I agree with others here; if you want an M14, get the Scout version. I have three, one in a Blackfeather stock from M14.ca, one in a Vltor, and one that will be in USGI walnut whenever I finally put it together. The first two are Springfields, the last one is a JRA forged receiver with a 18" Chrome lined Criterion barrel and a TRW parts kit. What ever M14 you buy, you absolutely must shim the gas system and add a NM spring guide. If it is a Springfield, you need to change the extractor and the hammer to USGI parts as they WILL fail at some point even if it is a brand new Loaded model. People think these guns are problematic because they don't understand how they work nor how to work on them. Once you know how to work on them and what to tweak, I have found them to be ridiculously reliable. My Blackfeather will put mil-surplus ammo into 2" mag after mag......thats 20 round mag after 20 round mag. If I want it to shoot smaller groups, I load 155 Nosler CC or 168 CC and it will shoot between 1"-1.5". The best scope mount for them is the Bassett Low Picatiny and no matter what you do, if you scope it, you will need a cheek riser to get a proper cheek weld. TacPro makes a great adjustable one as does Bradley.
Yes, it is my understanding, not experience, that most of the time you can pull an AR-10 out of the box, lube it, run good ammo through it, and expect it to shoot less than 1.5" groups with little to no trouble. But you have AR's and you are looking for something classic; there's nothing quite like a good M14 for that!
How's that for my first post here; I'm new here, but not new over at M14forum.
Good luck with your choice.
