This is more my area of understanding.

Nothing up to the standards of some, but fun for this M14 guy. One 90s and one 60s it's all fun. Whatta Hobby!


Attachment 51793Attachment 51794

Now I have to preface this as I know very little on the M14 sniper platform. But I did find several thousand pages that are unpublished from Vietnam on the Sniper program.

From what little preliminary research I conducted books have messed up a lot on this topic too it seems. There is a completely new M16 Sniper that was issued to all the Divisions in NAM that I have never seen pictured, or mentioned in any book. The books are also wrong on the variant of M70 sniper used in NAM by the Army as the rifle is a completely different model. I actually have counts of variants and styles of rifles used and to which Divisions they were issued and what years.

I do plan on publishing the NAM docs soon, not so much for me to write about them, but for others to conduct research on.

Here are some pics of what I believe are likely the XM-21 prototype. I have a whole folder on this rifle. It's too bad none of these XM-21's are legal to own. I found about 300 serial numbers of the first XM-21's shipped to NAM. If they existed in the public you could totally document a decent chunk of the XM-21's that went to Vietnam.

https://i.imgur.com/ijYgEHlh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/sq8a27Nh.jpg

As I have mentioned before, most published books are only as good as the research and effort the writer was willing to put into the project. Most, I have seen, are very lacking in real facts but loaded with hearsay and supposition or as remember by. Often times just table talk memories. Thank you cplnorton for the hard work you have put into this area of knowledge.
Personally I just enjoy working with and on these rifles and my cobweb filled brain group enjoys the little I have gleaned from first hand experience over the last 57 years.

I just love the M14 and all it's variants. Just gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. Now all the technical gobbly gook it better left to the folks that enjoy that side of things. Love reading it when I have time but I would much rather be in the shop hammering on one. Whatta Hobby!


Attachment 51813

Attachment 51814

ART2 (including mount) all USGI on a Civie M1A that was convert to NFA back in 86,

with an all correct E2 stock (not saying it would have both the ART and E2 at the same time,


I have a Redfield ART as well, just need to find the pics,


both scopes have cans,

E2s have never been a favorite of mine though I have had a few over the years.



Attachment 51815

Now ya'll have me looking for photos. Whatta Hobby!



Attachment 51816

- - - Updated - - -

The offset mounts made loading from our stripper clips possible. Whatta Hobby!



Attachment 51817

What collections!

I actually have the docs on those M84 and mounts for the M14. I think they made 300 if I'm remembering the docs correctly. They put them on NM M14 rifles and send them over.

I actually have a deep love for the M14, though I've never really studied in that great of detail. My family were class III's and I grew up right by Camp Perry. So I have set up at shows since I was about 10. Well by Perry before the black rifles took over, everything was M14. Karl Maunz also was there, and always had tons of M14's stuff from the teams and I always hit him up first thing every show to see what goodies he dug out out of his massive collection. Especially for anything Marine.

I remember in the Armory too at Camp Horno at Pendleton in the late 90's, we had several M14's in the back. With my class III background I was the only one that knew much of anything about them. So I showed the armorers how to tear them apart. They didn't have a clue. lol

I wish I would have paid more attention to the features of them, but at that time I was a shooter and not a collector. I remember there being a lot of off NAM era stuff in the back in crates.



.

years ago, (80's) I was at a show with Dad and a guy asked him if he wanted a couple of M14's,
so I was sent to look them over,

completely GI guns, all original, but no paperwork so we said no thanks and walked away,


years later a customer brought us another 2, to ask if he got a good deal or not,
on 2 original M14's with no papers,,, not sure if they were the same 2,

so we stripped them, torched the receivers, and suggested he toss them in a couple dumpsters or rivers on the way home,,

ordered 2 SA receivers and built him 1 nice rifles from the resulting parts kits

Unpapered firearms were the joy of the tailgaters outside some shows I attended in the 80's. Never even touched any of them for fear of a trap being set. Saw M-60s, M-79s, BARs, Thompsons and even some AKs. Prices were good, but not good enough to want to take a trip to jail. I enjoy my freedoms way too much. One was at a U.S. Army reserve base.