Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Lithuania receives 400 upgraded M-14 L1's with sniper scopes

Wouldn't it be great if our government would sell these to private citizens instead of giving them away?

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“Lithuanian Armed Forces and Lithuanian National Defense Volunteer Forces have received upgraded weapons – US production M-14's. More than 400 rifles were upgraded with the use of a bipod and a modern optical sight. The project used the financial support funds from citizens allocated in 2016,” a Twitter post announced on 8 April. M14s are used for ceremonial purposes by the Lithuanian army which also uses them as marksman rifle M14 L1 when equipped with the sniper scope.

The M14 rifle (officially designated the United States Rifle, Caliber 7.62 mm, M14) is an American select-fire rifle that fires 7.62×51mm NATO (.308) ammunition. It became the standard-issued rifle for the U.S. military in 1959, completely replacing the M1 Garand rifle in the U.S. Army by 1961 and the U.S. Marine Corps by 1965, until being replaced by the M16 assault rifle, beginning in 1964. The M14 was used by U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps for basic and advanced individual training from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s.

The M14 was the last American battle rifle issued in quantity to U.S. military personnel. It was replaced by the M16 assault rifle, a lighter weapon using a smaller caliber intermediate cartridge. The M14 rifle remains in limited service in all branches of the U.S. military as an accurized competition weapon, a ceremonial weapon by honor guards, color guards, drill teams and ceremonial guards, and sniper rifle/designated marksman rifle. Civilian semi-automatic models are used for hunting, plinking, target shooting, and shooting competitions.

The M14 is the basis for the M21 and M25 sniper rifles which were largely replaced by the M24 Sniper Weapon System. A new variant of the M14, the Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle has been in service since 2002.

Where have all the M-14s gone . . . ?


. . . gone to Niger every one. When will they ever learn . . . when will they ever learn?

(From an m14forum.com post)
"Over 321,905 surplus (M14s) were exported to foreign militaries under the Excess Defense Articles program and others. These were largely transferred abroad to Greece, Israel, the Philippines, South Vietnam, Taiwan, Turkey, Venezuela, Columbia, Iceland (which doesn’t have a military), and Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s and the new Baltic countries of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia in the 1990’s."

Per Lee Emerson's book, Vol 1, (2019), page 156. Here's a partial list of about two dozen foreign governments/militaries that have received M14 rifles going back to the 1970s (Israel) and continuing to present day (Lithuania comes to mind):

Afghanistan, Argentina, Belize, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Greece, Haiti, Israel, Jordon, Latvia, Lithuania, Niger, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey and Zaire. (I think most of those countries also have received M1 Garands as part of the Military Assistance Program in the post-WWII era. I suspect the biggest recipient of M14s via Uncle Sam was Israel (30k) and then South Korea - that was back in the early 1970s, so it was really the Nixon/Kissinger era when large volumes of M14s were first provided to foreign militaries).

Back in 2015 or so the "freedom fighters" for Syria apparently had US gov't supplied M14 EBRs. My understanding is the remaining US Army EBR-RIs are now being sold via the Foreign Military Sales program - but other than Estonia I am not sure who else is buying them.

BTW, the original picture was taken in 1990 during Operation Desert Shield - see caption in Emerson's book. (Those are the old "chocolate chip" pattern desert uniforms that were briefly used in the early 1990s. My guess is the Nigerian military got those M14s back in the 1970s somewhere during the Nixon/Ford/Carter era - or at the latest during the 1980s in the Reagan era. I have no idea of they still issue them 30 yrs later). Just an fyi...

NO -- guns kill people

That’ll never happen, once a class iii, always a class iii.

Saw a few of those in A-Stan in 04. Also, article says Niger, not Nigeria. I’ve had a few all expenses paid trips to Niger. Only saw comm bloc weapons there - AKs, DSHKA, etc...Our wonderful State Dept was kind enough to send them some new Landcruuser pickups, but the geniuses bought petrol instead of diesel power. Probably still setting unused in sheds.

They used to sell surplus to those tax payers who bought them..... until, I don't remember, but probably has been ten years plus.
Remember the brass sales too?
I never bought any, but read that a lot of reloaders used to get good deals.

Yeah, 25 years ago there was an effort to sell them via the DCM (CMP now). It came close but what you said stopped it. What was weird was that the DCM loaned M14 National Match rifles to state association rifle teams, who issued them to civilian shooters who needed them. So, you could have one, you just couldn't buy one. They all ended up getting turned back in when the AR took over.

The magic negro put an end to the once fired military brass to civilians as I recall. I do despise that 'sumbitch, and want to kick his wife Mooch in the balls too.

Did the recipients have to fill out a FU(KING 4473??????

The US government constantly breaks its own laws and wages a not-so-cold war on the people of the US. This is one minor aspect. COVID is a major one.

I trained with one in Marine Boot back in 63, then got switched to Garands for ACT, I have a knock-off Springfield M14 now, along with a beautiful Garand.

jb . . . I just got a James River Armory M-14, now I want a nice Garand. That is a beauty you have. I think I would also like to have a Lee-Enfield No.4 MkI main British late World war II rifle.

I'd like to be first, if you don't mind.