I’m sure this topic has been beat to death by Black Hawk Down fan boys
and others paying their respects to the Medal of Honor recipient…. But
I’d like to bring it up again.

I had a chance to speak with Johnny Strong, the man who played SFC
Randy Shughart in the 2001 movie Black Hawk Down.  He shared a few
details that he learned about Randy and also a picture from the set
(shown below).  I didn’t see the picture anywhere else on the forum
here, so I figured it would be nice to share for anyone who wants to
build a replica of the M14 used in the movie.



I watched the film myself when it first came out.  I was only 9 years
old, but the story had an impact on my life.  A few years later I read
through the book.  It opened my eyes to what service members endure
and live for, and although it would be another decade before I
enlisted, it planted the desire in me to serve.  I was particularly
drawn to the story of Randy and his team leader, MSG Gary Gordon.  I
don’t care who you are, watching two men volunteer to risk
their lives to save others will move you.  Randy’s rifle, the M14,
stuck with me for years and was my dream rifle.  After returning from
my last deployment, I decided to buy an M1A and outfit it similar to
his.  I knew nothing about them and chose the SOCOM 16 because of the
short barrel (I’m a short guy and never liked hauling around long
barreled weapons).  Using this picture as reference, I tried to
replicate the movie’s M14:



That was the best photo I could find at the time.  Due to my limited
knowledge, all I gathered from that photo was USGI stock, striped
camo, and Aimpoint optic.  I ended up with this:



I thought it was close enough to the movie prop, but as I learned more
I realized how much I missed.  The scope mount is an ARMS 18 split
rail instead of a full rail, the barrel should have been a full length
22”, and I had never paid any attention to the M1907 leather sling.
Now, most people wouldn’t care about the small details.  If you take
any M14 and add a red dot, it instantly becomes cool and pretty
accurate.  Not much more to be done after that.  But for me, this was
the rifle of choice for a childhood hero.
I wanted to honor him, and I wanted to do it by recreating the rifle
he used on his final mission.  I had no idea how much time,
money, and effort this project would demand.

USGI M14

The first task was collecting USGI parts.  Randy used a government
issued rifle, and if I was to recreate it then I needed to use the
correct parts.  I chose Winchester because it is a famous name in
American firearm history.  I could have stuck to using only marked
Winchester parts, but I felt that was cutting corners on a project
that meant a lot to me.  Instead, I found almost ALL Winchester parts
new in wrapper, new from wrapper, or lightly used.  A total of 30
Winchester specific parts were used to build this M14.



Scope Mount

The scope mount was a tough one.  The movie Black Hawk Down and the
displays at the Special Forces museum in North Carolina showed the
ARMS 18 split rail mount.  Shortly after purchasing one, I discovered
some information that opposed those two sources.  I learned there was
a brief spat between ARMS and Brookfield Precision Tool.  Army Special
Forces preferred the BPT scope mount due to issues with the ARMS 18.
In the end,  Army SF wanted BPT mounts and that is what they got.  I
found a BPT scope mount, sold the ARMS 18, and never looked back.



The Aimpoint

I thought the scope mount was going to be the hardest part.  Little
did I know, the optic would take that title.  For starters, Randy
did not use a traditional scope that day.  His mission was to
provide aerial sniper support, and using a red dot optic
made that mission a lot easier.  Also, the Aimpoints used in the movie
Black Hawk Down did not exist in 1993.  I narrowed the
optics used down to the Aimpoint 3000 and 5000.  After finding both optics new in box and comparing them to photos of Delta from Mogadishu, I came to my conclusion that the
Aimpoint 5000 was the most likely optic used by Randy.





The Paint Job

Believe it or not, the Army frowned upon soldiers painting their
weapons in the 90s, even Special Forces.  Snipers, however, were an
exception.  You will not find pictures of Delta with painted rifles in
Mogadishu. However, it is believed that Randy and Gordy (Delta
Snipers) had their weapon systems painted.  I wanted to make an M14
completely unique from what we typically see when viewing Black Hawk
Down clones, so I asked the owner of Blown Deadline, a cerakote
business, to view images of Mogadishu and custom paint a desert
camouflage to match.  To further dedicate this rifle to Randy, I also
requested that he place the Delta Airborne patch on the stock.



The Sling

The sling was simple to identify, but hard to find!  Randy used a
government issued M1907 leather sling on his M14.  



The Tribute

Here is the final result.  I am still waiting on my display case and another plaque to arrive. Will update with those pictures when they do. The second plaque is dedicated to the task force and gives credit where it is due.










Special thanks to Dale Axline, Peter Bray, Brian Briggs, Cameron
Culliver, Corey Jarque, Chad Logan, Joe Lucero, Brian Scott, and Stan
Willis for their help with this project.   Also, a big thank you
to the M14 community for all the information shared, parts located,
and support during tough times!

Wow beautiful.
Great nod to a hero.

Dude, you win Arfcom for the night.



Excellent post, excellent rifle, a fitting tribute to an Excellent warrior.



Pax Armis Acquiritur

Great setup & tribute.

That's awesome.

Thanks everyone!
This project took approximately 8 months to complete and still has a few pieces on the way.

Outstanding!

Very nice!

Great Tribute to an American Hero. Thanks for your dedication to this project and for sharing it with us.

This whole thing is just wow!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing this with us

Outstanding job, well done!

I knew this was going to be special the moment I saw the miniature pics of the parts you bought, and, boy, you did not disappoint. Outstanding work.

Outstanding!

Fantastic job op!

Awesome

This was an awesome thread and tribute. Well done.

You did a good job.  

I did a similar rifle.  It's all gi except for the receiver.  Arms 18 split rail, 1907 sling, etc.
I did go with an aimpoint pro instead of the older model.  I'm really glad I did.  I added a sadlak spring guide to try out and it shrank my groups down to almost moa.
I attempted a mog paintjob, but yours is better.  Other than a selector switch and the paintjob, mine looks almost identical to the movie version.  It's my favorite rifle and boy does it sure draw crowds at the range.  I will never sell it.  Never.

Thanks again for the compliments everyone. Selector kit came in the mail yesterday. Hoping to install it this afternoon and sight in tomorrow. Then Wednesday or Thursday will be a real range day.



Please share pictures!
I had planned on putting together a larger thread to share others' builds as well, but this project took so long that myself and others were tired and ready to see the final product. I saved a few other BHD clones with the permission of the owners to share, but just haven't got around to it yet. I believe an M14 with an Aimpoint is the best set up for a battle-rifle level M14 (I.e save the scope for the heavier barreled DMR variants )

I agree!

Aimpoint on the 'battle-rifle level' CQB-16.
Scope on the medium heavy DMR version.

I came in thinking this would be some lame fanboy post.  I was very wrong.  Well done sir.

Beautiful rifle and incredible post! Thank you for sharing.

Well done and excellent tribute to a brave warrior.  I followed your thread over on the other site, perseverance, you've got it for sure..

For some reason I can't see the pics..... UGH!!!  I want to see this.  Great write up though.  

You read the book and I didn't so, I don't know what the truth is.  But other sources say that he probably had a 3x9 on the rifle.  I guess I need to read the book too.  I've watched the movie more times than I care to admit.

This thread is very popular, and his Photobucket account got overwhelmed.

Here are some from a Facebook post...

I apologize for that. When I get time I'll try and delete some old photos although I'm not sure it'd help. Thank you H20 Man for helping out!  JJREA, here is my research article on the optic: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_18/682892_Black_Hawk_Down_Aimpoint_Write_Up.html

Thank you for the link!!!  Very informative!!!!!  It makes sense the whole aerial sniper thing and using a red dot.  Somebody posted a pic of a Mk12 with one in a heli once.  In one of the threads.....  So it's something it seems like they continue to do.  Or did.

Very cool

My pleasure!

I always wondered if he had a NM rifle or not too.  With a worked over trigger and heavier barrel.  Just something to ponder......  I think the M21's were basically that.  But then maybe they would've called it an M21 if that was the case.........

OP, I can only see the one pic of your rifle that waterman posted later.  And that is a a super duper nice build.  You done very well.  I bet it's an experience to shoot.  

Awesome thread.

I've wondered the same. I went off this line from Delta operators in the book Black Hawk Down: They used to kid Randy Shughart because he shunned the modern rifle and ammunition and carried a Vietnam era M-14, which shot a 7.62 mm round without the penetrating qualities of the new green tip. It occurred to Howe as he saw those Sammies keep on running that Randy was the smartest soldier in the unit. His rifle may have been heavier and comparatively awkward and delivered a mean recoil, but it damn sure knocked a man down with one bullet, and in combat, one shot was often all you got. You shoot a guy, you want to see him go down; you don’t want to be guessing for the next five hours whether you hit him, or whether he’s still waiting for you in the weeds.

Very nice build.

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Awesome tribute!

Very awesome and a good job done.

damn fine work.

God is in the details.

It's hard to know what exactly it was.  Because it could've been a NM and still be called an M14.  If it was all outfitted with the 3 x 9 ART scope and mount and was an NM rifle, it would technically be an M21, so it probably wasn't that.  Either way we'll just say you nailed it, because it's freakin nice and is as good as it's gonna get without actually being there.  

Now, as far as 7.62 being more lethal.....  that's an argument that will get you banned around here.

So many smileys because of how controversial that can be.   The counter argument is you can carry more 5.56.  Yeah, but if you don't need to shoot them as much with a 7.62, doesn't it kind of make up for the extra weight?  I'm no expert but I've hunted deer a fair amount in my time.  But I've never shot one with a 5.56 to know one way or the other.

The pics finally all showed up for me.  Great great great thread and build.  Very nice.

That is an outstanding rifle, OP. Extremely nice and a very fitting tribute.

ETA: Who makes the cheek riser you had on the rifle in its scout configuration?

Thanks!
Bradley Adjustable Cheek Rest.  One of the best, in my opinion.

Your post and the rifle is a great tribute to a great man.  Nicely done.

Thanks yall!

First range trip was a disappointment.  Something I did caused the op rod to derail and broke my bolt roller.

Only got 15 rounds sent down range. The M14 armorer who built it will be inspecting it to find out what caused the derailment. Admittedly, I think I may have caused it with my amateur installation of the selector kit.

Ugh.    Well hopefully it will get sorted out and we can get a good range report out of you.  

Very cool build! I do doubt they used NM rifles, rather, they were likely standard M14s in fiberglass stocks like in the movie. In basic training, a few guys and I painted a huge mural of Shughart and Gordon with their rifles on the barracks wall for our DS. Wish I had a pic, it turned out really good.

You sir deserve a lifetime ar15.com membership.

I just read this thread and I must say, this is one of the coolest or the coolest thread I've read on the forum. It's great to see a tribute to a true American hero.

Excellent post.

Thanks again everyone.

I have discovered I am missing one small piece of the rifle. If anyone can help me locate one, I'd be in your debt big time. It is called an AIM-1D, and it is the laser aiming device mounted on the bottom of the stock towards the barrel. Id also be interested in the modern alternative, the AIM 1SLR.  They were both manufactured in Israel by Elbit Systems.

Wondering if you have any updates?

Thanks to you I have decided to put an Aimpoint 5000 or the updated 9000 on my M1A, very nice setup.

Unfortunately not. The rifle should be going through test firing any time now.  Hopefully he identifies and corrects the issue.

I haven't updated the info here, but I would like to add that I recently talked to Larry Vickers. He confirmed that once the 5000 was received by Delta it became the standard optic. Here's the interesting part: he said 3000s broke easily and were not favored at all over the older 2000 model. So basically, the 3000 has no real place on Delta inspired rifles from Gothic Serpent. They can be seen in use by the Rangers, though.

Thanks for the update hopefully you will have the rifle back soon.

I've had op rod derail problems before but they have all been on my M1's and all traced to worn op rods and not a receiver problem. Hopefully yours will be a simple fix. With only 15 rounds down range were you able to get the Aimpoint sighted in?

I had actually made my final adjustments just before the op rod started to derail.  My first shots were only a few inches right during the 25m battle zero, so there wasn't too much adjustment needed.  I removed the Aimpoint prior to shipping the rifle, so I'll have to zero it again once I get it back.