M14 Reliability Problems, Part 2
Early problems with the M14 rifle. More about issues with the M14 and how they were fixed by a Springfield Armory ordnance engineer.
Fans of the M14 are a dedicated bunch and have asked for something written by someone “that actually understands the rifle.” The previous, Part 1 to this featured an article originally published in True Magazine (April 1963) titled “The U.S. Army’s Blunderbuss Bungle That Fattened Your Taxes” by John S. Tompkins.
One reply about that article was the writer was not a gunsmith or shooter and “probably never owned one.” A good observation!
The article below was written by an ordnance engineer that worked full-time preparing and maintaining M14 rifles for Springfield Armory when this was the standard issue service rifle. He built and maintained both standard-issue M14 rifles and National Match variants, later worked at Picatinny and Rock Island Arsenals, and then as a gun designer with Sturm, Ruger before retiring.
This article appeared in the February 1993 issue of American Rifleman.