Yesterday was the first outing with my Bula Defense M14 XM21, which was a blast, despite the 12 degree high temp we had in northwest Ohio. But, no wind, and sunny, so it wasn't too bad.

The M14 build effort started back in July when I purchased their receiver and 22" NM barrel package special, thanks to a posted tip by a fellow forum member. Also purchased the Bula parts kit, and picked up their CBR chassis from Jeff at the Camp Perry nationals in July. Spent the rest of the year buying other needed items, including a Magpul PRS adjustable stock and Smith Vortex flash hider. The scope is a Sig Whiskey3 3-9X, which I bought in the Hunter Value Pack on their Black Friday sale, mainly to get the included Kilo 1250 range finder. Will eventually get a higher-power tactical scope since we can shoot out to about 600 yards at the family farm.

The top target in the pic below shows the 8 rounds which were shot thru the M14. Distance was 100'. Group was to the right, but was more focused on break-in than sight-in, so will work on that later after I get more rounds thru it.

This was a fun project, and I'm glad I did it. While some will debate the merit of barrel break-in procedure, I did swab the bore between each shot for the first 5 rounds, then shot 3 more rounds, before packing it away for the day. Will continue break-in on the next outing.

Thanks to Tony Ben for his very informative videos, and to Jeff at Bula for his assistance as well.

The afternoon actually started with my first shots thru my just received (finally) Griffin Revolution 45 suppressor, which I mounted on the 300 Blk 10.5" SBR which I had built earlier in 2017 after receiving the stamp for that one.

The first 7 rounds were Sig Subsonic 220 grain, followed by about 25 rounds of my 220 gr Sierra MK/10.9 gr of AA 1680 reloads, all of which functioned well. The lower target in the pic below shows the group. I have a Vortex Strikeforce 1X on this one, which favors shorter distances. I had sighted-in this optic this summer with reloaded 125 gr TNT bullets, and not sure if the change in POI is due to the 220 grain load or the suppressor. Will have to check that out more in the weeks to come.







All in all, a good day.

Making it harder and harder to resist my own M14 itch.

Thank you for the report

quote:

Originally posted by jjkroll32:
Making it harder and harder to resist my own M14 itch.

Thank you for the report

You are welcome. Back in early July Rooney had posted the link for the Bula sale in this forum. I have had the M14 on my long-term "buy" list since the time that I had bought my M1 from CMP in October 2016, but this sale accelerated that decision. The XM21 receiver makes it easy to mount the scope, and while it may not be traditional, in terms of the M14 options, it makes it practical for my intended use.

It was a fun build, and I'm looking forward to working up a few loads for it. I did buy a case of mid-80's produced Korean 7.62 from SG Ammo. So far, it is working well.

Congrats! I'm glad you like the XM21. They are nice rifles. The ones I've handled have a nice smooth feel to the action. Did you install a Shooting Sight EBR trigger too? The trigger profile looks ideal for a pistol gripped stock but it's hard to tell from the picture.

I talked to Jeff last week and there's more offerings coming this year, so stay tuned...

Tony.

How much does it cost to put one of these together?

quote:

Originally posted by limblessbiff:
How much does it cost to put one of these together?

Shoot me an e-mail. I can acquired one for you for around $2250. I have one with an 18" medium weight barrel that has been test fired and broken in that is available. If you're looking for an additional configuration, I can help with that.

http://m14forum.com/px/403322-xm21-cbr.html

E-mail in signature line...

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
Congrats! I'm glad you like the XM21. They are nice rifles. The ones I've handled have a nice smooth feel to the action. Did you install a Shooting Sight EBR trigger too? The trigger profile looks ideal for a pistol gripped stock but it's hard to tell from the picture.

I talked to Jeff last week and there's more offerings coming this year, so stay tuned...

Tony.

Tony, I used the trigger which came with the Bula parts kit which Jeff supplied. Figured I would shoot it a while and then decide on upgrades, if needed.

Thanks again for the great instructional videos, they were very useful and helped very much. Sent a small token of appreciation to your Paypal account after finishing the build, lots of interesting info.

Looking forward to talking with Jeff later this month at SHOT, and drooling over the M14s in his booth.

quote:

Originally posted by Merc50:

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
Congrats! I'm glad you like the XM21. They are nice rifles. The ones I've handled have a nice smooth feel to the action. Did you install a Shooting Sight EBR trigger too? The trigger profile looks ideal for a pistol gripped stock but it's hard to tell from the picture.

I talked to Jeff last week and there's more offerings coming this year, so stay tuned...

Tony.

Tony, I used the trigger which came with the Bula parts kit which Jeff supplied. Figured I would shoot it a while and then decide on upgrades, if needed.

Thanks again for the great instructional videos, they were very useful and helped very much. Sent a small token of appreciation to your Paypal account after finishing the build, lots of interesting info.

Looking forward to talking with Jeff later this month at SHOT, and drooling over the M14s in his booth.

Awesome! I’ll be there too. It will be my first time meeting Jeff in person.

Tony.