Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle

Mk 14 EBR
Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle "Rock Island", used by the U.S. Army
Type	Battle rifle Designated marksman rifle[1]
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	2002–present
Used by	See Users
Wars	War in Afghanistan Iraq War Syrian Civil War[2][3] Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017)
Production history
Designer	Mike Rock and Jim Ribordy (Original) Smith Enterprise, Inc. (Current)
Designed	2001
Manufacturer	Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division Smith Enterprise Inc.(Supplying parts) Sage International (For the stock)
Specifications
Mass	11.24 lb (5.1 kg)[4]
Length	35 in (889 mm)[4]
Barrel length	18 in (457 mm) (Mod 0)[4] 22 in (558.8 mm) (Mod 1) (EBR-RI)
Cartridge	7.62×51mm NATO
Action	Gas-operated, rotating bolt
Rate of fire	700–750 rounds/min
Muzzle velocity	853 m/s (2,800 ft/s)
Effective firing range	600m+[5]
Feed system	10-, or 20-round detachable box magazine
Sights	Modified M14 iron sights, normally used with a magnifying scope

The Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle (EBR) is an American military selective fire battle rifle chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. It is a variant of the M14 battle rifle and was originally built for use with units of United States Special Operations Command, such as the United States Navy SEALs, Delta Force, and task specific Green Berets ODA teams/units.^[6]

These weapons are made for both the designated marksman and the close combat roles. Since 2010, the U.S. Army has assigned two M14 EBR-RI rifles per infantry platoon for units deploying to Afghanistan. The M14 EBR-RI has a standard weight 22.0-inch (560 mm) barrel and lugged GI flash hider; it is not to be confused with the Mk 14 Mod 0 or Mod 1.

History[]

Development began in 2000 with a request by the United States Navy SEALs for a more compact M14 battle rifle.^[7] In 2001, Mike Rock Rifle Barrels was the only rifle barrel maker asked by United States Special Operations Command to participate in a SOPMOD conference to create what would be the Mk 14 Mod 0 EBR, with details that include a collapsible stock that was requested for the new rifle and with an aluminum body with telescopic rails. Mike Rock collaborated with engineer Jim Ribordy to make the new rifle. Tests showed that their rifle was effective, but had excessive noise problems.

U.S. Army service in Afghanistan, September 2010

In 2003, Ron Smith and Smith Enterprise, Inc. created its own version of the M14 EBR (MK14 SEI),^[8] which used a medium heavy weight 457 mm (18.0") barrel and was more widely favored than the rifle made by Rock and Ribordy. The Smith Enterprise-based MK14 was then used as a basis to eventually create the Mk 14 Mod 0 with Springfield Armory, Inc. being tasked to supply the necessary machinery needed to create the weapon in cooperation with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division.

United States Navy SEALs were the first to be armed with the EBR in 2004,^[5] followed by the U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. Army also uses with the M14 EBR-RI, being created and updated by the Weapons Product Support Integration Directorate of the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command at the Keith L. Ware Test Facility in Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois; having fielded approximately 5,000 units by mid-2010. United States Marine Corps units were^[when?] also considering the EBR, but wound up instead developing the M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle.

In early 2017, the Army began writing a new requirement for an SDM rifle for combat platoons and squads. Although the Army has been using the M14 EBR since 2009, they had to be turned in when returning from theater, and it had weight issues being almost 15 lb (6.8 kg) unloaded. A new marksman rifle will equip each combat arms squad weighing about 11 lb (5.0 kg) firing standard M80A1 7.62 mm rounds fitted with a rifle optic rather than a telescopic sight.^[9] In March 2018, the Army announced that a version of the HK G28, which had already been selected to replace the M110 SASS, would be issued as the service's standard SDMR. Issuing a 7.62 mm SDMR is meant to increase individual squads' ability to defeat enemy body armor that standard 5.56×45mm rounds cannot penetrate. Fielding was planned to start in late 2018.^[10]

Design[]

This weapon upgrades the standard M14 action and replaces the standard 22.0-inch (560 mm) barrel with an 18.0-inch (460 mm) barrel bolted onto a telescoping chassis stock system^[6] with a pistol grip, a different front sight, Harris bipod, four Picatinny accessory rails (which surround the barrel),^[6] and a more effective flash hider in place of the standard lugged USGI flash suppressor.^[11] A paddle-type bolt stop similar to that of the M4 carbine is used on the rifle. The EBR chassis system stock is made up entirely of lightweight aircraft alloy.

A Kydex hand guard and M68 CCO are also added, though they are almost always replaced with a vertical foregrip and magnifying scope for better handling and for use in a designated marksman role.^{[citation needed]} A Wind Talker suppressor can be mounted on the DC Vortex flash hider,^[12] though the U.S. military did not adopt one to active service.

Sage International had some involvement in the decision of whether to invest approximately $120,000 in an injection mold incorporating into the design the rail attachments or machine the replacement stock from a solid billet of aluminum with the latter being selected, which was then shown at the SHOT Show in Orlando in 2003.

The Mk 14 has been criticised for being too heavy, at 14 pounds (6.4 kg) when loaded with a 20 round magazine, with most of this weight being at the front of the weapon, making it difficult to aim.^[13]

Configurations[]

Several configurations are available on the Mk 14 Mod 0 EBR, including the attachment of an AN/PVS-4 night vision scope. Others had included the capability of adding two different scopes or sights on the Picatinny rails, for more precision or zoom level.^{[citation needed]}

Variants[]

Following the development of the Mk 14 Mod 0 EBR, several variants of the M14 rifle utilizing the Sage Chassis System have been developed and fielded by various branches of the U.S. military. A summary of variants, and the components utilized in each, are as follows:

Contractors[]

Military[]

While the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division creates the military Mk 14 Mod 0 and Mod 1 rifles, Sage International was contracted to provide the weapon's chassis-type stock.

Civilian[]

The civilian version created by Smith Enterprise Inc. is also known as the MK14 SEI. The Sage EBR chassis stock is available in a carbine variant known as the M14ALCS/CV. The carbine variant is also known as the MK14 SEI Mod 1.^[20]

Others include Fulton Armory, firing in semi-automatic mode instead of fully automatic.

Troy Industries has created a replica of the EBR's modular system made by Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division called the Troy Modular Chassis System, which can be used by mounting any functioning M1A or M14 rifle on the MCS. Philippine arms company FERFRANS has created their version of the Mk 14 Mod 0 called the FERFRANS SOPMOD M14/M1A Enhanced Battle Rifle, which uses a Sage International M14/M1A EBR Tactical Stock System aluminum chassis, an M4 buttstock, and a GRSC M4-62 General Purpose Combat Recticle.^[21]

Gallery[]

• 

  U.S. Army Sgt. Kyle Edwards, from Reconnaissance Platoon, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, looks through the scope of his Mk 14 rifle onto a mortar range near Ghazni, Afghanistan, on April 1, 2007

• 

  U.S. Army Spc. Michael Rockwell, a combat infantryman with 1st Platoon, Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army Europe, scans the surrounding mountains for threats during a patrol outside Forward Operating Base Baylough in Zabul province, Afghanistan, on June 12, 2010

• 

  U.S. Army Cpl. Michael Tacker, from Tonasket, Washington, an infantryman assigned to the Kapisa-Parwan Provincial Reconstruction Team, leans against the guard rails of a bridge while providing security in Mahmood Rahqi, Afghanistan, Sept. 9. 2009

• 

  The Mk 14 EBR provides infantry squads with the capability to engage enemy targets beyond the range of M4 Carbines and M16 Rifles

• 

  The Mk 14 Mod 0 equipped with a vertical foregrip and a bipod

Users[]

•  Australia: Used by the Special Air Service Regiment in anti-Taliban operations.^[22][23]
•  Iraq: Iraqi Special Operations Forces^[24]
•  United States: Used in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan^[25]

Non-state actors[]

• Free Syrian Army^[26]
•  Islamic State^[27]

See also[]

• List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces
• List of battle rifles
• M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle

References[]