Type: Battle Rifle

Nations: United States, South Korea, Vietnam, Philippines +

Branch: Armed Forces

Time Period: 1959-1968

Conflicts: Vietnam War, First Gulf War, Invasion of Panama, Somalian Civil War, Global War on Terror, War in Afghanistan +

Other Names: M1A

Caliber: 7.62x51mm NATO

Facts: The M14 was the US entry into the era of the battle rifle. It was developed as an improvement upon the M1 Garand and utilizing many similar parts such as the receiver, trigger and safety. Many of the order arms remained the same between the M14 and its predecessor, the M1 Garand. The M14 had a barrel length of 22 inches, weighed about 10 lbs and was select fire. Select fire means it can fire in both semi-automatic and fully-automatic, but firing the M14 on full-auto was not very controllable. It used a gas operated rotating bolt with an adjustable gas port for adverse conditions and is fed by a 20 round box magazine of 7.62x51mm NATO. It inspired some foreign weapon designs and although formally replaced in 1964 by the M16 in the Army, it still seen in limited use today as a marksman rifle such as with the M21 and M39 EMR or survives in other variants such as the Mk14 EBR.