I enlisted in 87 so was issued and trained on M16A1s. However I made the Precision Rifle Team in 89 and was issued a NM M14 and all the 7.62 Special Ball ammo I could shoot. When Desert Storm kicked in I told my Battery Commander that if we were deployed I wanted to take my M14 with me. He thought about it as said my M16 had to go because it was on the TOE. However the M14 was assigned to me personally by the Army so if I took that along it was up to me.

We were not deployed but I remember watching a news clip from the time where a solder was being interviewed who had just returned from "night time guard duty". He has his rifle wrapped in a poncho and as I watched I realized it was a M14 and I would have bet anything the poncho was covering a night scope.

Back to your question. IMHO opinion there is nothing wrong with the M14 except that by the time it was issued it was obsolete. 15 years earlier and it would have been the stuff of legends. From a civilian standpoint if you can't have full auto what advantage does the M14 have over the M1 and the M1 is a handier package, especially in the "tanker" configuration. Part of the problem was the US Militarys obsession with the full power 30 caliber cartridge at the time. Russia saw the advantage of a mid range cartridge early and went with the 7.62x39.

Imagine a M14 in a 6.5 ctg like the Grendel or Creedmore and a 30 round magazine. We'd probably still be using it to this day! It would have worked in Vietnam and would work in the desert.