From the History Channel
TOP SHOT Weapons Rundown
M1A/M14
Excerpt from the book “U.S. M14, The Last Steel Warrior”
by Frank Iannamico
by Frank Iannamico
The great success of the M1 Garand rifle during World War II, virtually assured that its successor would be of a similar design. Although the M1 rifle was revered by the U.S. Army there were several changes desired in the weapon to include; lighter weight; a full-automatic capability and a detachable large capacity magazine. A program was begun to produce such a variation of the M1 as early as 1944.
The Select-Fire M1 Garand
When the Infantry formally requested an automatic version of the M1 rifle in September of 1944, the Ordnance Department responded by informing the Infantry Board that they had already begun to develop a select-fire version of the M1 rifle back in May of 1944. The select-fire M1 under development at the Springfield Armory was designated as the T20 rifle.
Despite many problems, development of the T20 rifle continued and by the spring of 1945 a weapon designated as the T20E2 emerged. The T20E2 could fire either semiautomatically or full automatic with a cyclic rate of 700 rounds per minute. In May of 1945 the T20E2 was designated as a Limited Procurement Type. On 17 May 1945 the Ordnance Technical Committee recommended the procurement of 100,000 T20E2 rifles, designated as the Rifle, Caliber .30 M2. The war ended before any of the rifles could be produced and delivered. However, the end of the war did not end the development of the T20 series, scant post-war funds merely slowed it down, and with the war over time was no longer an issue.
During the post World War II era research and development continued, culminating with the T44 series. When the T44E4 rifle (the M14 prototype) was pitted against its main competitor the Belgian FN FAL (designated as the T48 rifle) the T44E4 was chosen over the T48. One was that the T44E4 (M14), could be manufactured on existing M1 Garand machinery, and many of the internal parts were interchangeable between the two rifles. The U.S. adopted the T44E4 designating it as 7.62 mm, M14 Rifle.
The New Light Infantry Rifle
The M14 rifle was formally adopted on 1 May 1957 to replace the M1 Garand rifle as the “Standard A” infantry weapon of the United States armed forces. The M14 that was very similar to the M1 rifle, evolved from a long series of experimental and prototype weapons. The M14 was chambered for a new cartridge known as the 7.62 mm NATO. The 7.62 round was .5-inch shorter in its overall length over the previous .30 caliber M2 (30’06) round used in the M1 rifle, but had nearly the same ballistics.
The M14 rifle was originally intended as a multi-purpose weapon, to replace the M1 rifle, BAR, M1 carbine and the submachine gun. Originally, there were to be special variations of the M14 produced to replace these weapons. The special heavy-barrel M15 was to supersede the BAR. A compact version of the M14 rifles with a folding stock was intended to replace the carbine and submachine gun. Due to limited budgets, the special purpose M14 rifles never evolved past the prototype stage. The M14 rifle, along with the newly adopted M60 7.62 mm general purpose machine gun, was expected to fulfill all of the needs of the infantryman, while using a common cartridge.
The M14 was manufactured by the Springfield Armory and several commercial contractors that included the Winchester Division of the Olin-Matheison Corporation, (231,501 rifles) Harrington and Richardson Inc. (537,512 rifles) and Thompson Ramo Wooldridge, Inc. (319,163 rifles) The government cost per M14 rifle varied by contract, with an average cost of $88.00 each.
The M14 in U.S. Service
The replacement of the old M1 Garand rifle with the M14 was a slow process due in part to budget cuts, and the idea that the M1 was still a capable Infantry weapon. One of the first Army units to be issued the M14 rifle was the famous 101st Airborne Division. Initial dispersion of the new weapon to other units was not performed with any sense of urgency, at least not until Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara learned the troops posted in West Germany were still armed with the M1 rifle. At the time, U.S. check points dividing East and West Germany were the considered the hot spots of the world. The United States had expected the next war to begin with a Soviet invasion through Eastern Europe.
By the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 the M14 was being issued in substantial numbers to both the Army and Marine Corps. The first Marine Corps units to land in-force on the shores of Vietnam on 8 March 1965 were armed with the 7.62 mm M14. Vietnam would be the first large-scale baptism of fire for the M14. The M14 weapon, like its ancestor the M1 rifle, proved to be hard hitting and reliable under the worst of conditions.
Shortly after the M14 rifle was adopted the many individuals in the U.S. armed services became interested in a new small caliber lightweight rifle called the AR-15. The AR-15 would eventually be adopted as the M16 rifle and upgraded to the M16A1 configuration just a short time later.
One of the primary differences between the M16A1 and the M14 weapons was weight, not only of the rifles themselves, but the ammunition. A standard M14 rifle, and a combat load of 100 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition, weighed seventeen pounds. For the same weight a soldier could carry an M16A1 weapon and 280 rounds of 5.56 ammunition.
On 21 January 1963, the Secretary of Defense Robert Strange McNamara announced that production of the U.S. Rifle M14 would be terminated after the fiscal year’s contracts were completed. On June 30, 1964 M14 production was officially ended after Thompson Ramo Wooldridge (TRW) delivered the last 200 rifles to the United States Army. The untimely end of M14 rifle production proved to be a financial disaster to all of the commercial companies involved, who had invested millions of dollars in anticipation of a long production run of the M14.
The M14 rifle had the shortest service life of any “Standard A” rifle ever adopted by the U.S. Military.
A substantial number of old, and for the most part forgotten, U.S. M14 rifles had been reposing in government storage for many years. The rifles have been awaiting their unfitting destiny of being turned into scrap metal. However, world events presented these old warriors with a new opportunity.
The U.S. M14 Rifle in the Middle East
Long after the last M14 was manufactured, it found a new lease on life in 2001. Unfortunately, the majority of them had already been destroyed or given away as foreign military aid. The M14 rifles that remained in government stores, were rebuilt and upgraded by the military, as well as under contract by several commercial entities.
Often hailed as “too powerful” firing the 7.62 mm cartridge, the M14 is proving useful for U.S. troops fighting in the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 5.56 mm M4 and M16A2 weapons while suitable for close engagements in the streets and villages, has often proved wanting in the vast open terrain of the desert. This is were the M14 excels, engaging the enemy at well over 500 meters while remaining well out of range of the 7.62×39 AK weapons often used by the insurgents.
In commemoration of the U.S. government’s initial tasking to the U.S. Army’s Springfield Armory in April 1958 to commence the establishment of a pilot production program for the M14, GDI is offering through the month of April a 20% discount through its PATRIOT PROGRAM to all civilian, military and law enforcement individuals on the G1-OSM™ M14 Optical Sight Mount.
Developing a mount to withstand the rigors of combat, and provide marksman grade capability that would enhance accuracy and increase battlefield effectiveness became our objective. And this objective became our mission statement and focus.
Additionally, GDI is running a contest for the best M14/M1A action shot. These may be submitted as either a either picture or video. The winner will receive a FREE GDI G1-OSM™ (Optical Sight Mount) valued at $275.
