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Originally Posted by M4Guru
Supposedly, Crane procured some 16' barrels from Mike Rock for the MK14 project, SA copied the barrel profile, and VOILA! SOCOM M14.  |
Yes there was such an animal. Folding stock affixed to a issued fiberglass stock whose original stock was sheared off. Shot well and even functioned. Recoil was very manageable due to the vortex (?) flash hider. I shot it at 100 so have no idea how well it would hold at any ranges that make a difference. I called Crane and inquired as to how much it would cost the Brigade for about 110 of them. Needless to say, the cost was stunning and we went with Fulton Armory uppers. I have seen a bunch of these uppers go through our SDM courses over the last eight months. All function flawlessly and hold some very good accuracy with the issued M-855. That after a year in combat with no repairs or rebuilds.
3/2 SBCT got 220 rack grade M-14s prior to deployment two plus years ago. I was with them when they first shot them. I was surprised that only two had to have serious work done in order to function. They had a decent bridge mount on about 180 of them and a Leupold Vari X tactical optic. 3/2 found out real fast that just because they have a scope on them doesn't mean they will shoot any better than a rack grade. While in Iraq, some of these were altered using various stocks etc. 1/25th inherited them from 3/2. My best estimate is that 3/4 of them sat in arms rooms as guys didn't care for them due to recoil, weight, and length. The guys who liked them used them regularly. Most just dealt with their M-4 as they had a higher hit probability due to its low recoil.
My views of the M-14 are known in other threads.
Gene