It’s an efficient design that lends itself well to controlling the weapon when firing rapidly. Let’s go ahead and get that out of the way. SOCOM 16 (Close Quarters type) on the Range The shorter barrel makes it much easier to use inside a house should you want to go very heavy for home defense. Other than that, the weapon is comfortable and easy to manipulate. The super small notch on M14 magazines makes it a real pain to line up just right when it comes to speedy reloads. I still have trouble rocking the magazine in place smoothly. Overall it’s somewhat complicated and much slower to reload than an AK or AR 15 style weapon. The main issue comes from reloading quickly, and secondarily with retention. The magazine release is an AK style paddle that is ambidextrous. Swapping magazines is not entirely intuitive, either. The safety works, but is fairly unconventional in comparison to current trends and preferences. It’s easy enough to push forward and place the weapon to fire, but a little harder to put back on safe without changing your grip or stance.Įchoes of the M14. The safety is ambidextrous and placed into the trigger guard. The right side charging handle is awkward and requires some reaching around to manipulate, or you’ll have to remove your hand from the firing grip. This is a bit of a step backward in weapon ergonomics. While the shorter barrel, revitalized sights, and the modern stock do give the weapon more modern handling, the core ergonomics are still very much an M1A. It’s much easier to handle, however, and while heavy, the weapon is well balanced and comfortable to shoulder. It’s still a heavy bastard, at 9 pounds and some change, but how light could a 308 battle rifle from the 1950s be? The SOCOM 16 feels and handles like a much more modern rifle than its word-stocked predecessor in many ways. The sights are more open, and the front sight, in particular, is superior: it’s an XS front sight with tritium vial for low light shooting. The SOCOM 16 CQB’s barrel has been trimmed from 22 inches to 16.25 inches and fitted with a muzzle brake. Some of these M1A variants some equipped with a Vortex Venom optic. Springfield even sells a model that comes with a Vortex Venom mounted.īehind the sights and in front of the stack is an ambidextrous QD mount for slings, and another is on the stock itself, so you have options for setting things up the way you want. In front of the rear sight is a stripper clip guide that also doubles as a mount for miniature red dots. The SOCOM 16 also sports a forward section of Picatinny rail designed for red dot, or long eye relief optic. Forward of the rails is a QD slot for attaching sling mounts. The stock comes with removable rails at the 3, 6, and 9 o’clock positions. This chassis gives you a modern pistol grip, an adjustable/collapsible M4 style stock, and a small section of M-LOK slots for attaching rails and accessories. The Archangel chassis is a big leap forward for the SOCOM 16. But when you lay a classic M1A next to a modern SOCOM 16 CQB they look like entirely different weapons. The classic M14/M1A is almost ten inches longer than the SOCOM 16. The exact model in this review is the Archangel CQB stock. 135 inch ghost ring rear sight for quicker target acquisition. The SOCOM 16 takes the classic M1A and trims the barrel, gets rid of the wooden stock, and tosses the gun in a modern polymer chassis system. As of this writing, the SOCOM 16 CQB is probably the best example of a modernized M14or M1A rifle. Springfield produces several models of M14 derivative rifles, some aimed at the classic appearance of their predecessor (like many iterations of the M1A), and others that reflect the aesthetics of a modernized weapon (such as the SOCOM 16). Most notably among these manufacturers is Springfield Armory, which makes the SOCOM 16 CQB. In fact, there is enough of a following for the old battle rifle that it remains in production to this day. The M14 may not have been the most remarkable of service rifles, but it undeniably generated a cult following.
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