M14 Rifle History and Development - Miami Rifle & Pistol Club

M14 Rifle History

and Development

Text Only Edition

Lee Emerson

Copyright 2009, 2010 by Lee Emerson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or

by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any

information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright

owner.

Front Cover: September 01, 1987 - Armed with a M14A1 rifle, a U. S. Navy Sea-Air-Land

(SEAL) team member hides in the foliage at the edge of a river while providing cover for

fellow team members during a tactical warfare training exercise. Photo by Journalist First

Class Lynn Jenkins, U. S. Navy.

Back Cover: Photo by the author.

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¡°Sincere and strong love is greatly gratified and delighted in the prosperity of the beloved

object; and if the love be perfect, the greater the prosperity of the beloved is, the more is

the lover pleased and delighted; for the prosperity of the beloved is, as it were, the food of

love, and therefore the greater that prosperity, the more richly is love feasted.¡± ¨C Jonathan

Edwards, Heaven, A World of Charity Or Love, Northampton, England, 1738.

This book is dedicated to those who love and to those who love liberty.

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Table of Contents

Preface

9

Part 1: The Military M14

11

Introduction

11

Engineering Material

12

Engineering Definitions

12

AISI 4100 and 8600 Series Alloy Steels

15

M14 Rifle Preservation

17

M14 Rifle Lubrication

21

M14 Receiver Material

37

AISI 8620 Alloy Steel

40

How was the U. S. Government Issue M14 receiver made?

41

Receiver Heat Treatment

42

Development of Magnetic Particle Inspection

44

USGI Receiver Geometry

44

Intervening Rifle Models: M2 through M13

48

M14 Rifle Development Highlights

49

M14 Rifle Factory Inspection

59

M14 Production at Springfield Armory

60

M14 Production at Winchester

62

M14 Production at Harrington & Richardson

64

M14 Production at TRW

70

The TRW Mystique

71

Raritan Arsenal

74

Experimental Items for the USGI M14 Rifle

75

The Issue M14 Rifle

82

The M14 Rifle in Overhaul

89

M14 in Service with the U. S. Army and U. S. Marine Corps

90

The M14 in the U. S. Navy

101

The M14 in Other Service

102

The M14 in the Arts and Entertainment

105

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