In 1966 I was trained with the M-14. I was taught

[backscatter712]

83. The M-14 itself is a powerful weapon.

Granted, I've never served in the armed forces or had to use a firearm against another human being.

I have shot my brother-in-law's M-14 a few times.

But, the M-14 is a semi-automatic rifle. Some military versions could fire full-auto. It fires 7.62mm cartridges, the same as the AK-47, and bigger than the 5.56mm cartridges used in the AR-15.

(My understanding is that the military made the switch to 5.56mm because they found in studies of firefights that combatants got closer to each other than they previously thought - a hundred yards, IIRC, meaning they hardly used the longer range of a 7.62mm rifle. They also found that because soldiers tended to use a lot of suppressive fire (not necessarily targeting anything, just intended to get the enemy to keep their heads down) which persuaded them to switch to a lighter caliber, 5.56, which enables troops to carry many more rounds of ammo.)

While the M-14 usually has a wooden stock, and traditionally does not have a pistol grip, making it look more like Grandpa's deer rifle than a baby-killing Bushmaster AR-15, it's a powerful and deadly weapon of war.

Don't let looks deceive.