Is m14 worth using early?

[Mörkö]

After being able to leave the lesser zone, just found out that Mr. Sidorovich sells this and its ammo and i'm kinda bored with upgraded/scoped ak74.

10x .308 ammo costs like 4k coupons though. And repair will also be crazy i guess.

On the other hand, also found Vintorez and AS VAL, which are more like weird midrange headshotters with little magazines? Guess i will stick with the freaking ak74 and its extended mag + scope.

[ImHelping]

M14 is not worth buying, no. By the time you are looting enough 5.56 instead of 5.45 to bother for the slight, SLIGHT edge in killing power compared to a 72S, you will have access to 2 penetration or better SMGs.

a 2 pen Buket SMG hits harder than a 1.x pen rifle. and an integral SMG is 3 penetration and can be gotten pretty easy if you really want while also not breaking the bank to maintain.

Unlike my budget darling the IL-86 in call of pripyat, the first 5.56 gun in stalker 2 only exist as "better vendor trash to sell". to the point the broken ones are worth grabbing to eventually sell to the one guy in rostok who buys broken guns. a busted m14 is worth as much as about 3-5 condition yellow early assault rifles, sad economy is sad.

Use it for giggles if you want to waste some cash and spare 5.56 ammo better served for being ready to go once you polish up your first GP37 (which is now midgame filler instead of endgame grade, but still a very noticeable jump in assault rifle gunplay not being arcade awkward. the built in x2 or so scope will let you make more accurate chain headshots than the x4 on an AKM)

[Webley]

The VSS is the best gun in the game. Massive amounts of .308 and 9x39 sold on the skadovisk.

[JettiZeN V2]

imo its a matter of preference before anything else
AR vs AR DMR Hybrid vs DMR
Notes i do have about the matter from the playthrough and a half im currently doing :

(Disclaimer , its based on experience and could be inaccurate)

- .308 is very scarce (both financially and physically moderately rare)
- You won't be able to silence it until probably late game (the m14 obviously , I know there is a silencer available for it but as im staying away from most guides unless i find it necessary , i didnt get it on my first playthrough)
- while being a fan of a certain unique AR416 variant i recently "downgraded" (?) to a certain 5.45 weapon unique variant which brings me a lot of joy , cause the dmr i was using felt slightly worse than the ar im currently using🫠
- Hybrids and dmr's have irrefutably better headshot damage against armored opponents , AR's in mid-late game will have you hit headshots 2-3+ times for an exo kill
- DMR's have lower durability so unless you really make those shots count i wouldnt use it
- most if not all guns (except the 701 i think?) Have extended magazines hidden somwhere in the zone ;)

[ImHelping]

I got spare V guns but I keep leaving them for later primarily because each individual 9x39 bullet is worth slightly more than a single shotgun shell.

By the time it is tempting for me to use them with my looter stack of 9x39, I got access to as good or better guns that use cheaper ammo, with silencers for them.

So, in that regard, it is just like the old days still. But hey, the revolver uses 9x39 so whenever I use that I will have essentially enough 9x39 to use it forever thanks to ignoring V rifles.