Not a vintage sniper rifle project per se, but perhaps others will find this vintage M1A/M14 restoration project interesting...and I'll get to the sniper rifle aspect in a minute.
First, here's pics of my favorite retro project of 2023. I visited a local FFL this summer that I used to frequent years ago, and the manager recalled my collection interests asked me of I was interested in an old M14 parts kits that they had sitting in a box at the back of the shop.
I discerned that the parts kits was actually based on an original 1962 Springfield Armory National Match M14. The FFL had acquired it in an estate purchase from a deceased collector (in good faith) - but the FFL destroyed/severed the receiver into four pieces in accordance w/ BATF guidance. The FFL had deemed it a non-transferrable item, even though technically it was made as semi-automatic weapon from the get-go, and was not an NFA item....but what was done was done. I was just happy to have stumbled upon an all original deactivated 1962 NM that had never been re-built or re-barreled, and I even got the scrap metal pieces to show it's historical provenance.
Quick history: This 348k serial number corresponds to the spring/summer of 1962 - note the factory "NM" stamp on the heel. 1962 was the first year of the NM M14s, with Springfield Armory to deliver the first 3,000 NM M14s by August 1, 1962 for that year's National Match. They were used for 'orientation purposes' that year, and beginning in 1963 were formally used in competition "for score."
I sent a check for $25 to CMP asking to see if this serial number was in their records, and to also let them know the original rifle has been de-activated, but they wrote me back saying that this serial number does not show up "under any rifle nomenclature." So its origins remain an enigma.
It's unfortunate that this historically interesting, first year National Match semi-auto M14 could not have been displayed in a museum...
...but at least the FFL saved all the DNA/original parts and the stock too. Months later I was offered this parts kit by that store, given my collection interest in the old M1 and M14 platform. I wasn't planning on buy anything at that store that day other than perhaps primers, but we worked out a fair price, and they even threw-in the scrap metal that had not yet been placed into the dumpster...thus providing historical provenance.
...using an early SAI M1A commercial receiver from 1977, this rifle was restored (or resurrected) as a historically accurate replica of the first year National Match M14s. Note: The only parts I didn't use from the parts kit was 1) the worn recoil spring, and 2) the gas piston was pitted, so I used a nicer USGI gas piston. The WWI era leather sling seen here was replaced with a more correct vintage M1907 sling with an MRT date of 4-63. Everything else used was original to serial number 348985. (It's shown here with the old WWI era sling that came on this stock).
The commercial Springfield Armory Inc M1A receiver that I used is an early one (4-digit serial #). (The faux selector lock parts are for aesthetics only)
After I cleaned the carbon fouling out of the stock channel, the original serial number written in the stock back in 1962 became visible (it's just behind the sling swivel):
Spot-weld added to the faux selector lock to mimic the aesthetics of the original NM M14s.
Original SA NM M14 barrel, dated April 1962. Throat erosion is 2.5, so its used, but still good enough for an occasional Sunday range trip.
...and here's the glamor picture with some period accessories.
Lastly, and to be respectful of this thread which is supposed to be about vintage sniper rifles, I will point out that the accurized 1962 NM M14 rifle, along with the then brand new 1963 XM118 Match ammo - provided the foundation for the US Army Marksmanship Training Unit (USAMU) to develop in the 1968-69 era the XM21 sniper rifle, which was fielded in quantity in Vietnam in 1969-70. The use of M118 match ammo in Vietnam was the first time that the US Army actually issued match-grade ammo to US Army snipers. So the history of the National Match M14 program directly lead to the US Army’s development of what today qualifies as a vintage sniper rifle, the XM21/M21 fielded from 1968/69 until the early 1990s.
Happy Friday.
First, here's pics of my favorite retro project of 2023. I visited a local FFL this summer that I used to frequent years ago, and the manager recalled my collection interests asked me of I was interested in an old M14 parts kits that they had sitting in a box at the back of the shop.
I discerned that the parts kits was actually based on an original 1962 Springfield Armory National Match M14. The FFL had acquired it in an estate purchase from a deceased collector (in good faith) - but the FFL destroyed/severed the receiver into four pieces in accordance w/ BATF guidance. The FFL had deemed it a non-transferrable item, even though technically it was made as semi-automatic weapon from the get-go, and was not an NFA item....but what was done was done. I was just happy to have stumbled upon an all original deactivated 1962 NM that had never been re-built or re-barreled, and I even got the scrap metal pieces to show it's historical provenance.
Quick history: This 348k serial number corresponds to the spring/summer of 1962 - note the factory "NM" stamp on the heel. 1962 was the first year of the NM M14s, with Springfield Armory to deliver the first 3,000 NM M14s by August 1, 1962 for that year's National Match. They were used for 'orientation purposes' that year, and beginning in 1963 were formally used in competition "for score."
I sent a check for $25 to CMP asking to see if this serial number was in their records, and to also let them know the original rifle has been de-activated, but they wrote me back saying that this serial number does not show up "under any rifle nomenclature." So its origins remain an enigma.
It's unfortunate that this historically interesting, first year National Match semi-auto M14 could not have been displayed in a museum...
...but at least the FFL saved all the DNA/original parts and the stock too. Months later I was offered this parts kit by that store, given my collection interest in the old M1 and M14 platform. I wasn't planning on buy anything at that store that day other than perhaps primers, but we worked out a fair price, and they even threw-in the scrap metal that had not yet been placed into the dumpster...thus providing historical provenance.
...using an early SAI M1A commercial receiver from 1977, this rifle was restored (or resurrected) as a historically accurate replica of the first year National Match M14s. Note: The only parts I didn't use from the parts kit was 1) the worn recoil spring, and 2) the gas piston was pitted, so I used a nicer USGI gas piston. The WWI era leather sling seen here was replaced with a more correct vintage M1907 sling with an MRT date of 4-63. Everything else used was original to serial number 348985. (It's shown here with the old WWI era sling that came on this stock).
The commercial Springfield Armory Inc M1A receiver that I used is an early one (4-digit serial #). (The faux selector lock parts are for aesthetics only)
After I cleaned the carbon fouling out of the stock channel, the original serial number written in the stock back in 1962 became visible (it's just behind the sling swivel):
Spot-weld added to the faux selector lock to mimic the aesthetics of the original NM M14s.
Original SA NM M14 barrel, dated April 1962. Throat erosion is 2.5, so its used, but still good enough for an occasional Sunday range trip.
...and here's the glamor picture with some period accessories.
Lastly, and to be respectful of this thread which is supposed to be about vintage sniper rifles, I will point out that the accurized 1962 NM M14 rifle, along with the then brand new 1963 XM118 Match ammo - provided the foundation for the US Army Marksmanship Training Unit (USAMU) to develop in the 1968-69 era the XM21 sniper rifle, which was fielded in quantity in Vietnam in 1969-70. The use of M118 match ammo in Vietnam was the first time that the US Army actually issued match-grade ammo to US Army snipers. So the history of the National Match M14 program directly lead to the US Army’s development of what today qualifies as a vintage sniper rifle, the XM21/M21 fielded from 1968/69 until the early 1990s.
Happy Friday.
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