Sunday, November 8, 2009

M-14

I will shoot anything put in my hands.

46 comments:

Unknown said...

Breda, Serious question: Is it normal for the recoil to knock you back a couple little steps like that? Were you facing the target too much? Isn't it more comfortable and more stable to rotate your body a bit more to the right?

I swear I mean no offense by these questions. It's a cool video and you looked great.

Mike W. said...

Looks like fun Breda!

How's the shoulder feel?

rickn8or said...

I noticed she stepped right back up to do it again...

Haji said...

.308 is a no messin' around cartridge, even in a semi-auto like the M1A. They give a bit of a whack. Even with good technique, they still make follow up shots difficult, which is why the M14 isn't the main battle rifle anymore. Recoil can be mitigated a little more, though. Take a small step forward with the left foot, and lean from the waist a bit more. The key to hits, though, is still trigger control...which is, I'm sure, why I don't shoot as well as I should. :)

jimbob86 said...

That firing stance looks to be...uhmmmm..... recoil unfriendly?

Maybee turn to the right, as mike 30200 sugested?

That said, I envy you! Someday I will have an M1a..... someday.

Tango Juliet said...

Good for you!!! Have at it!!

Johnnyreb™ said...

AIN'T SKEERED !!!

Ed Rasimus said...

Breda displays current tactical technique, the squared to the target stance is ideal for tactical purposes (especially if wearing a vest since you expose a full frontal chest target). Ideal, that is, if using an AR with little or no recoil. A more traditional 45 degree angle stance along with left foot forward and slightly flexed knees would be more comfortable.
They are always fun though!

Michael W. said...

I don't want a teenage queen, I just want my M-14..........

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

!

yes!

drjim said...

Holy smokes, Breda, that rifle is almost as big as you are!

Anonymous said...

I got to fire a FA M14 some years back.
\
Lots of fun and not that hard to control if you have "an educated trigger finger," and keep the burst to three or four rounds at at time.

Shot an M1A in NRA High Power Matches years ago too. Also fun, just not as fast.

Breda: I second the notion of leaning into the gun a bit more.

Top of the Chain said...

Um, I think I have some overdue library books. :)

kaveman said...

Hot damn, you startin' to branch out into the big boy toys.

In all seriousness, find someone local with a Mosin Nagant. The 7.62x54R cartridge packs a punch and will leave a mark.

The russians didn't care because of their heavy uniforms due to the cold.

You should be able to purchase one for under $100 and the ammo is still affordable.

I await the pictures.

rremington said...

Atta Girl!!!

NotClauswitz said...

Yay!!

Murphy's Law said...

Looking good...but we have to work on that stance. ;-)

And the offer's still valid for you to join Nicki and Lagniappe and me for some real belt-fed full-auto shooting.

Tirno said...

I have my M-14 in a Sage International stock system. My father reminisced to me about how the M-14 "kicked like a mule", but with the SI stock, even though it weighs a pound less, I don't feel the need to wear more than a t-shirt between my rifle and my shoulder. The integrated rubber butt-pad takes all the impact away, although you still get a good shove. I'm not sure if the pistol grip adds anything to the recoil properties.

Still, yes, I'd advise leaning into the rifle a little more, although I'd be hesitant in my n00bness to advise more.

Will you be eying a CMP Garand soon?

Glenn B said...

When I saw your stance I anticipated what I was about to see happen in the video. Luckily for you, you did not wind up on your duff, I have seen shooters wind up on theirs because of recoil and foot placement and a quick trip. I suppose it was a learning expereince and I commend you for posting the video here so others can learn from it.

If you are going to hold a rifle or shotgun with you body square to the target like that - and that is just how I hold a shotgun - might I recommend stepping forward with your left foot, it does wonders to help maintain balance and absorb recoil.

All the best,
Glenn B

Pop N Fresh said...

tons of fun, looks like a great time!

Buckshot said...

Tirno,

M14 kicked like a mule? Special stock and all that?

If you think that an M14 or an M1 Garand kicks, I can change your mind with just one shot.

Ball, Cal. .30, M2, or even better Ball, Cal. .30, M1 out of an M1903 Springfield with a type S stock and you won't find a kick in ANY of the .30 ca. gas guns any longer!

Buckshot

Kevin said...

Dammit! My M14 had been on order almost a full year now, and I STILL don't know when I'm going to get it. LRB has apparently not been shipping M25 receivers to builders.

I want, I want, I WANT!!

Mad Saint Jack said...

You are allowed to cheat and use a PAST shoulder recoil pad.

Tirno said...

Buckshot said, "M14 kicked like a mule? Special stock and all that?"

"Kicked like a mule" is what my father said. He may have had different recollections, as he fired the M-14 as a early Vietnam era, not-yet-a-citizen Peruvian immigrant/US Army private that weighed, perhaps, 110 lbs soaking wet.

I can see how there would be a bit of a difference if one's shoulder interfaces with hard-edged wood stock rather than a recoil pad. Me, I wouldn't know the old ways, as I received my M-14 with the SI stock already on, with maybe 5 rounds through the barrel. I personally don't think the kick is all that much, although I weigh twice what my father did back then.

It you'd like to offer up some experience with a harder kicking rifle, I'll be happy to expend some of your ammo in the learning process, Buckshot!

Kevin, I had to wait 6 months for a standard M-14 receiver from LRB to become available. They were back-ordered by 300 receivers at the time I placed my order two years ago, having just finished a set of M-25s. I can't imagine what kind of backlog they have now with the NSSF Salesman Of the Year in office.

Lissa said...

SQUEE!!!!

So . . . you're coming to next year's New England Bloggershoot, right? It's only fair to give us equal time!

Helo45 said...

Sorry...just the nerd in me... was that a M1A, or a real M-14 like in this link??

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=1042939088719

ajdshootist said...

If you want recoil you should try an L1A1 with the Gas Regulator closed now that kicks!

Ken said...

I will shoot anything put in my hands.

Note to self: Do not hand Breda the Davy Crockett. :-)

Jay G said...

Now, see, I look at that and all I can think of is, "Uh oh, looks like Breda forgot her sunscreen"...

Sometimes the Dad voice wins out...

:)

Looks like a LOT of fun was had. Too bad CO is so darn far away...

LPF said...

Just lean into it a little...

Tam said...

kaveman said:

"In all seriousness, find someone local with a Mosin Nagant. The 7.62x54R cartridge packs a punch and will leave a mark."

Puh-leeeeeeze.

7.62x54R kicks like .30-40 Krag in a gun that weighs as much as a pickup truck. Ten-year-olds all over America will bag deer with sub-8-pound .308s starting later this month. It's all about the technique.

Lean into the gun. It will not hurt you. A 12ga shotgun with skeet loads kicks harder than almost any centerfire rifle, and folks shoot those all day.

Owen said...

You look great! Looks like it was great fun!

Top of the Chain said...

Point to everyone who has critiqued Breda's shooting stance;
Who is holding that gun and pulling the trigger?

Rick R. said...

The more it kicks, the more you lean into it.

How far do you have to lean?

Far enough that YOU shoot it well and not uncomfortably.

Assrot said...

I see you have already received plenty of advice from the peanut gallery.

I think you did great for the first time shooting one. It's a darn nice shooting gun once you get the feel of it, heh?

Now if you come to Florida some day, I'll let you shoot some nice African Safari guns. I have a custom made rifle with a wildcat chamber that I shoot .458 Lott from. You might need a shoulder pad but I'd bet you could handle it.

I hope you are enjoying yourself. My wife won't shoot anything bigger than my M4 in 5.56. She's about your size.

My youngest daughter will shoot anything you hand her and she only weighs 105 lbs.

Good shootin',

:-)

Joe

Willorith said...

Good Madam Breda:

Appleseed time

Ever your loyal servant,
Willorith

ChrisTheEngineer said...

I bet you would be happy to do it more.

Well?

Buckshot said...

Tirno,

Don't know your location, but if you are within driving distance of Toledo, OH that could most likely be arranged.

Tam,

The kids in my Jr. Smallbore Program shoot the M-38 & M-44 M-N carbines just for the fun of it, seeing the big fireball!

.30-40 Krag doesn't really kick at all, we can fix you up with that, too.

The US M1903 Springfield with that short, straight gripped stock thumps just fine, and if you cross your thumb over the stock wrist, it thumps your NOSE too! The US once had "heavy ball" just like they had for the 8 X 57 Mauser and the 7.62 X 54r Mosin-Nagants, too. Made the interwar regular Army practically cry and beg for a lesser kicking round! That round later became the Match, .30 Cal, M-72!

Rick R.,

Lean in far enough to help with the recoil, not far enough to fall over like Artie Johnson was all the time on Laugh-In!

Willorith,

We all ready got here to one Appleseed, that is why she is doing so well on stuff she has never shot before!

Breda,

Where is the M-1? You are getting into the classic stuff now, so go ALL THE WAY with the Classics!

You know you have arrived when you get:

Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang,

Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang,

PING!

Buckshot

Cowboy Blob said...

Yup, LEAN into it! I've got a brake on mine, so no muzzle climb, just a push straight back. Sometimes it feels like driving a plow....

Owen said...

Hey,

That's a totally different Owen up there!

Glad your having fun.

Rick R. said...

Hey, the guy who used to test Wetherby's in the factory was a tiny little short guy, about Breda's size.

He just leaned way into the gun, and let it push his arms up as far as they needed to go.

Ambulance Driver said...

Lots of otherwise good advice from well-meaning XY types here, but I'd like to try an experiment:

1. Shrink each one of them down to 5'4" and 130 pounds.

2. Whack off the left leg below the knee - and all those proprioreceptors that go with it - and strap on a prosthesis.

3. Have 'em get into their preferred offhand shooting stance, shifting their weight forward onto that artificial hunk of metal alloy and plastic, and see how balanced they feel.

4. Shoulder their M14 and take aim at a 100 yard target and touch a few off.

It'd be interesting to see how many a) can get in on the paper, and b) step back up to finish the mag.

I was there watching, and you did both of the above. Until another 130 pound amputee offers good advice, I'd say keep doing what you're doing.

By the way guys, while her stance may not be classic, she more than makes up for it with her trigger control.

Kristophr said...

Only thing wrong was the stance. Everything else looked good. If I was firing a weapon off hand that was nearly as long as I am, I might have probs as well.

Left foot forward, knee slightly bent, and body over that forward knee.

Lean into it and you won't land on yer arse.

HK_USP_45 said...

"Top of the Chain said...
Point to everyone who has critiqued Breda's shooting stance; Who is holding that gun and pulling the trigger?
NOVEMBER 9, 2009 4:39 PM"

That is officially the worst reasoning and the most illogical argument I have ever seen in my life. So the thug who holds his "gat" sideways while shooting is in proper form because "he's the one holding the gun and pulling the trigger"?

Nice try for some brownie points.

Ambulance Driver said...

"Left foot forward, knee slightly bent, and body over that forward knee."

And again, if that knee and foot are made out of metal and plastic, and you can't feel them, it's a bit hard to position your body over that knee and maintain decent balance.

She uses the stance she uses because that's what works for her.

Anonymous said...

Now gents enough with the stance talk. I starting skeet shooting at 13 and weigh 60 lbs and with a 12 gauge at the low house which is the learning place to get the target picture. I used to get physically bounced backwards into the low house.

I learned and got a 20 gauge with recoil pad and finally did some competition.

I stand with left foot forward and bent knee to get into the gun. Keep the gun snug into the shoulder. I have seen people shoot with the butt against the upper arm which leaves nasty bruises.

However on the low house I often waited and used to get the comment that I had bent barrel since I shot it as it came past the house and swung around.

I still only stand at 5 feet but I am more solid now.
Breda will figure a stance that works for her. The step back is fine if it keeps her balance.