Yet, according to military standards, acceptable accuracy from the M14 is 5.5 inches at 100 yards – a full inch larger than the M16's standards. Given that a DMR must, by definition, extend the effective range of a squad, its DMR needs to reliably hit targets beyond the reach of the infantryman's standard rifle or carbine. Therein lies the biggest problem with the M14: accurizing the rifle and holding on to that accuracy.Īccuracy is a measure of consistency when it comes to rifles. Seriously, disturbing the gun's bedding – the way it's glued into a stock - doesn't just shift point of impact, it reduces overall accuracy. So, if soldiers love the gun, it must be pretty decent, right? Sure, so long as the rifle is clamped into a very heavy, expensive chassis and the soldier carrying it never drops it, or touches the handguards. Infantrymen from every branch fielding a DMR in combat have nothing but praise for the guns' performance in the vast expanses of Iraq and Afghanistan. The vaunted DMR bridges the gap between the M4 and dedicated sniping weapon systems like the M24. It's the design itself – especially for the role it has been shoehorned into: the Designated Marskman Rifle. On a side note, carrying a combat load of 7.62 isn't much fun, and doesn't offer the average infantryman nearly as much firepower as the same weight in 5.56 rounds.īut that's not what makes the M14 so awful. While the rifle's hard-hitting 7.62x51mm NATO round is vastly superior to the M16's 5.56mm at defeating light cover and the dense foliage found in South East Asian jungles, it also makes the rifle very tough to control. Like the AK, the M14's action can tolerate debris and fouling better than the direct-impingement M16. It's a long-stroke, piston-driven action that's very similar to the most prolific, assault rifle in history: the AK-47. The one thing the M14 has going for it, is its method of operation.
0 kommentar(er)
