Ebr-Ri How Tacom Builds an M14
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EXCLUSIVE M14 EBR-RI HOW TACOM BUILDS AN M14 REPORT USMC SMAW INSIDE THE MK153 83mm ROCKET LAUNCHER TESTED ARMALITE SPR MOD 1 MEDIUM-RANGE MONOLITHIC 5.56 FIELD TESTED: BEST TRAINING BEST SIDEARMS BEST RIFLES > I.T.T.S. URBAN SNIPER > GLOCK 17 GEN4 9mm > G.A. PRECISION .308 > WARTAC CQC > FN FNX .40 S&W > LES BAER .308 > VIKING TACTICS > ED BROWN STEALTH .45 > FNH SCAR-16 5.56 How t He U.S. Ar my bUildS tHe m14 EBR-RI. By Eric r. PoolE PHOTOS By Eric r. PoolE, JEFF rOSE & DoD oug Carlstrom works pistols to more recent variants of the inside a simple reinforced M16. Today Carlstrom and his five- structure reminiscent of man team continue their service as Dthe Cold War. It’s subtly civilian contractors to TACOM, lead- located in a corner of the 946-acre ing the development, testing and issue island within the historic gates of Rock of the M14 EBR-RI. Island Arsenal. A career U.S. Army veteran with experience brought back from the Vietnam War, Carlstrom has During trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, Doug Carlstrom of TACOM observed witnessed the military trials of nearly soldiers trying to adapt rack-grade M14s all modern infantry small arms span- and M21s with commercial mounts, rings ning the adoption of the M9 and M11 and optics. 16 WWW.GUNSANDAMMO.COM Veterans themselves, members of the five-man team responsible for building and testing the M14 EBr-rI take great pride in their ability to resurrect the M14 and pro- vide SDMs with an out-of-the-box solution. observed soldiers trying to attach com- 1 M14 EBR-RI rifle mercial mounts, rings and optics to 1 Leupold Mark 4 LR/T these M14s with little consistency or re- 3.5-10x40mm scope assembly peatable accuracy. After seeing soldiers 6 Magazines, 20 rounds trying to adapt the M14 to a modern 1 Sling battlefield, Carlstrom concluded that 1 Otis 7.62 cleaning kit this situation was unacceptable. When 1 Harris bipod he returned to CONUS, he set out to 1 M14 EBR-RI combination tool resolve this problem. 1 Manual M14s arrive at Rock Island Arsenal THE TRANSFORMATION in Illinois from storage at Anniston All of the joint services are using some Army Depot in Alabama. Between configuration of the M14 EBR. The 1983 and 1984, these vintage M14 EBR-RI is built and tested M14s were brought up to A code at Rock Island Arsenal by the and given a new barrel. After team that developed being replaced by the it. It was a response M16, the M14 was to the large number mothballed for an of Operational Need expected storage of Statements (ONS) 26 years. submitted for M14 “The M14s rifles to support arrive in Code “I was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and the role of a Squad A, which means to Afghanistan in 2006 to open a small Designated Marks- they are in good or arms support center,” Carlstrom says. man (SDM). The better-than-new “I opened Camp Anaconda in Balad, M14 EBR-RI was condition,” says Iraq, and started learning how sol- designed to stan- Carlstrom. “Since diers were using their rifles. At that dardize the optic we started building time, units were pulling M14s out of among soldiers, offers EBRs, we like the Win- storage and issuing them to marks- sustainability in the field and features chester actions, but we use them all— men within a squad for more accu- a chassis constructed from lightweight H&R, Springfield Armory, Winchester racy, range and effectiveness.” aircraft aluminum capable of support- and TRW. And I can’t see how we’ll ever The first M14 rifles were fielded to ing the use of a night vision device in run out of rifles.” units as they came out of Anniston front of the day optic. It also needed The Rock Island team unpacks the Army Depot. Those M14s were still to support the use of various combat- rifles from their cardboard shipping wearing wooden or nylon stocks and related accessories never seen before boxes, then removes a wooden or a brown nylon handguard. They were this age of warfare. It had to be an out- nylon stock, plastic handguard, op rod equipped with only one magazine and of-the-box system, so when any soldier guide block and barrelband. The only had no provisions for optics. Carlstrom opens his package, inside he’ll find: major subassembly that remains is the COMBATARMS2011 17 There are so many M14s still in storage at Anniston Depot, TACOM builders have barreled action. “We disassemble and once the rings are mounted to a six-inch of encouragement from a small mallet use all but five parts,” says Carlstrom. Picatinny rail section. The rail section with a replaceable nylon head. When “They are very good, MIL-SPEC com- is permanently affixed to an eight-inch the action is seated into the chassis, he ponents. Since the program started, square sheet of stainless steel, which rolls the rifle over and inserts a trig- we’ve only encountered one shot-out is secured in a vice that gets used for ger assembly that he’s obtained from barrel on an overhauled receiver.” nothing else. Peering through the scope another nearby parts bin. Moving past pallets and parts bins as he tightens the screws of the ring With the action seated front and rear, of leftover components, the rifle ad- cap in a cross pattern, Dan watches to he visually checks for the alignment vances to an efficient operation that make sure the mil-dot reticle remains of the chassis’ holes to ensure proper transforms an M14 into an M14 EBR-RI perfectly square with a grid he has alignment of the coarse-thread screws in less than 20 minutes. A pile of EBR posted on a wall 10 yards away. He then that wear red Loctite on the threads. The aluminum chassis systems from Sage boresights the optic before removing fore-end of the chassis is now secured International (sageinternationalltd. it from its fixture and placing it back to the operating rod guide at three com) are piled on a bench, and a into the box. points, which will effectively free-float builder picks one at random for dis- With the EBR chassis resting in a the barrel ahead of this guide. At this assembly. He must remove the top wooden fixture, an EBR builder picks point, the top cover with integral rail as- cover and extract the new guide rod an operating rod, guide rod and spring sembly is reinstalled using six 5/32-inch block that’s largely responsible for the assembly from parts bins just a few feet Allen-head screws, a barrel whip control improved accuracy. The shim kits sup- away. He starts to build up the barreled screw is brought down through the top plied by Sage were difficult to work action and checks for function before cover until it just barely touches the top with, so TACOM conferred with Sage moving on to the next step. It’s impor- of the barrel and a jam screw is run into to develop a washer that met all of the tant to the builder that he verifies that the side and interrupts the threads. This tolerance stack-ups they needed in a the unique Sage op rod guide is properly feature of the Sage International chassis replacement crush washer. positioned on the barreled action. The system has shown itself to stop barrel At another station, another veteran, red dot should face the muzzle when whip. A key point is that no pressure is Dan, pulls a long black box containing installed correctly. He then charges the put on the barrel. a Leupold Mark 4 LR/T 3.5-10x40mm operating rod to the rear a few times to A special stainless steel washer scope from a wall of identical boxes ensure that the rod isn’t binding with slides over the barrel to properly aid stacked seven feet high. Just one man the operating rod guide in any way. in the piston assembly’s function. A is responsible for placing this scope in The builder then places the barreled new piston assembly then slides over a set of Leupold Mark 4 medium-height action into the tight-fitting aluminum the barrel and is screwed on with a tactical rings. He aligns the crosshairs chassis. It usually requires some type special wrench that helps align the The transformation from M14 to M14 EBr-rI takes just 20 minutes before the rifle 18 WWW.GUNSANDAMMO.COM come to prefer Winchester actions. Of the original rifle, only five subassemblies are discarded. gas system. The M14’s legendary gas retention within one MOA if it needs (at best) at 100 yards. An SDM using system is completed when the builder to be rolled off the rifle. With the can- M118LR will cut that group in half. screws on the gas cylinder plug. tilever rail removed, the SDM is free to For accuracy testing, the Rock Island After sliding the front sight assem- use the M14’s iron sights as a backup team pulls from an ample supply bly across the dovetail of the flash sighting system. Even when using of M118LR. The recorded accuracy suppressor assembly, the builder just the iron sights, SDMs have been doesn’t take place until the tester ob- tightens it with a pair of pliers de- reported to have successfully engaged serves that the rifle has begun to “like signed specifically for the M14 castle and defeated targets out to 600 yards.