This M14 is being sold by Morphys on October 30, 2018.
While Harrington & Richardson was making M14 rifles for the United States military, they were also experimenting with other variations on the design. Among these was the “Guerrilla Gun”, an shortened and lightened M14. The barrel was reduced in length by 4.5 inches and also reduced significantly in diameter, and a special conical flash hider fitted. The intention was to make a version more suitable to small-statured Asian soldiers, and several of these rifles were made in the X-40 range of serial numbers. This particular one was also fitted with a custom made underflowing stock which further lightened the gun as well as making it quite compact. One can only imagine how difficult this configuration would have been to shoot in fully automatic!
This rifle was registered and sold by H&R in the mid 1980s, and it is well provenance to the factory. A previous owner replaced the short barrel with a standard length one as well as a standard stock, and in that configuration it is a quite scarce fully transferrable M14. The short barrel and its fittings (less the flash hider) are still with it, however, and hopefully the next owner will return it to its original form.