M14 WITH VENTILATED HANDGUARD
Lorna Christensen
This piece came out of Vietnam. He has looked in all of his reference
books and has not been able to find any information on a model of M14
with a ventilated handguard that was used by the U.S. in Vietnam. Does
anybody have any ideas on what this piece might be and/or to whom it
might have been issued.
Doc
Dave
<Lorna.Ch...@SEMATECH.Org> wrote:
# A friend of mine in Europe has aquired an M14 with a ventilated
# handguard....Does anybody have any ideas on what this piece might
# be and/or to whom it might have been issued.
The ventilated handguard was standard before the solid ones, that's all.
They are commonly available for about $10, and my M1A-A1 sports one.
Dave
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-- Dave Croyle --
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Paul Perez
: A friend of mine in Europe has aquired an M14 with a ventilated handguard.
: This piece came out of Vietnam. He has looked in all of his reference
: books and has not been able to find any information on a model of M14
: with a ventilated handguard that was used by the U.S. in Vietnam. Does
: might have been issued.
The ventilated handguard was added shortly after the original wooden
handguard to help cool the barrel in full-auto fire. However, the Marine
Corps had problems with the handguards breaking while slapping hard during
manuals of arms, so the vents got filled in.
At least, that's how I remember from reading the M14's history. Others might
correct or disprove the above with factual data, which is always a good thing.
Regards,
-Paul
Clint McKee
<Lorna.Ch...@SEMATECH.Org> writes:
#A friend of mine in Europe has aquired an M14 with a ventilated
#handguard. This piece came out of Vietnam. He has looked in all of his
#reference books and has not been able to find any information on a
#model of M14 with a ventilated handguard that was used by the U.S. in
#Vietnam. Does anybody have any ideas on what this piece might be
#and/or to whom it might have been issued.
#Doc
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Hi Doc & Group!
The Original M14 was issued with a walnut handguard & stock w/an M1
Butt plate. Problem was, the handguard (wood) caught on fire with the
full-auto mechanism & the darned ol' rifle was not very controllable.
So, the next mod was a folding butt plate (now known as the M14 butt
plate) for better shoulder set during full-auto, and, a fiberglass
*ventilated* handguard to cool the barrel & keep the handguard from
flaming. Problem was twofold: First, the heat rising off the barrel
through the ventilated handguard created a *terrible* mirage problem
(right between the front & rear sight!). Second, the ventilated
handguard was *very* fragile & broke real easy (uncracked-unbroken
original ventilated handguards are a collectors dream). So, they
finally went to a solid fiberflass handguard (the vast majority of all
M14's issued had the solid fiberglass handguard). Now, since we have
not seen what your buddy has in Europe, we just don't know. But
probably, it's a repro M1A rifle with a repro ventilated handguard.
Just a guess. Hope this helps. Fulton Armory specializes exclusively in
the M14/M1A, M1 Garand & M1 Carbine (though a muffin's in the oven). We
offer World Class rifles, services, parts, accessories, tools, gauges,
books, etc. It's all we do! Send your street address & I'll send out
some stuff. Thanks for the attention.
Clint
Fulton Armory
Lloyd Gully
Springfield armory M1A "bush rifle" a few years back that had a ventilated
handguard. I doubt if it's a real rarity.
--- Maximus 2.02
rand...@pacs.sunbelt.net
# A friend of mine in Europe has aquired an M14 with a ventilated handguard.
# This piece came out of Vietnam. He has looked in all of his reference
Ventilated handguards are not uncommon. You can buy one at any gun show for
$10. It will not be a help in identifying the origon of the rifle.
Randy
Jwrawles
# I think some of the earlier M-14's had ventilated handguards. I bought
a
# Springfield armory M1A "bush rifle" a few years back that had a
ventilated
# handguard. I doubt if it's a real rarity.
#
The ventilated handguard was discontinued for two reasons:
1.) The broke much too easily.
2.) They produced waves of heat distortion (commonly called "mirage" by
match shooters) that passed between the front and rear sights. This can be
very distracting under some light conditions.
I understand that Springfield Armory has occassionally used the ventilated
habdguards in assembling some M1As over the years simply because they were
cheap and plentiful.
Jim Rawles, Proprietor The obligatory quote...
Clearwater Trading Co. "No man's life, liberty,
c/o P.O. Box 2289 or property is safe
Orofino, Idaho [83544] while the legislature is
voice: (208) 476-4440 in session."
e-mail: Jwra...@aol.com - Judge Gideon J. Tucker
Let me know if you'd like my UPDATED and expanded catalog of
shootable antique guns (primarily pre-1899 production "No FFL"
Mausers and Winchesters), gun accessories (mainly clips and
magazines), ammunition, backpacks, sleeping bags, waterproof
gun/gear cases, and coins. (Due to AOL e-mail length restrictions,
you'll get the catalog in two parts.) You can also now read my new
shareware novel, The Gray Nineties. It is piece of speculative survival
fiction about a socio-economic collapse and its aftermath. Hard copies
are *NOT* available, but you can download a soft copy of the entire
text
free of charge from the web site at:
http://www.eskimo.com/~hmcom/4/db/gn/cover.html
Clint McKee
writes: (Snipped)
#I understand that Springfield Armory has occassionally used the
#ventilated habdguards in assembling some M1As over the years simply
#because they were cheap and plentiful.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Group!
The commercial Springfield Armory, Inc. did build M1A's w/ventilated
handguards, but these ventilated handguards are reproductions. They
made their own mold & produced a commercial reproduction. The original
G.I. ventilated handguards are a bit rare in uncraked/unbroken
condition.
Clint
Fulton Armory