This photo is me in 1969 at 19 years old sitting on a foxhole near a North Vietnamese Army supply trail.

 This photo is me in 1969 at 19 years old sitting on a foxhole near a North Vietnamese Army supply trail.

This photo is me in 1969 at 19 years old sitting on a foxhole near a North Vietnamese Army supply trail.

 We spent a few days in the area setting up ambushes. We caught them once. They dropped their gear and ran away. 

We did find blood trails at the site and I picked up a nice hammock, NVA belt and a pair of sandals made from tires.

I trained and qualified on an M14 in basic training and an M16 in Advanced Infantry Training. 

The M14 is heavy. The ammo is heavy. The M14 shoots a more powerful, bigger round and some may feel that is an advantage. 

I can assure you anyone hit in any part of their body with an M16 round is out of action and may be fatally wounded.

 My opinion is the M14 is an overkill against human targets and not worth the extra weight. 

In my unit in Vietnam, anyone who wanted to could carry an M14. Not even one of the guys in my unit chose an M14 over the M16. No one. 

The M16 is around half the weight and the ammo is much lighter too. We carried our weapons all day, every day, everywhere we went.

 Carry an M14 and 25 pounds ammo, 400 rounds (7.62 M14 ammo is around 6 pounds per 100) for a day or two and I promise, you will be asking for an M16 instead.

The M16 I carried was stamped “GM Hydramatic Division” and I never had a malfunction.

 I checked the action for proper lubrication every day and cleaned it after firing. No problems. Perfectly adequate for jungle fighting.