The One Time They Got it Right

There is a time-honored adage that says, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." and it's still true today.

When I got to Vietnam in 1967, our military was "replacing" the M-14 rifle with an underpowered, unreliable piece of plastic and aluminum alloy called an "M-16."  Today the '16 is called the "M-4", and it's equipped with all kinds of "gee-whiz" stuff, but after 40+ years of modifications, it is still jamming when conditions get dirty, according to some of TODAY's vets I've talked to at Marine functions.

The original intention was to "fill a need that didn't exist", through a new design by Eugene Stoner and good lobbying by Colt.   The "selling point" in the early 60's, was to create a lightweight, combat rifle of SMALL caliber, so it would be easier for soldiers to carry.........and with smaller ammunition, the guys could pack more OF it.

What the "bureaucratic experts" failed to realize was that it doesn't MATTER how much more ammo you can carry, if you CAN'T DEPEND ON THE GUN!  By the time I landed in DaNang, most everyone was carrying the new M-16, although there WERE still some '14's out there, and I eventually got my hands on one.

No war stories here, although I could tell you things about early M-16 performance that would make you sick.  I don't care WHAT you might have "read" in some magazine.......I was OVER there with it.  It was a piece of crap THEN, as it is NOW.  And even if they ever DO make it reliable.....high-speed 22's are best used on coyotes------not on those who can shoot back.  And they don't plow through heavy brush UNDEFLECTED like the larger 30 calibers do.  It was the wrong rifle then, as it is now.

After World War I, the War Department (known today as "DOD") decided to replace the old bolt-action Springfields with a semi-automatic rifle that would "re-chamber" itself after each shot.  In 1936, Canadian-born gun designer John C. Garand designed the "M-1".......which General George Patton would later dub the "greatest war implement ever devised."  The M-1 Garand became a battlefield legend in World War II and Korea.  Shooting our old tried & true 30.06 cartridge, it had all the power and range a combat troop could ever want, and the action was built to "loose enough" tolerances so that dirt, sand, mud and snow, wouldn't normally slow it down between cleanings.

Unlike today's magazines, the old M-1 carried an 8-round clip that top-loaded into a spring-loaded follower, that ejected the empty clip after the last round is fired.

To make the rifle "recycle", a little bit of expanding gas from the  burning cartridge powder is "tapped-off" as the bullet exits the barrel, in that plug chamber area under the front sight.  The gas now pushes a big spring-loaded rod (right photo)

The rod is connected to the bolt, and it pushes it backwards, ejecting the empty case and re-cocking the hammer.   Than it springs forward again, stripping a new cartridge from the inserted clip and chambers it again for the next shot.   Worked very well, and still does today.....my particular M-1 is a 1953 vintage, that continues to operate flawlessly to this day.

At 9.5 lbs, the old Garand WAS a bit heavy, but the power and reliability was MORE than a good "trade-off."  The gun was THERE for you when you needed it!

It only had 2 drawbacks:  When that empty 8-round clip was EJECTED, it made a distinctive "pinging" sound, that rang just loud enough to let the "bad guys" know you were empty.  The other thing was the muzzle flash, which could be seen pretty well in subdued lighting.

After Korea, there was fresh money for defense, and DOD asked the Army and Marine Corps what they wanted.  The answers were virtually parallel......."We want another Garand, but with a 20-round magazine, and do something about the muzzle flash..........DON'T SCREW WITH ANYTHING ELSE!"  The troops loved the rest of that design just as it was.  They liked the power, the range, and the ability of that gun to perform even in the most adverse conditions.

DOD went to Springfield......who had also built the M-1, and told them what they wanted, and NOT to "re-invent the wheel" anywhere else.   Springfield LISTENED.

And in 1957, the M-14 was born, and side-by-side, you can see where one came from the other.

The rugged receivers are of equal integrity (that's the M-1 at the top, and to the left).  Same graduated rear sights).

The trigger housings are identical, except for the longer floorplate on the M-1, which didn't have to make room for a 20-round magazine like the M-14 does.  But look at the REST of it...........(you can hear the echos faintly ring today-------("Don't screw with anything else!").

They DID however, cut the cartridge down a bit from 30.06 to .308, which was still good enough to put the enemy down reliably,  and provided for a slightly faster rate of fire as well.

The M-1 receiver is on your left.  With the follower assembly no longer needed because of the new magazine, the cavity on the '14 is completely void.

"Gas tap-off" comes a bit earlier on the M-14, then on the old Garand, and is actually "improved via a "floating piston' that buffers the operating rod.

So the "pinging" empty clip was solved with a 20-round magazine, and a "flash suppressor" was installed on the M-14's 22-inch barrel.  (The M-1's barrel is 24").

Springfield DID make a "little addition" on their own, but it was a GOOD thing.   This "flip open hinged-buttplate" allowed you to keep the butt of the rifle from sliding around and inching downward under your shoulder pocket during rapid fire sessions.  This feature really kept the rifle STEADY, shot-to-shot.

It was a rare moment in history, when a manufacturer actually LISTENED to what the customer wanted.  "Give us THIS, give us THAT....and leave the rest ALONE."

Things are tough enough as it is, out in the "boonies" (trust me on that)......you cannot always stop and clean a weapon in-between firefights.......so when you have one as good as that old  Garand was, you never wanted it to go away.

The M-1 was time-tested and well trusted-----"just give us a magazine and a flash suppressor for the dark times."  PLEASE don't change anything else.

The M-14 in my opinion, and the opinion of many, was the best combat rifle we've ever had.

Note*......the M-14's slated for combat (as opposed to the standard training version), also had full-auto selectors, but they WERE a HANDFUL to control under full-auto fire with that 308 cartridge in a 10-lb rifle!  I used MY "selector" ONCE in 'Nam, and just left it in "SEMI" the rest of the tour.

But the M-14 was EXACTLY want you wanted.  To this day, I will NEVER understand why we needed some plastic gun shooting the little 223's, that only worked when it "felt like it."

But I carried an M-14 at Camp Pendleton, again in Vietnam (that's my buddy Randy Mapel, the "lighter-compected" guy beside me there with his M-16).  He lives in San Diego today----I just talked with him a couple of days ago.

And I own and shoot one today, along with an M-1 Garand.  My "M-14" is actually the rifle that Springfield is allowed to build for civilians.  It is called an "M1A", built from the original tooling, It is an M-14 WITHOUT a full-auto selector, and NO BAYONET LUG........(why would THAT be a problem to the ATF?).

Most of the original M-14's were destroyed, but they DID keep some "cocooned" away in warehouses.  Good thing too, because over the past few years, many have been brought back out of storage, gone through, retrofitted as "M-21's" and used by snipers, recon and SEAL teams in our mid-east skirmishes...........where it's power, range and reliability.

The old gun has gotten the last laugh here....as have WE who carried it..............45 years later, and that little "Mattell Wonder Toy black rifle" STILL can't "git 'er done"  They still had to bring "the old man" out of retirement!

In 1983, DOD replaced our old sidearm warhorse, the 45 automatic, with the wimpy little 9mm.  ANOTHER dumb move.....just to be "ammo-compatible" with those limp-wrists in NATO.

Political correctness......, but that's another story.  I'm just glad I'm retired now and can carry whatever I want........

For me, Camp Pendleton and Vietnam are distant memories, but here in 2012, old "Zook" STILL carries an M-14, because I believe in it.

(henceforth my blog heading (Faded Scenes and M-14's)