After the Six Day war in 1967 there was a French led weapons embargo placed on Israel. Because of this, Israel had to rely on other suppliers (USA) and started their own weapons development. The US sent 35,000 M14's to Israel in 1973 when the Yom Kippur war broke out. After the Yom Kippur war Israel spec'd every one of the M14's, and the 10,000 best ones were converted to the IDF sniper weapon. The remaining were taken down for parts. The M14 was the Israeli SWS through 1997.
After Israel opted for the M24 as their new sniper SA brought the weapons back into the country, slapped on a NM barrel, and a new reciever and sold them.
I really like the scope and mount. It is very solid for a single point mount. The scope is very clear, has a built in range finder, and mine returns to zero when removed and replaced. I think the optics on the Nimrod equal some of the better scopes out there today.
The built up comb on the stock for scope use looks funky, but it does grow on you. It is attached with two screws through the comb into countersunk nuts in the stock comb. It makes for a very solid platform. No worries about the laces coming loose, or getting it in the same position when replacing after removal.