 encountered problems during the Vietnam War. The rifle's wooden stock tended to swell and warp in the jungle heat which reduced accuracy. Fiberglass stocks were produced to resolve this problem, but the rifle was discontinued before M14s with fiberglass stocks could be distributed for field use. One of the most common complaints regarding the M14 was that the rifle was uncontrollable in full-auto, which led to most M14s having their selector switch locked to semi-auto.
The M14 remained the primary infantry rifle in Vietnam until it was replaced by the M16 in 1967, though combat engineer units kept them several years longer. Further procurement of the M14 was abruptly halted in early 1968 due to a U.S. Department of Defense report which stated that the AR-15 (soon to be M16) was superior to the M14. After the report, a series of tests and reports by the U.S. Department of the Army followed that resulted in the decision to cancel future orders of the M14. The M16 was ordered as a replacement for the M14 by direction of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1964, over the objection of the U.S. Army officers who had backed the M14. Despite this, the M14 carried on in Vietnam as a secondary rifle, with some soldiers preferring it over the M16, especially during the early days of the M16's deployment when the rifle was derided as an unreliable plastic toy. When reliability improved significantly with the M16A1, fewer soldiers held on to their old M14s. The M14 wasn't entirely done, though. The U.S. Army converted several thousand M14s into M21 sniper rifles, which remained standard issue for this purpose until the adoption of the M24 SWS in 1988.
During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the 2000s, the M14 was modernized and reintroduced as a Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR), when it became clear that the 5.56mm rounds of the M4 and M16 were performing poorly at the longer ranges soldiers were experiencing during desert combat. The most notable M14 DMR variant is the MK 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle, a heavily modified version of the M14 sporting a lighter body and stock, a shorter 18-inch barrel, a Harris bipod, and four picatinny rails for additional attachments.
The M14 in its original configuration is still being used as a drill and ceremonial weapon in certain branches of the US Military, such as the Marine Corps.
