Israeli Defense Forces M14 Sniper rifle project

[buffalowinter]

Got a hankering for an IDF M114 sniper rifle. I remember seeing these things and seeing pats kits and even complete rifles for sale and thinking what an abomination. The rifles were imported by SAI and stocks refinished in a black crinkle coat---way to ruin a piece of history. here's the real thing.

Anyway, option 1 was to find a rifle. Searched and found none. Closest I came was one of the SAI rifles with the crinkle finish that sold for 5K in 2010.
AUCTION CLOSED
SOLD FOR: $5,011.00

History:
86 Bids ($0.01 starting bid)
Bid Increment: $10.00
Auction Start:
(February 24, 2010 15:46:42 PT)
Auction EndedMarch 7, 2010 17:37:00 PT)

Plan 2 was to find an old parts kit and put one together...fat chance.

Plan 3 was to build one from scratch. Hide member Kasumi sold me a scope mount at a price that was more of a donation than a sale...big Thank You! I found a butt plate...yes it's special for the sniper...on Gun Broker. Found some close matching recoil pads, a sling from Zahal, and bought two Fiber glass M14 stocks, albeit in terrible condition, from Numrich. I had a Photonic scope on hand. Bought a new Loaded Springfield M1a with stainless National Match Barrel and cerakoted it graphite black. I planned to replicate the cheek piece as closely as i could from wood, make a mold, and lay up a new one in fiberglass.
Here's the stuff.

As luck would have it, after I had procured all of the above parts, someone on the M14 forum answered my add and sold me an original stock complete with bipod and sling, and an original mount. These things are incredibly rare, especially in the US. Some units were brought into Canada. Now all I have to do is reassemble the parts, see how it shoots, and work on accurizing it. Pics to follow of the assembled product.

And assembled...had to make a new screw for the scope mount locking nut. I had two and both were stripped.

 

[Random Guy]

Looks like you have the key parts. Good luck with your build. https://www.snipershide.com/shootin...rifle-project-completed.6947386/#post-7786526

 

[Kasumi]

Happy to contribute in a small way to the build, looks great! Now that you don't need it, I'll find the non stripped screw mount for sure ! If so.....I'll mail it to you.

 

[buffalowinter]

Thanks, the stripped screw was the only Gunsmithing involved in this project...but it was a challenge. The locking knob has a unique profile, so machining a new one is next to impossible without CNC or making a mold and forging a new one. Of course the threads of the screw are 12-32...nearly impossible to find. You could machine one of get a die and make a new one. I found a die but it was over $30. It turns out that the Savage MK1 action screw is 12-32...so I bought a couple of those. I then milled out the old stripped screw on the locking knob. I created a cavity for the MK1 screw to fit in. This is a captured screw so I had to hand file the bottom portion of the screw to get rid of the threads. My initial attempt was to weld the two together. For numerous reasons that did not work out well, so I milled it all out again and moved on to screw number 2. My second option was to use Brownell's hi-force solder. That worked well, and appears to be plenty strong. Then I had to cut the screw to the right length which was a tedious trial and error process. There is only about an 1/8 inch portion of thread to hold the mount in place. Any longer and the slide won't close. Any shorter and the threads won't catch...hence all the stripped screws on the knobs.

This is the failed welding method. The solder one ended up much nicer.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Nicely done!

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[eugevita]

Nice rifle! How does she shoot?

 

[Harleystoo]

One of my favorite sniper rifle set-ups. Thanks for sharing.
It has always impressed me how the Jews use so many German weaponry.

 

[Forgetful Coyote]

One of my favorite sniper rifle set-ups. Thanks for sharing.
It has always impressed me how the Jews use so many German weaponry.

Even they cant deny German quality/innovation. To this day, the Swiss and German rifles dominate the international match scene. Olympics and 300m matches are literally pretty much all German and Swiss rifles: Bleiker, Walther, Grunig & Elmiger, Tanner, Hammerli, Keppeler, etc...
IMO that speaks volumes. The most competitive matches in the world are basically always won by a German/Swiss rifle(although American barrels are quite often used and IMO the best anywhere!).