M14 Rifle

Hey all,

Just came home from a session with the M14! I was finally able to pick her up from the shop on Thursday night, but today was my first day off from work.

Overall, I gotta say...this is a CRAZY deal for $499. A real 7.62x51mm NATO battle rifle, available in Canada, even for shooters on a budget. Or even cheap bastards like me. What's not to love?

Well...It does have a few shortcomings. The Chu wood stock is not as good looking or durable as US walnut, but you can exchange that for $100. 5 round magazines suck hard, but such is Canadian law. And the sights are not as robust as US models, but you can just drop in a set from a Garand or a US made M1A or M14 rifle, they just fit right in.

Bear in mind a US rifle is $1900 and you can see why there's a couple cut corners here.

Now the good news...its actually closer to the old US Military M14 rifle than the Springfields we buy for $2k dollars! A forged receiver, as opposed to cast, a one piece firing pin, tighter gas system, and flash hiders already bored out to National Match specifications. Can't go wrong.

I'm actually VERY surprised by the accuracy of this rifle. In the last two pictures, you get an idea of the sight picture, and there's a group I shot today. Four rounds into two inches, from standing supported, with Remington hunting ammo. Not too shabby for an eyeball and iron sights huh?

7.62x51mm NATO, which most of us know as 308 Winchester, is a very powerful rifle round. It can shoot accurately from an M14 to 500 meters if the shooter does their part, defeat cover which would laugh at a C-7 or M-16 rifle, and is plenty enough gun for even moose hunting. Cheap surplus ammunition is still available in Canada to shoot holes in targets other than your wallet.

The sights on this rifle (as well as the Garand) have to be the BEST that mankind ever devised. Sharp and crystal clear, easy to see, and fully adjustible.

One click of the dial moves your bullet strike one inch per each one hundred yards you are shooting. Thus:

1 click at 100 yards is one inch
1 click at 200 yards is two inches
1 click at 300 yards is three inches
1 click at 400 yards is four inches

and so on.

So lets say our rifle is zeroed for 200 yards and we want to shoot something 400 yards away. My data book shows a 147 grain FMJ boat tail round dropping 22.3 inches, or almost two feet, at that range. So, one click being four inches at 400 yards, you need simply 6 clicks of elevation to put yourself at 24", and your shot would hit 2 inches high on target.

Pretty simple eh?

Ergonomics are very good. Not AR-15 good, but it's very comfy. Heavier than say, a 30-30 lever action rifle, but no heavier than a scoped bolt action. And the weight does soak up some recoil and allow you to get back on target faster.

Seriously...at this price everyone should buy at least one.

Here's some pics...As usual, click for the big version!