It's very pleasant to see that over the last ~10 years the M14 has come a long way. It used to be that our options were limited to barrel profile, barrel length, twist rate and GI, wood or McMillan stocks. Now we have so many options and it came to my attention that we don't have a weight database, or at least not one that I know of, that's readily available all in one place on the forum.
From the U.S. Rifle 7.62MM, M14 and M14E2 Field Manual No. 23-8 dated 7 May 1965.
Weights in Pounds (approximate):
M14 rifle with full magazine and cleaning equipment, 11 1/4
M14 rifle with full magazine and cleaning equipment, selector, and bipod, 13
Empty magazine, 1/2
Full magazine (with ball ammunition), 1 1/2
Cleaning equipment, 2/3
M2 bipod, 1 3/4
M14E2 rifle with full magazine, 14 1/2
I'd like to start collecting data on modern stock weights (SAGE, JAE, AG, Blackfeather, etc...) and barrelled actions with different profile barrels/lengths. I'll be searching the forum over the coming days to include as much as I can come up with. If anyone knows the weight of a particular action or stock, please list the details of what you have or know and how you weighed it (postage scale, stood on a scale with your rifle, etc...)
If you have the weight of a barreled action, please include the weight with the trigger group. Whatever people post, I'll update the title threads
USGI wood stocks vary quite a bit in weight, due to the density of the individual wood blanks. If you want a light one, you might try taking a postal scale to a gunshow or someplace where there are a number of stocks to pick from.
Here are some stocks I have weighed, notice that some of the standard "skinny" stocks weigh as much as a Big Red, and that the GI fiberglass weighs more than some of the wood stocks...
Stocks, no buttplate or rear swivel
USGI walnut #1 34.3 oz Tru-oil
USGI walnut #2 33.7 oz finish stripped
USGI walnut #3 33.7 oz spray camo, glass bedded
USGI walnut #4 39.1 oz, oil finish
USGI NM birch, medium hvy dwg # 11010263, Sykes, routed for bedding 34.9 oz oil finish
USGI NM walnut, medium hvy dwg # 11010263, S.A., glass bedded 36.5 oz oil finish
USGI NM mystery wood, heavy contour dwg #9352638, Fajen 33.9 oz no finish
USGI NM walnut, heavy contour dwg #9352638, Fajen 41.4 oz no finish
USGI fiberglass 36.9 oz mil finish
USGI fiberglass #2 40.8 oz spray can camo
Hueygunner composite stock 37.4 oz green CARC finish
USGI M14 buttplate 8.2 oz with screws, 7.4 oz 210 gm w/o screws
USGI M1 buttplate 3.8 oz 109gm w/o screws
Rubber spacer 7790914 0.8 oz 22gm
USGI front ferrule 6g
USGI front sling swivel, no rivets 22g
USGI rear sling swivel 22g .8 oz
Complete Rifles:
Complete standard USGI M14/M1A, empty, no magazine: ~9.2 lbs. (U.S. Rifle 7.62MM, M14 and M14E2 Field Manual) (Wikipedia)
SOCOM 16 with standard SAI Scout rail and empty 10-rd mag: 8.8lbs (SAI website)
SOCOM II with VLTOR cluster rail and empty 10-rd mag: 10 lbs. (SAI website)
M1A Scout Squad with standard SAI Scout rail and empty 10-rd mag: 8.8 lbs. (SAI website)
M1A standard with current production synthetic stock and empty 10-rd mag: 8.8 lbs. (SAI website)
M1A standard with current production walnut stock and empty 10-rd mag: 9.3 lbs. (SAI website)
M1A loaded with current production synthetic stock and empty 10-rd mag 9.3 lbs. (SAI website)
M1A loaded with current production walnut stock and empty 10-rd mag 9.8 lbs. (SAI website)
M1A National Match with current production walnut stock and empty 10-rd mag: 9.8 lbs. (SAI website)
M1A Super Match with current production walnut stock and empty 10-rd mag: 11.2 lbs. (SAI website)
M1A Super Match with McMillan FG stock and empty 10-rd mag: 12.2 lbs. (SAI website)
M21 Tactical Long Range with heavy walnut and empty 10-round mag: 11.6 lbs. (SAI website)
Privately Owned Rifles:
Super Match M1A with McMillan FG stock and heavy barrel and leather sling: 14.2 lbs. (Courtesy of Wolley)
Custom LRB M25 rear-lugged with Mcmillan stock, heavy Krieger barrel, bipod, sling and Nightforce loaded with 20 rounds of 175 SMKs: 20+ lbs. (courtesey of Lennyo3034)
Barrelled Actions:
Standard barrelled action with a GI barrel, handguard and trigger group to weigh approximately 6.1 lbs.
I can't tell you what the individual components weigh. My Super Match, rear lug, Krieger heavy with Ron Brown sling weighs 14.2lbs. No added weight and no magazine.
Thanks for the input, folks. I encourage anyone with a postage scale to weigh their individual rifles, parts or barrelled actions, please and post it here so I can update the list.
I created this as a quick reference for anyone trying to build a rifle or make changes to their rifles so that they can have a side by side comparison of the weight of their final product before optics and accessories and help people put in perspective how heavy or light of a rifle that you will end up with.
I would like to see any owners of M1A's post their rifle weights. I think SAI might be a little conservative on their weights since there is a 2 pound difference reported from SAI and Wolley regarding the same rifle.
Thanks to all who posted this stuff before which I was able to collect using the search feature and for all those who will contribute in the future.
Well, I bought a postage scale tonight. I weighed my LRB M14SA (no-lug) with Medium weight Criterion 22" barrel (Saco blueprint reproduction), Hueygunner carbon/graphite/kevlar stock bedded with sling. It came in at 10lbs, 4.9oz
My SAI standard 22" with GI H&R barrel and no mods what so ever, mounted in a Blackfeather chassis system with scout hand guard (SHG) and alloy tube stock came in at 9lbs, 8oz.
just a note regarding wood stocks....their weight not only varies from the density and profile but the amount of oil in the wood. I have one socom that weighs a little over 7 1/2 lbs....the stock is a shorten wood stock with as much of the oil in it purged out...resulting in the stock of about 1lb 10 0z. A stock socom receiver with iron sights trigger group and no mag is about 6.2 pounds
Old photo with descriptor: "Stripped 18 1/2" barrel just before removal. Rear sight still on." So I'm thinking bare 18 1/2" barrel and receiver pulled apart just enough to do yet another barrel swap.
I used to have quite a bit of weighing and such of various bits in the old forum set-up that had the "blog" feature as linked below. It's still a little accessible using the "way back" feature of Google,... I think. Not a computer whiz am i, and have limited computer time of late. Will try to roust out more as time permits and it gets remembered!
This has probably been done before, but I thought I'd share some stock weight data. All stocks weighed with full hardware attached using a USPS digital scale.
std=standard; BR=Big Red; FG=Fiberglass;
SAI plastic 2lb 5oz
GI walnut BR 2lb 12oz
SAI walnut 2lb 8oz
GI birch std #1 2lb 12oz
GI birch std #2 2lb 12oz
GI birch BR #1 3lb 1oz
GI birch BR #2 2lb 14oz
GI FG #1 2lb 14oz
GI FG #2 3lb 3oz
GI FG #3 3lb 1oz
McMillian M1A 3lb 14oz
Vltor EMOD ?
Sage EBR Mod 1 4lbs 14oz
SAge EBR Mod 0 5lb 1oz
JAE gen 1 w/o side rails 5lb 6oz
JAE gen 1 w/side rails and adj cheek 6lb 1oz
I have a SAI Loaded in a Promag Archangel stock. I also have a Sadlak NM spring guide, ARMS 18 mount, GG&G bipod, Butler Creek padded sling, and two push-button QD sling swivels. All of this, unloaded, weighs 12 pounds and 11 ounces.
I plan to eventually add a scope and Warne Maxima QD rings.
Exactly as pictured above, with a loaded 20 round mag of XM80 ball, the total weight is 13lb, 5.5oz. Without the full magazine, this rifle should weigh 11lbs, 13oz. Had the barrel been a standard weight profile, this rifle would weigh in right at 11lbs. Not bad for a fully scoped rifle!
-LRB M14SA receiver
-Blackfeather chassis
-M14.CA RBS
-Bassett high picatinny mount
-Burris Zee medium height rings
-Zeiss Conquest 3-9x50mm scope
-Bula Forge medium weight 19.25" barrel
-M14EBR trigger shoe
After lugging along my EBR, 22" TRW barrel, GG&G bipod, Viper HST and side Mini red dot. I'm scared to really know how much weight I'm actually carrying, not including ammo.
At least it's not my M1918 A3 !
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