I have had considerable experience with the M14/M1A-series rifles in both peace and war.  As many readers know, the M14 was withdrawn as the American infantry rifle in the late 1960's and replaced by the M16-series rifles.  It was reintroduced as a precision sniper's rifle and earned a considerable reputation as a long range, hard-hitting weapon.  The M21 Sniper's rifle uses the M14 National Match rifle as the basis of this weapon system.  Since first fielded, it has been refined in stages to the M25 Sniper rifle and the M14 Designated Marksman's Rifle (DMR) for the USMC.  What follows is a short guide to outfitting your National Match grade M14 or M1A rifle into a long range, precision rifle.

 

The following vendors are able to supply the necessary items:

1.  Mounting Solutions Plus, www.mountsplus.com -- A.R.M.S. No. 18 scope mount foundation, A.R.M.S. No. 19 throw lever mount, A.R.M.S. No. 22 throw lever 30mm rings, Precision Reflex, Inc. 30mm tactical rings, Anti-Cant Device (ACD).

2.  Sadlak Industries, www.sadlak.com -- scope mount foundation.

3.  Smith Enterprises, www.smithenterprise.com -- scope mount foundation, extended bolt stop, strap-on adjustable cheek piece.

4.  S.W.F.A., Inc., www.swfa.com -- Tasco 10x42M Super Sniper rifle scope.

5.  Laszlo Klemintis (aka Rooster 33), www.whamocamo.bizland.com -- adjustable cheekrest, extended bolt stop.

6.  Versa Pod bipod, www.versapod.com -- Mil-Std-1913 accessory rail, Mil-Std-1913 rail adapter, bipod

 

To mount a rifle scope on this rifle, you must start with a good foundation.  There are three foundations that meet this requirement: (1) the A.R.M.S. No. 18 scope mount foundation, (2) the Sadlak Industries scope mount foundation, and (3) the Smith Enterprises scope mount foundation.  These three foundations attach to the rifle on a semi-permanent basis and are not removed from the receiver.  In all three cases, the stripper clip guide is removed and a floating dovetail block replaces it to secure the foundation.  The latter two foundations -- Sadlak and Smith -- are refined versions of the Brookfield Precision mount designed for the M25 sniper rifle.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another item that improves the operation of the rifle is an extended bolt stop.  The issue bolt stop is operated by the magazine follower to hold the bolt open when the last shot is fired.  This feature facilitates rapid reloads, but the bolt cannot be easily closed with an empty magazine in the rifle.  The magazine must be unseated from the rifle and the operating rod pulled to release the bolt or the bolt held temporarily while the follower is pushed down to allow the bolt stop to release and allow the bolt to close.  The extended bolt stop made by Smith Enterprises or Rooster 33 (Laszlo Klementis) is a product improvement that was proposed for the M14 rifle, but not adopted.  It allows closing of the bolt in a manner similar to the M16/M4-series rifles.

 

 Above: A Smith Enterprises extended bolt stop.

 

 

  

 

The below photo illustrates the problem of mounting a scope on the M14/M1A: the size of the scope objective lens and the necessity to clear the standard iron sights that remain fitted to the rifle.  Either one of these factors require the use of a cheek piece or cheekrest to correctly position the shooter's eye behind the scope in the same way, each and every shot.