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McNeese went on to spend the next 33 years in law enforcement with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, serving on its SWAT team, in criminal investigation and as the department's master firearms instructor and senior armorer. But even then, the special units, the snipers, had M14s and M21s." "Round count to body count went extremely high during the Vietnam War because we were shooting a lighter, less-lethal round and were taught to shoot fully automatic. "With the M16, if you shot three or four magazines, you had nothing to show for it," says Charlie McNeese, a Vietnam veteran who retired as a sergeant after four years in the Marine Corps. This M14 EBR may sport Picatinny rails, a bipod, telescoping buttstock and riflescope, but it’s functionally the same rifle that was taken out of service more than four decades ago. By contrast, the M16 fired the light, easily deflected 5.56 NATO cartridge that, due to its reliance on multiple hits, was predisposed to ammunition-wasting fully automatic fire. It was famed for its jam-resistant action and superb accuracy. The M14 was our last official 7.62 NATO battle rifle capable of firing in either full- or semi-automatic modes. Finally, in 1970, the rifle was retired from active duty. But basically, the M14 was only retained in South Korea and for European NATO operations, as well as by stateside troops such as the National Guard and recruits in basic training. Some Marine units continued using it right up through the Tet Offensive. In spite of the fact the M14 rifle weighed nearly as much as the M1 Garand it replaced, many soldiers were reluctant to give up the hard-hitting rifle. Army had demoted the rifle from "Standard A" classification to "Limited Standard." To meet the specter of Vietnam, McNamara replaced the M14 rifle-which was considered too big and bulky for jungle warfare-with the new but untested M16. In 1964, all further procurement of the M14 was curtailed, and by 1968 the U.S. An old adage states, "You never know what you have until you lose it." That certainly was the case in 1963, when the Department of Defense, under Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, began pulling the M14 battle rifle from the hands of our armed forces.