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Posted: 6/23/2008 6:04:58 AM EDT
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Recently I purchased a very nice SA M1A rifle. It is just a rack grade with 5 digit serial number and is very old and cost me a good bit of $$. In fact I dont plan on shooting it much and is more for investment/furthering of my US military arms collection (Carbine, 1911, enfield and 1917 trench shotgun your next!!). It will probally be sighted in once and put in the safe like oth other items I have collected. I have a few mags, some ammo (LC M-80), bayonet, cleaning kit and field manual for it and am wanting a few of the assecories listed in the maunal now. What is the name of the USGI bipod for the M14 series rifle? Was there a designated type of scope and mount for the rifle? I just want my parts to be as correct as possible. |
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It was the M2 bipod. There are reproduction M2 bipods out there as well as genuine USGI M2 bipods. How to identify them? From the canon aka M14 Rifle History and Development Third Edition: "M2 Type Bipods The M2 bipod design was standardized in December 1959 and improvements were added later. M2 type bipods have been produced in the United States, Taiwan and China. Chinese copies of the M2 bipod do not have as excellent a reputation as compared to the USGI and Taiwanese models. Taiwan models - The Taiwanese M2 bipod is reliable and suitable for civilian use. It was available commercially as early as 1990. Beginning around 1998, some Taiwanese M2 bipods were sold to the U. S. Navy by Sarco, Inc. (CAGE Code 8R320). Taiwanese M2 bipods are made by Wayne Machine Inc. of Taipei, Taiwan. Early Taiwanese bipods were brazed but failed routinely. The early Wayne Machine, Inc. M2 bipods were marked S. A. BIPOD M2 or BIPOD M2 on the head assembly. Otherwise, Wayne Machine, Inc. M2 bipods were welded together and will hold up to thousands of rounds of automatic fire. Later (welded) Wayne Machine, Inc. bipods were marked BIPOD RIFLE M2 or W M I BIPOD RIFLE M2 on the head assembly. Taiwanese late version M2 bipods sold by Sarco to the U. S. Navy do not have the W M I mark. A few Taiwanese M2 bipods were installed on M14 rifles and used in combat in Afghanistan in 2005. Seven of these bipods were removed from combat service in July 2005 because each suffered the loss of the retaining pin holding the spring and button in one of the leg folding pushbutton assemblies. Chinese models - The Chinese M2 bipod was marketed by Norinco beginning in 2003. The Chinese version was marked W M I BIPOD RIFLE M2 on the head assembly similar to the copy made by Wayne Machine, Inc. If the locking bolt accepts a hex head wrench less than 3/8 " size, it is a Chinese bipod. ProMag Industries - As of 2007, ProMag Industries was producing its own M2 bipod (catalog number PM019). It was made from high carbon steel and marked PM BIPOD RIFLE M2. USGI models - USGI M2 bipod parts were made of carbon or alloy steel depending on what the drawing specified for the part. A USGI M2 bipod will likely be of brazed construction for the most part. The leg shoes or pads were always arc welded to the bottom of the leg extensions. When deployed, the leg shoes act as skids when the rifle is moved laterally. The furnace brazed joints on the leg shafts had to withstand an applied tensile load of 2,000 pounds without separating. Similarly, the head assembly brazed joints were tested with a load of 3,500 pounds. Alternately, the head assembly plates could be arc welded to the leg assemblies. The welds and the jaws were examined for defects by the wet process magnetic particle inspection method. A phosphate coating was applied to all surfaces of the bipod. USGI M2 bipods left the factory with a yellow DOD acceptance stamp and three blue letter M markings, one on the bottom of each leg pad and one on the outside of the right hand jaw. The blue letter M signified satisfactory results from non-destructive examination. The yellow DOD acceptance stamp was applied to either the front or the rear head assembly plate. The yellow and blue markings tended to wear off with use in the field and are rarely seen on bipods found today. An American made USGI contract M2 bipod will have the following markings on the head assembly: U. S. 7790688 BIPOD RIFLE M2 or U. S. 7790833 BIPOD RIFLE M2. The USGI contract manufacture M2 bipod was initially produced without a sling swivel. The sling swivel was added to the M2 bipod by no later than 1962 for testing of the M14 (USAIB). This modified M2 bipod was made part of the M14 (USAIB) Technical Data Package in September 1963. It carried over to the M14E2 (later M14A1) Rifle. M2 bipods were later manufactured with a sling swivel. Sling swivels were also added to M2 bipods while in service through a Modification Work Order or a Direct Support level field modification. M2 bipods with swivels will have a longer pin to secure the swivel to the head assembly. Some early USGI M2 bipod locking bolts do not have a screwdriver slot. The M2 bipod was revised in February 1967 to add a small screw and nut to the top of each leg extension. In March and April 1967, the bipod jaw drawings were revised for improved grip." |
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