Shooting the M14: Full Auto Really Uncontrollable? 

This guy has one of those jobs that my high school guidance counselor failed to mention

R. Lee Ermy "I wanna see your war face!" Gun Jesus "WHHAAAA"

The old joke is that the "A" on the selector stands for "Anti-aircraft", as most folks will be shooting at airplanes very shortly after squeezing the trigger. Love the weapon. Earned ribbons with an M14.

It’s so insane that someone said “yeah, this dual-fills the SMG role”

Heh, that's barely any muzzle rise at all *Switches M14 to full auto* Round 1 hits enemy soldier Round 2 hits enemy helicopter Round 3 hits enemy high altitude bomber Round 4 hits enemy satellite

I really like the aesthetic of Ian's ninja 'WAAAHHH'

Imagine shouting "cover me" and a barrage of M14s in full auto comes up.

I like how Ian is usually very analytical and objective but sometimes he’s just really goofy and having way too much fun.

USA: We will not accept less than .30 caliber. *USA shoots the M14* USA: Ok nevermind let's get the M16

this is what I like to think M14 (Semi): Sensible, light recoil, Accurate and modern M14 (Full-Auto): *confused screaming*

As a range officer in Vietnam, I watched a Colonel make a fool of himself firing an M-14 on full auto. The rifle rose in a quarter circle arc till it was pointing straight in the air. It was uncontrollable, at least by him.

The Army's hand held anti-aircraft weapon.

M14 designer: "so, how powerful do you want the M14 to be" US Army: "yes"

The full auto feature was implemented for when the bushes started talking Vietnamese

The most emotion I have ever seen him show lol “I have to psyche myself up for this.”

When I was in the Corps back in the late sixties. I was told in full auto the most important part of the weapon as the sling. Wrapping it around your arm helped with the control issues.

my grandfather was a marine in Vietnam and in his words shooting the m14 full auto was like riding a pissed off bull that missed lunch

M14 in semi auto: "it's to big and heavy" M14 in full auto: "Hot dang that thing is way to light!!"

When I arrived in country in Oct. of 67, I was initially issued a brand new m16. It jammed on me and a couple of guys who tried it. I went to the armory and they gave me another one. It did the same! When I took it back the armorer said I didn't need one anyway because I was a radioman! When I complained that I wanted a long gun as well as a 45, I think they just wanted to give me a rock to carry! They eventually gave me an m14 with a sear switch AND a bipod. Probably laughed as I walked off with it and 4 magazines! No matter how many muddy rice paddies I wallowed in, that rifle never jammed! More than once its barrel became plugged up with mud and if it was still wet, a round would clear the barrel. That was probably stupid to do, but I was a 19 year old Marine in Vietnam with a whip antenna marking my position; I was going to die anyway! After a month or two, I took the bipod off and put a jungle sling on it and went my kind-of-merry way! I think I only fired it in anger 2 or 3 times. The radio kept me busy! Other guys fired it more than I did when they wanted the long range accuracy. It always had the selector switch and it truly was a wonderful weapon....unless you fired it in full auto. I seem to remember that with the bipod it was a bit more controllable! But I don't remember firing it in a firefight on full auto with the bipod!

Yeah, carried one in Nam. But on semi-auto I found it to be very accurate.

2:54 “Here we go” *Enables inner warrior” “WAAAAHH”

How many minute-of-berm does this shoot in full-auto?

I'd like to see you try the M-15, the squad automatic weapon version of the M14. The one they issued me had a heavier stock, a thick barrel, a bipod, a hinged buttplate for prone firing, a pistol grip stock, and a forward pistol grip. They gave it to me because I'd figured out how to score full-auto hits with the M14. It also helped that I was a big guy who could carry lots of extra magazines. If you ever get a chance to try one out, I think you'll enjoy the experience.

I was issued my first M-14 in Army basic in 1966 and I love it still !! The last battle rifle..a classic beauty. I own it's M1A twin.

Is it uncontrollable? Short answer: Yes Long answer: LMAO YES

2:59 "Wooaaaahhhhgggh!" - Forgotten Weapons

I was issued an M-14 for training purposes back in 1960-61. I had to give up my M1-Garand. The M-14 I got had no automatic feature. It had been removed as a lot of them had been removed. The thing shot well, but after a few magazines, it tended to jam after the 5th-6th round. The M1 did that too, when it got real hot. Then the Army needed combat medics and I was plucked from the infantry. Fired an M-16 in a desperate situation once, and that was it. The M1 is still my go to rifle, but I also like my AR-15.

Back around 1968, I had a chance to fire an M14. We had the E2 version with the stock and bipod. We were only allowed to fire full auto prone with a bipod. 1-It walked around on the bipod. 2-After the first three rounds it was impossible to see the target through the dust cloud.

US Soldiers: we want the FN FAL US Govt: we have FN FAL at home FN FAL at home: [M14]

And so let forth his mighty battle cry "HOOWAAAAAAAAA"

One thing I failed to mention here - was that when I was in the Marines - while I had not fired an M-14 on full auto myself - I served with people who had. A lot of the guys I served with - were right back from Vietnam. I asked them, given what I had heard about the difficulty of controlling the weapon on full auto, how it was. They said that - it was a training issue. It took some extra training to be able to control the 14 on full auto - but that was it. A trained operator could use the weapon on full auto - and they did. Here - the Marine Fire Teams still had a slot for the Automatic Rifleman. So - this guy would be trained on firing it on full auto - but - the other members of the fire team might not be and would typically use it on semi-auto. Another issue with this weapons is the ammunition. 7.62 is a good bit bigger than 5.56 - which is why you have 20 round M-14 Magazines and 30 round 5.56 Magazines (though the ones we had for the M-16's were 20's). The thing here - is that ammunition can get heavy depending on how much you carry. For everyone to carry a lot of 7.62mm would mean there were other things - like Claymores - they might not be carrying. The 5.56 ammo is so light you can really carry a lot of it - and thus - you had a lot of ammo to expend. The Marines at that time had what they called "A Mad Minute" (not at all what the British mean by that). Here - our training company in ITR had one platoon at time - fire two magazines of tracers on a night firing range. The purpose of this - the use of ALL tracers - was so we could SEE just how much fire power a platoon of Marines had. It was a lot. Guys told me that the first thing they'd all do in a sudden fire fight - was lay down - lift their M-16's up over their heads and spray an entire magazine in the general direction of the enemy. With a whole platoon doing that - there was a tremendous volume of fire put out - and if anyone on the enemy side was exposed - they were very likely to get hit. This is of course - an M-16 tactic. A weapon with a real recoil - couldn't be used that way - but with almost no recoil the M-16's could. That was the best thing about the M-16 - was that you could really pump out a lot of rounds with it. So - of course - the Army had the weapon modified to only do 3 round bursts .... They took the one thing the weapon was really good at - and fucked it up. .

The M14 is an awesome weapon in semi auto I trained with it prior to going to Vietnam . A decent shot could hit a target at 400 meters something which is difficult with the M16 which replace it.

The M14 was designed "in the days of wooden rifles and iron men", as my great grandfather would say.

"This is really a lot of hand-full of gun... This thing greys out your world when you pull the trigger." Ian McCollum, 2018

I carried one just like it (H&R w/full auto selector) in Nam. USMC You need to lean into it and just fire 2/3 round bursts. It's not made for mag dumps although I did chop down a tree with mine once. LOVED that weapon! Thanks for the video!

I had a runaway malfunction with my M1 once and let me tell you that action on full auto yields one hell of a rate of fire IDK why they ever thought purposefully making it full auto was a good idea lol.

2:57 When your Sensei ask for full auto during your black belt exam.

**Aims at person** Achievement: Took down spy-plane

I loved it, i made the barrels, the rifling. in 1963 at H&R in Worcester mass on Park Ave. Made $500 a week peace work 50 barrels a rack. 2 million barrels the first Gov. contract. Owned one in 1983. Used it for black bear hunting in Maine and NH... I had 2 friends that used it in Nam loved it once you learned to control it...

I’m no kind of gun guy but I appreciate the knowledge here...and next to the 100 Ton Cannon, I think this was the best. The slow-mo of the barrel rising, rising, being fought down, going side to side, and then the editorial...just excellent.

When I joined the Marine Corps in 1967, I trained with the M-14. When I went to The Basic School in 1968 (Marine basic officer's school) I trained with the M-14. When I arrived in Vietnam at the end of December 1968, I was issued an M-16. I had only seen the M-16 in pictures but had never received training with it or fired it. The battalion armorer showed my how to disassemble it, and I fired a few rounds for familiarization. I was then assigned as an infantry platoon commander for 10 months. I found it odd that the Marine Corps didn't train me with the rifle I was to use in combat. Other odd aspects of my Marine training in 1967-68: We used the 3.5 rocket launcher in training, but in Vietnam we used the M-72 LAAW. We used the flamethrower in training, but in Vietnam we used the M-202 flame rocket launcher In training, we didn't use the Flak Jacket, but in Vietnam we wore Flak Jackets In training we didn't wear camouflage uniforms, but in Vietnam we had camouflage uniforms In training we wore black leather boots, but in Vietnam we work the Jungle boot. In training we carried a gas mask, but in Vietnam we didn't In training we were taught conventional tactics with only a couple of days of how to secure a Vietnam village, but in Vietnam we rarely operated in company and battalion formations. 90% of the time we were operating in squad and platoon formations out by ourselves. In training, we didn't carry heavy loads except on the forced marches, but in Vietnam we typically carried anywhere between 60-100 pounds depending on the operation and the environment. Back to the M-14. It was heavy and bulky to carry, but the .30 cal round had real stopping power. It would blast through cinder blocks and other thick materials with ease where as the M-16 didn't have that kind of stopping power. I prefer the semiautomatic fire of the M-14 for fire discipline and aimed fire as opposed to the fully automatic tendency in Vietnam to "spray and pray" when recon'ing by fire or in a firefight. And the M-14 could use a rifle grenade. If the M-16 had one, I never saw it. We did have an M-79 grenade launcher which was on of the best weapons we had in Vietnam. But the M-14 could launch a larger grenade further. So at least one Marine in my platoon carried an M-14 in case we needed the substantially greater impact to go through walls and fortifications that the M-16 couldn't penetrate. I also used it to launch rifle grenades as a quick indirect fire weapon until my 60 mm mortar could get into action. Bottom line, I preferred the power of the M-14 but I did like the fact that the M-16 was easier to carry and we could carry more rounds. It's why I used both in my platoon in Vietnam 50 years ago.

2:59 leaving this here-for myself

My ship was equipped with a bevy of m14s... Some of them were equipped with the selector switch. During a familiarization fire, I brought that bad boy out, and proceeded to show the crew, what it could do... Sideways!..... The potential is amazing! But being the very first time, I'd fired an m14, I botched the mag change, but still awed the officers and crew! Learn your piece! Make it work with, and for you! The difference, might be a matter of life and death, regardless of what you are fielding.....

The subtitles man. Whoever did them, thank you

"Long Haired Hippie Type " really cracked me up

Wow... didn’t know the m-14’s cyclic rate was so high.

2:59 Liu Kang approves. It's interesting to see this. If you want to actually hit anything on full auto it needs to be no further away from you than the length of the gun itself.

The Army M14 E2 was equipped with a bipod and sling with front grip that the shooter could employ to hold the barrel from riding up. However, my experience firing the E2 told me that you could not hit the broad side of a barn when in full auto. Still I liked the M14. As a Marine friend who carried/chose an M14 in Vietnam told me, the barrel could be full of mud and would still fire.

2:58 full auto m14 brings out Gun Jesus's inner Bruce Lee.

3:10 - Ian shooting at some low-flying aircraft there.

Props to whoever captioned this, they were a hoot

Good story, but I wish you'd demonstrated with targets to show just HOW difficult it it to hold on target. I went to basic at Fort Polk in fall of '67, and was issued an M-14. Three weeks later they took them away from us and gave us M-16's, which I used in Vietnam. Enjoyed shooting them both.

I carried one in Vietnam. 2 round groups were OK. Three were WORTHLESS.

subtitle: "(Racks the poor M-14)" whoever wrote those subtitles, I salute you.

I really appreciate your videos. This one is by far the most entertaining to me.

one of the nice things about select fire rifles is that they are SELECT fire, rather have it then not.

I think I once heard it described as first shot in the chest, second in the head, everything after that is antiaircraft fire.

Who ever did the subtitles I can’t stop laughing.

I've watched this video every few months to revisit Ian's Battle Cry, and it never disappoints.

We had the M14 in Vietnam, I thought it was a great rifle. One of our guys had the selector for simi or full auto. One time he wanted to try to use full auto he could not control it and almost killed a bunch of us.

I was trained on the M-14 and it was our weapon when I was stationed in South Korea in 1967-68. They took us to the range so we could sight in our individual weapons and afterwards, we had a ton of ammo left. The ones in charge said load up and fire at will. Of course, none were on full auto, so we loaded up and just pulled the trigger as fast as we could. Talk about a lot of fun. I fired 20 rounds and never noticed that much of a kick or loss of control. But I was 20 yrs old, what did I know then. It was just plain fun. Would love to get my hands on one now. Bet I could still take it apart and put it back together.

2:54-3:00 is now my phone notification lol

This video makes me laugh every time. Absolutely love it. Keep doing great work.

The M14 was the standard issue rifle on US Navy ships in the early-mid ‘80s. I qualified marksman with it (outdoor range, gusty winds, yadda yadda-bottom line: I should have done better). Most of my ship’s M14s were semiautomatic only, but we did have a few capable of full auto. After a single session with one of those, I (gunnery officer) and my Chief Gunners Mate essentially locked them up with Do Not Issue tags.

2:58 4:40 "Hwaaaahhhh!" - Gun Jesus, 2018

That's a sweet microphone, really captured how savage a full-power rifle sounds.

Few of the troops who trained with the M-14, willing gave them up, in Vietnam.

The M14/M1A is very athletically pleasing. Quite a beautiful rifle.

I don't know what the problem is. It's the best all purpose rifle there is. In one burst you can go from engaging enemy infantry to enemy aircraft.

2:51 My new favorite Ian quote, "Huuu, Have to psyche myself up for this, Here we go Huah! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt, WHOOOOOHAAAA!!"

When I was qualifying with the M-14 at the US Army rifle range as a Private E-1, the Range Seargent said: " Right Handers shoot and hold the M-14 this way ! Your right hand is your trigger finger ! Well I grew up with a weak right eyes from being born with "Strabismus" (a crossed eye) . Operated on at 5 yrs. old to correct the crossed eye. But still unable to focus the right eye. I grew up shooting BB guns, 22 rifles, 12 Gauge shotguns and more. I tried to explain to the Seargent that I fired with my left hand on the trigger and left eye doen the sights. He said " There is two ways of doing things, your way & my way (US ARmy way ). So shoot right handed. Well I could not hit the targets as they popped up. So he finally gave in and said "OK, do it your way " ! I fired expert and got my expert badge. He was not pleased but agreed that I was right ! I still shoot that way today and even got two deer with one shot by accident . A Doe was exactly behind a Buck (4pts. ). I could not see her. When I went to see what I had done, there were two deer. I have become known as "Two Deer " to my Native American friends !

i always enjoy each presentation. while having handled many rifles, the 14 is one ive not though i had {they passed} many friends in marine recon 2nd who really liked them. i dont remember them talking much about using the f auto part . most said they liked the "one shot and done" part. they were more than well decorated so their vote sounds true to me. thank you again, best always rgw/73

2:58 the last sound you hear right before being gunned down...

2:58 veit cong picking up a GIs rifle and using it (1966)(colorized)

First weapon I fired on full auto. Short bursts in prone was my best option for not endangering aircraft and ducks.

I love the M-14. I was trained with them in Marine Boot Camp, ITR and had one after I got back from Vietnam. It is a joy to shoot, accurate and it only takes one to take out your target.

Looks sorta like a good old hunting rifle. Shoots like an m-60.

WOAH....*look of shock*....Ok, so... I'm gonna say the rumors are true. Classic.

I was at basic training in 1967 and qualified expert with the M14. It was a pleasure to shoot and very accurate. Comparing it to a BAR is silly. Compare it to the Garand and it shines.

In Estonia we use it as a ceremonial rifle but also get to shoot it in the range once during our 11 month service. The joke among the instructors is that they don't know where the full-auto selector is.

"...Long hair hippy type..." God I wish you could'a done a video with R Lee Ermey. _"Show me your war face!"_ Whooaaaahhh!

I always wondered how it would do if you shot it hipfire, but that full-auto is closer to a panic button than a machine gun. "When ambushed, magdump in direction of enemy" or something like that.

Trained with the M14 in bootcamp USMC. It's a fine rifle, but suited for open country like middle east because it can reach out further with better energy. Not very good in the jungle except the 7.62 didnt deflect off foliage like the 5.56 did. Wood stock was a problem tho. But then we had problems with the 16 when it first arrived due to incorrect ammo causing jams.

The captions are brilliant!

Therapist: Kong fu Ian doesn't exist, he can't hurt you. Kong fu Ian 2:59

1:55 almost let the F bomb slip

I’m impressed with the amount of control he had. I tried semi-auto rapid fire once. The M14 was exc for crowd control…bayonet and butt stroke.. The M16 was lousy for bayonet work.

watching the slow - mo barrel flex. amazing.

My neighbor is a Vietnam Vet, and he said his Gunny would say semi only on your M14 or else.

2:58 Let me see your war face!

Dad qualified on both the M14 and M15 (more or less the M14 trying to be the BAR) in the late 60s and this gels with his experience. He loved the rifle in semi auto, hated lugging it around, found it far more accurate at distance than the M16s his unit later switched to, etc. All that said, his attitude was it was pointless to switch the M14 into auto unless you were laying prone and shooting supported. The M15 had a bipod, the M14 did not. You almost needed one on both.

I served in the U.S. Army Infantry 62-64. None of the M14' had selector switches for fully auto. Only full auto versions were M15. At that time M14 with bipods . I did have a selector on the M14 I used when in Headquarters. Never used it.

I was in the last cycle to be trained on the M14. Once sighted to the rifleman it was extremely accurate. Automatic fire mode resulted in the rifle trying to climb up and to the right. Automatic fire in bursts was best from the prone position or with bipod. Persons with a strong grip could control the rifle in automatic fire in bursts. Firing of a full magazine on automatic would generally result in rounds off target and target area. The shooter could also use the sling to brace the rifle.

plot twist: its not full auto he just has a really fast trigger finger

The trouble with shooting an M14 on full auto is that the barrel and therefore the recoil, are not in line with the shoulder stock. And this makes your shoulder a pivot point. Now look at the M16, and you see that the barrel / recoil is in a straight line back to the shoulder. It is the sights that have been raised to make this possible. So even our hero has to purposely use that forward hand to hold the barrel down on the M14. Of course any traditionally sighted rifle is going to have the same barrel rise problem. Full auto just doesn't give you time to acquire the target after one round fires.

There is a LOT of barrel whip/flex at full auto that can be seen in the slow motion. DANG that barrel is flexin!

My shoulder hurts just watching that.

1:42 : "I have it on full auto! Let's see how this goes..." 1:57 : "Okay, soo... I'm gonna say the rumors are true..." Thumbs up. Love the vids!

Had one back in the early 80tys in Australia I was able to get good grouping with 3 rnd bursts 50m. trained on Fn L1A1 so not such a shock. That was my experience anyway

I love who Evers doing the subtitles for these such a good community 😂