2 March 2024 M14 Picture of the Day - 50th Anniversary of Landing in Vietnam

[Mark in Rochester]

So...the M14s set up with bipods are designated squad automatic weapons?

M14E2/M14A1
Selective fire version of the standard M14 used as a squad automatic weapon. Successor to the full-automatic M14 with a bipod and the never-issued M15. The developmental model was known as the M14E2. The model concept was developed by the United States Army Infantry School. The variant was known as the M14 (USAIB), after the initialism for "United States Army Infantry Board". The variant was issued in 1963 and redesignated as M14A1 in 1966.

It had a full pistol-gripped in-line stock to control recoil, a plastic upper forend to save weight, a muzzle compensator, the BAR sling, an M2 bipod, a folding metal vertical foregrip mounted under the forend of the stock, and a rubber recoil shoulder pad under the hinged butt plate. Although an improvement over the M14 when in full-auto, it was still difficult to control, overheated rapidly, and the 20-round magazine limited its ability to deliver suppressive fire.