M14 AP Mine (Historical Prop)

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The US military deployed the M14 landmine in 1955 as a small anti-personnel device with a diameter of 2.2 inches. The mine's mechanism relies on a belleville spring to flip a firing pin into a detonator when pressure is applied. Most of the M14's components are plastic, making it difficult to detect. The top of an M14 has a simple arming indicator - an arrow embossed on the pressure plate that points to either A (armed) or S (safe). When the arrow points to "A," the mine will detonate if stepped on. Disarming the M14 requires reversing the arming steps, but it's often safer to destroy land mines in situ due to potential booby traps. The US stopped using the M14 in 1974, but still retains a stockpile of 1.5 million mines for emergency use on the Korean peninsula. The mine has been widely exported and used by various countries, resulting in uncleared minefields containing M14s in Angola, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Vietnam, and Zambia. Locally manufactured copies of the M14 design can be found in India and Vietnam. As of 2008, an unlicensed copy was being produced in Burma by Myanmar Defense Products Industries at Ngyaung Chay Dauk. The Burmese Army extensively uses the mine. The 29 grams of high explosive in an M14 mine is designed to disable victims rather than kill them. The blast wound from an M14 is unlikely to be fatal, but usually destroys a significant part of the victim's foot, leading to permanent disability. The mine's cone-shaped explosive charge focuses most of the blast upwards, increasing its destructive effects. The M14 mine weighs 108 grams and has an explosive content of 29 grams of Tetryl. It operates under a pressure range of 9 to 16 kilograms.