Not in use? It's still the service rifle of the military. I used to love the M14. I trained with it in Basic, then, when I qualified overseas, they handed me an M16, which I'd never fired before. The M16 is lighter and has a much greater fire rate, but those are the only advantages, IMHO. I thought it felt tinny next to the M14.
Then, after qualifying with the M16, I got to patrol our perimeter (it was my turn about once a month) with an M14. We were about a mile from the Czech border and many thought the Russians were coming over. They issued me two rounds of ammo. So, rate of fire was not a big concern. <G> I guess the Russians couldn't get the first two guys to cross the border because I had them scared, so all was jake.
The truth was, the Army feared a GI turning an automatic weapon on his officers and NCOs much more than they feared the Russkies. And, they were 100% correct. <G> |
