Supposedly, Crane procured some 16' barrels from Mike Rock for the MK14 project, SA copied the barrel profile, and VOILA! SOCOM M14. FWIW all the M14's I've laid eyes on used a cut down (from the normal 22' to 18') barrel with a Smith Ind. Vortex FH on them. I wish I had gotten the 18' with a normal gas system and FH instead of the SOCOM model, but this one has treated me OK so far with no problems to speak of. We have some M14s dropped into Sage stocks on our arms room but I haven't seen any SF guys using any modified barrels. SA is just taking advantage of the SOF fan market I assume.
Hollis, if you're volunteering I bet we could find someone big enough to swing this thing at you...but my educated guess is that 16' of steel, and M1A receiver, and a block of billet aluminum is very sturdy and would not "fall apart"
