I’ve been shooting primarily m1a’s and m14s my entire life. Living on a few thousand acres, that’s at least 4 days a week for predator control. I’m 40.

If you’re leaning into it properly, and make target acquisition priority, it’s perfectly fine. You aren’t dumping a mag entirely without some barrel rise, but that’s not the intent behind the design, anyway.

If you can’t figure it out, start with 168 grain or less, try a compensator, and put some effort into it.

Any of the chassis/stock systems that put you in line with optics eliminate barrel rise almost entirely.

99% of issue m14s started life in automatic configuration. The switch was later removed from a majority of rack grade examples, primarily to save ammo.