The M14 Rifle Vietnam War Weapon

 The M14 rifle was a weapon designed in response to the massive firepower that could be wrought upon by the Soviet’s AK-47. It also satisfied a desire by high level US commanders who wanted to replace the aging World War Two era weapons still in service by US troops in the mid-1950s. The M-14, though designed to be the standard infantry rifle for generations to come, was soon overshadowed by developments in the M-16rifle. 

Despite this, it still saw extensive combat use throughout the Vietnam war but as US troops would quickly find out, its unwieldy size and heavy, outdated design would make it difficult to operate in the humid, dense, jungles of Vietnam was not one of them. However, even after its eventual replacement by the M16, the M14 was not forgotten. 

The M14 Rifle Vietnam War Weapon

 The rifle was still a favorite among some of the Vietnam War’s top snipers such as Carlos Hath cock and Chuck Mawhinney in addition to being used by the Navy and Coast Guard river ine squadrons, Air Force security forces, and a reserve rifle with the Marines and Army whenever shortages of M-16 rifles were felt. Additionally, variants of the rifle made a come back in the 1990’s because of their relatively long range, and impressive stopping power. 

So what is the secret behind the long-lasting success of the M14 despite having a relatively short career as a standard US military weapon? Let's find out. The M14 was first built in 1958. At that time the government owned the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts where production of the rifle began. The original plan was for the M14 to take the place of several different firearms that were being utilized by the United State military. 

When the M14 was first proposed the United States was using the M1 Garand, M1903 Springfield, M1 carbine, M3 sub machine gun, M1928 Thompson, and M1918 Browning automatic rifle, also known as the BAR. The thought was that all of these guns could be replaced by one versatile rifle that could switch between semi-automatic and automatic firing modes. By doing this the United States could mass-produce weapons and increase production in a fast and cost-effective manner. 

Unfortunately, the manufacturing of the M14 was slow and tedious. In the end there were many complaints from the soldiers who used it. The M14 used a gas-operated firing system that was based off of the M1 and housed a cleaning kit in the butt of the gun just like its predecessor. The M14 was also designed so that an M2 bayonet or M76 rifle grenade launcher attachment could be mounted to it. 

The M14 could also be equipped with the M2bipod, which was an important key feature necessary to improve the accuracy of the gun. . The M14 can switch between semi-automatic and automatic firing modes. This meant that the rifle was versatile and could be used in many different combat situations, as long as it could be controlled. This is one of the reasons for making sure the rifle could be mounted with the M2 bipod. 

The M14 Rifle Vietnam War Weapon

The M14 used 7.62 mm rounds that could also be armor-piercing or tracers. The magazine of the rifle could hold 20 rounds, and the gun fired around 750 rounds per minute on full auto. The rifle’s muzzle velocity was 850 meters per second and had an effective range of 460 meters. This made the M14 one of the most accurate military rifles of the time at a distance, which is one reason there was a resurgence of M14 variations in the 80’s and 90’s. 

The gun itself weighed around 10.7 pounds when loaded, and for soldiers who opted for the bipod an extra two pounds was added. When it came off the production line the M14was state of the art. It was designed to be able to fight in city warfare in Europe and the wild terrain of Russia. Unfortunately for the M14—but luckily for all of humanity—the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union never entered into direct conflict between the two countries. 

Instead of finding themselves in cities and deciduous forests, US troops were sent to dense jungles in Vietnam, where long distances and city battles were rare. After fifteen years of development and production debut M14. It was a traditional rifle when Marines and soldiers made their debut in the Battle of Vietnam in 1965 and would dominate the battlefield for years to come. 

because Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara opted to make the M16 the standard infantry rifle of the United States, it began to be gradually phased out of front line service beginning with field test trials in 1967. By 1969, most M-14 rifles had been replaced and after 1970 they were rarely issued save for the exceptions noted earlier. 

Due to delays and production problems, the extinction of the M14 was slow. The first and only unit in the United States Army to be completely equipped with the M14 was 101st Airborne Division in 1960. The Fleet Marine Force eventually switched from their standard issue M1s to the M14s the following year. There were other problems with the M14 that eventually led to a halt of the gun’s production in the 1960’s. Many issues with the previous M14 were related to quality control. 

The guns were manufactured to be economical at the expense of reliable parts. This often caused components to become stuck or broken in the gun. The United States solved some of the problems by giving the gun a more resilient receiver and stricter quality controls on the bolts and hardware used to make the rifles. Other problems were not so easy to fix. 

The accuracy of the M14 with automatic fire was low. The setback was enormous and caused the nose to move everywhere. The bipod helped, but even when set up properly, the M14 was extremely difficult to control when firing in an automatic mode. In fact, the recoil was so bad when firing in automatic that troops in the field had their own armorers make changes to the receiver to get the rifle Extinguish the fire slowly to make the automatic fire more accurate and continuous. 

The M14 Rifle Vietnam War Weapon

Later tests in the United States showed that these changes, although not as designed but necessary for combat operations, showed that they could slow down the shooting with about a third of what it had been designed for. There were also modified M14s developed during the war to serve as a squad’s main automatic weapon for heavy firing. 

One example of this was the M14A1, but its firepower proved disappointing, and the military moved away from these designs for more reliable and powerful weapons. The M14 only served as the primary weapon for United States infantry for 7 years before it was replaced by assault rifles such as the M16. The M14 would be ideal for a war in European cities or in Russia, but large caliber and uncontrollable automatic fire was not optimal for the war in the Vietnam jungle. 

M14 was just too long and untreated in dense vegetation. Her weight also slowed down a lot of soldiers. The gun had more problems with the moisture of the jungle than anything else. The M14 tree trunk expanded in the wet, humid jungle, causing the weapon to lose precision and control when in automatic mode. Targeting the M14 in these conditions became almost impossible. 

Fiberglass stocks were eventually created for the M14, but at that point in the war, it was too late because the weapon was already gradually removed from the United States arsenal. All of these problems actually led to many soldiers abandoning their M14 rifles for AK-47 enemies that performed much better in the Vietnam jungle. The soldiers would literally take the enemy's weapons and leave their standard rifles on the battlefield. 

The M14 Rifle Vietnam War Weapon

 Only when the M16 became a standard issue did American soldiers keep the weapon the army gave them for jungle fighting. Even though the M14 was almost completely replaced by the M16 during the Vietnam War, the United States military was still fond of the rifle and decided to keep a limited number in its inventory after the end of the war for future use in long range, marksmanship rifles. The basic M14 was modified to meet the needs of soldiers in combat situations outside of the jungle. 

Most of the variants were not utilized, but the evolution of the M14 over the years led to certain weapons that are still being used in combat today. The change to M14 began with the creation of M15. This rifle never came out of its original production, but it did lead to weapons that would eventually be used in battle. The initial differences between the two guns was that the M15s were equipped with a heavier barrel and stock than the M14s. 

However, the military found that the M15 did not work any better than the original rifle, and was therefore scrapped. The initial tests of the M15 did lead to are design of the M14 which included an improved selector switch, hinged butt plate, and bipod to create a better version of the rifle.The next difference of the original M14 was M14E2. 

This pistol volume was fitted with equal stock with the handgun. This is done to stabilize the reduction and increase the control of the playing of weapons in automatic mode. It helped, but only a little. The M14E2 also had a payroll and folding handle under it on the front stock. All of these auditions made the firing of the M14 on full automatic better, but it was still hard to control and overheated quickly. 

Plus the limited magazine size of 20-roundsdid not make it an efficient choice for a fully automatic support gun. As it became more and more clear that theM14 would not be the weapon of choice for United States infantry soldiers, the military found ways to modify the gun for other purposes. An example of this was the M14 SMUD, a bull for the Standing Mansion Disclaimer. 

This M14 mode was used by the military to deal with the loss of rules. They would use the M14 SMUD to safely destroy non-explosive mines and remote bombs. Basically this gun was a standard issue with the M14, but with its scope. After the scope was mounted on the M14 more and more variations of the weapon started to be designed. 

The M14 Rifle Vietnam War Weapon

The original concept for the gun was solid, and its larger bullets and longer the rent made it extremely adaptable to the fighting conditions outside the Vietnamese jungle. Eventually the technology improved the design of the M14 modified over, and that components that made up the rifle were swapped out for better state of the art parts. This led to designs such as the Mk14 Enhanced Battle Rifle. The Mk14 was designed specifically for tactical missions. 

The gun included an 18-inch barrel and a recyclable stock. This version of the M14 also had more rails for accessories to allow soldiers to customize their weapon. The M14 Tactical built on the upgraded Mk14EBM design. It used the same stock as its predecessor, but was equipped with a 22-inch barrel and a Smith Enterprise muzzle brake. The rifle was adopted by the U.S. Coast Guard who found its range and fire power optimal for their operations. 

The M14 was continually modified, and parts of the gun were upgraded or incorporated into other weapons, most often sniper rifles. The M14 was the best starting point for the United States military building from. Powerful rifles such as the M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle and M89SR Model 89 Sniper Rifle were designed through heavily modifying the M14in the 1980’s. 

The AWC G2A, M21, and M25 sniper rifles were constructed in the 90’s and 2000’s using the M14 design as a base, and modifying it into several different variants. Today the M14 is still in use today by the US military. In fact, it can be found in all four main branches. It is mostly used for training and non-combat situations, but the M14’s successors are sometimes used as sniper rifles in the field. 

The M14 is commonly seen in ceremonies conducted by the honor guards, color guards, and drill teams. Even though the rifle was retired as the standard issue weapon for the armed forces before it saw much combat, the M14 still had a solid design, which the military used for several decades. Now watch “The Evolution of the M16 Rifle.” Or check out “Top 10 Best Military Rifles Around the World.”