Armscorp "M21" Marked M14 NM Semi-Automatic Rifle with ART II Scope

[GunnyUSMC]

Soooo.....

Many years ago as a young Marine, I remember my first M14 and it was love at first shot. I later became part of a small USMC sponsored shooting team (not the official USMC Rifle Team) and was issued a match M14 built by the USMC Rifle Team armorers. This rifle is what i first used to shoot 1000yd matches with only Iron Sights.

After more than 40 years, I have finally made the move to purchase a Armscorp "M21" Marked M14 NM Semi-Automatic Rifle with ART II Scope. In addition to this cool scope from the Viet Nam era, the barrel appears to be made by Krieger. I purchased it through the Rock Island Auction and am currently anxiously awaiting its delivery.

Can anyone point me to resources for training material on the ART II scope?

 

[Tanstaafl]

Awesome rifle, congratulations!

 

[nn8734]

Soooo.....

Many years ago as a young Marine, I remember my first M14 and it was love at first shot. I later became part of a small USMC sponsored shooting team (not the official USMC Rifle Team) and was issued a match M14 built by the USMC Rifle Team armorers. This rifle is what i first used to shoot 1000yd matches with only Iron Sights.

After more than 40 years, I have finally made the move to purchase a Armscorp "M21" Marked M14 NM Semi-Automatic Rifle with ART II Scope. In addition to this cool scope from the Viet Nam era, the barrel appears to be made by Krieger. I purchased it through the Rock Island Auction and am currently anxiously awaiting its delivery.

Can anyone point me to resources for training material on the ART II scope?

View attachment 8446804

Beautiful M21, glad it isn't a Springfield lol.

Armscorp makes good M14 rifles

Here's a PDF of the ART II manual from Bassett Machine's website:

http://www.bassettmachine.com/files/ART2_operating%20manual.pdf

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Beautiful M21, glad it isn't a Springfield lol.

Armscorp makes good M14 rifles

Here's a PDF of the ART II manual from Bassett Machine's website:
http://www.bassettmachine.com/files/ART2_operating manual.pdf

Awesome!!!

Thanks and THANKS!

Any ammo and or reload recommendations?

I was going to purchase a case of Hornady Match .308 Winchester to get started with then reuse the brass for reloading.

 

[nn8734]

Awesome!!!

Thanks and THANKS!

Any ammo and or reload recommendations?

I was going to purchase a case of Hornady Match .308 Winchester to get started with then reuse the brass for reloading.

My LRB M14 likes the 169 SMK using Fed commercial brass, 43g IMR 4064 and a Fed210M primer. I've owned mine for about a year and it's actually my favorite rifle to shoot (it competes for shooting time with my M40A5, Mk11 Mod 1 and Mk13 Mod 7) but prefer shoot it over all of them.

As always, work up...I have no pressure signs, load is relatively temp stable and works well.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Excellent.

I was going to start with VVN555 as I have about 15lbs of it and seems to be perfect for this application.

What MV range are you targeting?

I heard that the ART II is designed to work more effectively with the ballistics of the NATO Match ammo. Not sure if this is correct and if so, i am trying to figure out how to replicate those through my own reloading efforts.

 

[nn8734]

Excellent.

I was going to start with VVN555 as I have about 15lbs of it and seems to be perfect for this application.

What MV range are you targeting?

I heard that the ART II is designed to work more effectively with the ballistics of the NATO Match ammo. Not sure if this is correct and if so, i am trying to figure out how to replicate those through my own reloading efforts.

I was shooting for 2600-2650 and ended up at 2670 on average though havent shot it since April and wont until Oct as it's a million degrees here so will take more MV readings then. The 169 smk is significantly flatter than 173/168/175 smk bullets starting around 450m or so and requires about 1 mil less wind on average beyond 800m. Ive taken mine to 1000m without any problems; my avg DA is 5000ish...

How far will you be typically shooting yours?

 

[ODCMP]

Congratulations, I looked at your rifle and scope during the preview day of the auction and it looked like a nice one! I wasn't planning to bid since I have a similar one, so I didn't look through the scope our inspect it in detail. The overall impression was excellent.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I was shooting for 2600-2650 and ended up at 2670 on average though havent shot it since April and wont until Oct as it's a million degrees here so will take more MV readings then. The 169 smk is significantly flatter than 173/168/175 smk bullets starting around 450m or so and requires about 1 mil less wind on average beyond 800m. Ive taken mine to 1000m without any problems; my avg DA is 5000ish...

How far will you be typically shooting yours?

I enjoy long range. I was involved with PRS (with an AR-10) for a little while and have since transitioned to bolt guns for FClass and ELR. I have access to a really nice range that goes out to 800yds. I suspect most of my shooting will be between 500-800. I would like to find competitions that focus on military firearms just not sure if they exist or what to look for.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

Congratulations, I looked at your rifle and scope during the preview day of the auction and it looked like a nice one! I wasn't planning to bid since I have a similar one, so I didn't look through the scope our inspect it in detail. The overall impression was excellent.

oh wow!

I must admit that i am a little anxious about not seeing it in person before purchasing. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Random Guy]

After more than 40 years, I have finally made the move to purchase a Armscorp "M21" Marked M14 NM Semi-Automatic Rifle with ART II Scope. In addition to this cool scope from the Viet Nam era,

….Nice, congrats on getting that rifle. It looks nice. One nit pick in defense of the M21 service history, the Vietnam era scopes were called “AR-TELs” and were made in 1969. They lacked a separate adjustment for magnification and range, it was combined. The ART II scope fixed that issue with two independent rings that separately controlled magnification and range. The ART II also had a better scope mount that used two attachment points. The first 1275 ART II scopes were delivered to the U.S. Army in December 1980, and went into service in 1981. So ART II scopes are not Vietnam era scopes, as the US ended its involvement in Vietnam in 1975. Just a minor correction regarding the historical record.

Attached picture shows the 1980s era ART II at top - versus the 1969 era AR-TEL on bottom:

 

[Woodlanddude]

Beautiful rifle! I'd look for a load that matches the ART II. What were the specs then? Was it the LC Match 173 grain ball round? Maybe 175 smk and match velocity for a ballistic clone to come close?

 

[GunnyUSMC]

….Nice, congrats on getting that rifle. It looks nice. One nit pick in defense of the M21 service history, the Vietnam era scopes were called “AR-TELs” and were made in 1969. They lacked a separate adjustment for magnification and range, it was combined. The ART II scope fixed that issue with two independent rings that separately controlled magnification and range. The ART II also had a better scope mount that used two attachment points. The first 1275 ART II scopes were delivered to the U.S. Army in December 1980, and went into service in 1981. So ART II scopes are not Vietnam era scopes, as the US ended its involvement in Vietnam in 1975. Just a minor correction regarding the historical record.

Thanks for the information and correction.

 

[sinister]

When I went through the USAMU Sniper course in October - November 1982 we shot M118 Match. Later issue was M852, then M118 Special Ball.