9-Hole Reviews Practical Accuracy Series is one of the nicer fairly objective short tests.
The M21, a variant of the much maligned M14, was and remains used as a marksman rifle in places worldwide. The problem is that the M14/M1A remains the most problematic rifle that works, sometimes, in many aspects. It can be accurate, it can be reliable. It is a chore to make it so, it is a chore to place optics and modern accessories around the rifle.
Nearly everything about the rifle is just more difficult than it needs to be because of the adherence to the M1 Garand’s ergonomics. The rifle isn’t a disaster so much as it is pyrrhic victory of a service weapon. They made it work. There were numerous ways to make other rifles work better and for less. The modern AR-10 series are an excellent example of this.
But we don’t want the relative performance to obscure absolute performance. How does the M21 perform on its own. Henry and Josh put it to the test.
