Re: Which scope mount is best for the M-1A
Honestly, after carrying a basic M14 in combat for over a year, I can find very little to fault it in its original, totally unmodified state. It's a main battle rifle, and as such, I believe it to be about the ultimate evolutionary product of that process.
I also think that the troubles begin when people try to make something else out of it. It will do a lot of other tasks, but I really think none of those tasks are as well done by the modified M14 than by something else that had its origins a lot closer to the final application than the M14's.
It's not an assault rifle.
If it's a designated marksman's rifle, it's probably pretty good in its latest evolutionary stage, but I simply have to say that that stage is practically unrecognizable to this old Marine Rufleman, and that I also suspect there are better examples of rifles made for such applications.
My money would be on a gas piston operated AR10-ish platform.
Maybe the best recommendation for conversion of the M14 into a DMR is simply that they are already in the inventory as a basic foundation for modification. But I also think it's poor economy to have to build a rifle twice for a single application.
Greg
