To those that might think that the M14 is dead as a Competition Service Rifle (myself included);

You might want to watch for the formal word to come out about this year's Interservice Matches being wrapped up about now at Quantico...

Early word is that the USMC Team went back to the M14 for the 1000 yard Team Matches and ended up winning convincingly with a 1111 versus the 2nd place USAR at 1091 and the USAMU at 1050.

Maybe M14Dan doesn't really need my help at 1000 yards.

XM21 mean anything to anyone here? If not, take a look here:
"The M21 is essentially a modified M14 National Match rifle. The earlier versions (XM21) had a specially selected walnut stock, but this changed with the M21 to a fiberglass stock, often camouflaged. The XM21 began to be fielded in the second half of 1969 and remained the U.S. Army's primary Sniper Weapon System until it began to be replaced by the M24 SWS in 1988. Some National Guard units and even a few active duty units (The OPFOR at JRTC for example) still use the M21. The M21 is a very practical sniper weapon maintaining acceptable accuracy out to about 700 meters. Besides the problem that it is semi-auto and sends brass flying, the M21 was, and still is, a very capable military sniper rifle. The 10th SFG, in conjunction with the U.S. Navy SEALs has developed an improved version of the M21 known as the M25. The M25 was designed out of a need for a semi auto sniper rifle, and it was the weapon of choice for SEAL snipers during Desert Storm. The M21 holds a dear spot in many U.S. Army snipers hearts (me included), and rightfully so."
Most accurate military rifle I ever fired personally was the reworked M14 fitted with an 8x Unertl scope. And the WORST rifle I ever held in my hands was the early versions of the M16 - no forward assist, etc. I admit to being a little over the hill in age but my memory is still good. Very interesting that no one has mentioned what I have always considered to be the most glaring fault of both the M14 and the BAR; that being the 20 rd box magazine. Consider that the full ammo load for the M14 was the magazine in the rifle plus 4 spares and the rifleman had a total of 100 rds. In a fire fight for your life, the 100 rds is burned off quickly and you are left with the chore of reloading the mags to get back in the fight. The ammo is loose and you have to take the loader out, strip it into the mags and go back to work - same with the BAR. The ammo for the old M1 came in bandoleers already in the clips and ready to poke in the rifle. For this reason I believe the M1 was superior. As to accuracy, I can't say the M1's I have used could be fairly compared to the M14's as they were 'issue' vs 'rework' and accurised rifles. My old M1's still shoot very well and I enjoy them but they have the military sights and can not compare to a scope sighted, accurized weapon.
And for the ULTIMATE long range working weapon, how about the 50 BMG round in a Barrett? Never fired one personally but sent a lot of rounds out of an M-2 or "Ma Deuce" and I know how that thing shoots!
Interesting post here.
Regards,

Trapper,
I'm not aware of Unertl 8x's being used on M21's. How were they mounted? Mounting a scope on the M14 always seemed to be it's weak point. A friend that was charged with making the USMC DMR work says they had to weld the mount on to get it to be reliable.