When speaking to the competitors that arrive at Camp Perry, Ohio for the National Matches every summer, no rifle brings as much nostalgia to the conversation as the Marine Corps’ Match Conditioned M14. In the iconic McMillan camouflage stock with big orange “U.S. Marine Corps Shooting Team” stickers emblazoned on the starboard side, the USMC M14s could not be missed. The M14 era would represent the high-water mark for Marine Corps competitive shooting, and the rifles that graced the firing lines of those days were true works of art and precision.
The Early USMC National Match M14
Springfield Armory M14NM #564426, an early factory National Match M14 that was further match conditioned by the Marine Corps. This rifle was used by SSgt Robert Goller to win the National Trophy Individual match in 1967.
(USMC History Division).
Factory National Match M14
- Springfield Armory would produce a total of of 6,641 National Match M14s form 1962 to 1963.
- TRW would produce 4,874 National Match M14s in 1964.
- Springfield Armory converted 2,094 M14s into National Match types in 1965, and 2,395 conversions would take place in 1966.
- The last National Match M14s would be Rock Island Arsenal rebuilds, 2,462 in total in 1967.
- The Marine Corps would further modify these rifles in regards to bedding, epoxying the handguard clips, and staking various parts to minimize movement.
Left: Gunny Bartlett with his National Match M14 in 1962, the first year the M14 was used in competition. (USMC).
Right: The USMC Rifle Team with M14s in 1964 (USMC).
Slideshow of Staff Sergeant Goller’s Daniel Boone and Dogs of War Trophies winning National Match M14 (NMMC).
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