M1A (M-14)

Length Overall	Barrel Length	Weight	Caliber	Action Type	Magazine Capacity
44.3"	22"	8.7 Pounds	.308 (7.62x51)	Gas Semi Auto	20

    This is a semi auto version of the M-14 rifle. This gun was the replacement for the M-1 Garand in 1957. The gun was essentially a shortened, lightened Garand with a box magazine, chambered for the new .308 cartridge. The 308 was an attempt to duplicate the ballistics of the respected 30-06 cartridge in a smaller case using some of the new higher powered propellants available. Although replaced in Army service by the M-16, the gun is still employed as a sniper rifle (M-21), and has been issued by special request to Marine units as recently as the Gulf War. If the short comings of the Garand (heavy, bulky, 8-round clip, substantial recoil of a full powered cartridge) led to the M-14, then the short comings of the M-14 inspired the development of the AR-10, later to become the M-16. The worst fault of the M-14 was that it was an attempt to produce a fully automatic weapon of light weight which used a full powered cartridge and was shoulder fired. The weapon was unusable in fully auto mode, and most of the rifles issued had locks which prevented the user from engaging in fully auto fire.
    As a semi auto the M-14, or as it is known, the M1-A is a superb piece. It has the Garand virtues of ruggedness, and reliability, while improving upon the weight and magazine capacity. The .308 cartridge does not have the potential of the 30-06, but in standard military loads, the .308 will do most jobs about as well. As a sniper round, this is considered to be an 800 yard cartridge, although hits out to 1000 yards are not considered to be extraordinary. Famed sniper Carlos Hathcock made 93 confirmed kills with this cartridge in Viet Nam, including regular shots at 1000-1200 yards, and one confirmed kill at 2500 yards. This is outside of what is regularly considered the performance envelope of this rifle, but it does show what is possible in the hands of an experienced operator. My M1-A has a B-Square scope mount with a Bushnell 2-9x 40mm scope mounted. The scope mount allows the use of the standard Peep sight for close in shooting. The gun was made in China and shoots a little better than 2 inch groups at 100 yards. This is pretty much standard performance from the M-14/M1-A, and with very little tuning I plan to bring that group size down to about 1 inch. The match versions of the M1-A routinely shoot half inch groups.