Every great design has its weakness, and this rifle is no exception.

Though its widespread use as a service rifle was short, there is no doubt that the M14 is one of--if not the--finest battle rifles ever produced. It took the best features of the historically glorious M1 Garand and refined them. In its original form it is a true rifle--not a close-quarters assault weapon--and shoots a cartridge capable of long-range performance. It has none of the finicky manners of Stoner's design. Its accuracy is as good as the AK-47's is poor. Yet the M14/M1A has an achilles' heel. It is exposed when the need to mount an optic arises.

For most, a standard-configuration M1A mounts like a good shotgun, and the excellent iron sights line up comfortably and naturally. But mounting a scope poses several difficult problems: Cheekweld becomes nonexistent unless an adjustable or fixed cheekpiece is added, suitable mounts are expensive and somewhat involved to install, and, most importantly, suitable mounts must overcome a certain amount of action-flex and movement when fired and still maintain zero. Another obstacle to properly mounting optics is the tolerance variations in civilian-available receivers and different-era M14s.

Not to worry: It can be done, as is evidenced by the fact that the armed forces are, with increasing regularity, issuing optics-mounted M14s as DMRs (designated marksman rifle) to squad designated marksmen and to snipers that are deployed where increased volumes of highly accurate semiautomatic fire is needed.

The civilian-legal version--the M1A--is usually found on the firing line at Camp Perry or in the gun cabinet of shooters who believe it's a great rifle that can do it all--home defense, hunting, casual plinking, long-range shooting, and so on. Lots of shooters want a scope on their M1As, and while military armorers are well versed in properly mounting scopes on M14s, there is a lack of in-depth information on mount systems available to the average shooter and the process of properly installing them.

While Springfield offers a relatively inexpensive optic mount (and properly trained armorers can make it work), it's a two-point system, meaning it attaches to two contact points--the side of the action and the dovetail for the stripper clip guide. When developing criteria for quality mounts available to and mountable by the average shooter, I settled on those providing three contact points. Such mounts provide better stability under heavy use, abuse, and extensive shooting.

The first particularly successful M14 mount was a three-point design developed for the Special Forces in the '80s by Brookfield Precision Tool. I'll stick my neck out and say that almost all currently available three-point mounts, regardless of manufacturer, are some variation of the Brookfield design.

Key to the mount's ability to withstand the forces of high-volume heavy recoil without loosening or changing zero are those three contact points. One is the heavy screw in the side of the action, another is the stripper-clip dovetail, and the third is a pressure point on the top front of the receiver. That pressure point, which is absent in two-point mounts, makes all the difference. It minimizes the effect of action-flexion (yes, M14 actions actually flex slightly with each firing), supports the mount through recoil, and greatly broadens its base, adding stability that helps maintain zero.

The mounting process is very similar for the different mounts. Accompanying is a series of photos detailing the process, with additional photos showing any unique differences particular to mounts such as the A.R.M.S. #18 and Trijicon's ACOG-capable mount. Several of the mounts featured here, as well as the few tools necessary to properly attach them, are available through Brownells .

Once properly mounted, all the mounts tested and featured here will give good service. I mounted each one of them on a Springfield Standard M1A and tested for function issues or interference, running at least two full 10-round magazines of Black Hill's 155-grain match load or Hornady's 155-grain TAP ammo--two of my favorite, ultra-reliable, very versatile loads--through the rifle. I fired the first magazine slow fire, five or six of the second magazine with the rifle held off the shoulder with the ejection port facing up, and then dumped the remaining shots from the shoulder as fast as I could squeeze the trigger. I never had a malfunction or jam with that rifle with any of the mounts featured in this report.