Brand New M-14s

Picture of me in front of a banyan tree across the street from my barracks at Kaneohe Bay around the end of 1962 or early '63. I had just returned from the first PRT that was required by the Commandant for all Marines. My squadron, VMA 212 were issued the brand new M-14s to run the course. You can see that it still had a plastic protector over the bore. I recall a rumor going around at the time that the new 7.62 ammo for the M-14 was not powerful enough to even make a hole in the targets at 200 yards. I had a problem with my 14 on qualification day when the flash suppressor set screws came loose. My rounds were all over the target before the armorer figured it out by pointing to the brass streaks the rounds made as they left the barrel. Never had that problem with my M-1. With a clip and two rounds, watch your target, TARGET! BAM,BAM, clink; re-load with a full eight rounds and put all ten in the black at 500 yards. Nothing to worry about coming loose and the .30 caliber always made a hole.

Norm (Spoof) Spilleth
Cpl. E-4, '60-'64