Proudly Made in the USA

Springfield has a long and brilliant history of building excellent rifles for our military, which spans clear back to the Civil War.

Their 30-40 Krag was used in the Spanish American War. The old "bread 'n' butter" 1903 bolt action 30.06 saw action not only in World War I, but in the opening stages of World War II, right up through Guadalcanal, after which it was replaced by the Springfield M-1 Garand. The Garand was our first successful semi-automatic rifle, that George S. Patton himself dubbed "the finest battle implement ever devised." The Garand served in World War II and in the Korean War as well. Strong, powerful and reliable, they are coveted by collectors today. My own Garand is a 1953-vintage rifle, and it'll still hit today...........anything you wish to hit.

After the Korean War, and the Russians were a DEFINITE concern, more money for weapons updating was made available, and the military was asked "what was needed." There would be new ships, planes, tanks, etc.

For the foot soldier, the rugged old 45 would remain the sidearm of choice, the magazine-fed BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) was being replaced by the belt-fed M-60, The Tommygun would remain the choice for "cleaning out a trench."

The main battle rifle though, was approached cautiously. American troops had come to love and trust the old M-1. At 9.5 lbs, it was a bit heavy to pack around all day long, but it's 30.06 cartridge could knock down a moose at a couple of hundred yards, or a North Korean soldier at a THOUSAND if need be. It is ruggedly built, and very powerful.

It was also very RELIABLE. Its designed-in loose tolerances allowed it to function in virtually every kind of terrain or condition, and it wasn't known to jam, no matter how filthy it got. The 9.5 lbs was a moot point, because the gun was THERE for you when you needed it. Snow, monsoon-rain, sand, mud, didn't matter. Flip the safety off and it goes "bang-bang-bang."

There were only 2 concerns with it. An 8-round clip that ejected with a "ka-chinging" noise when it was empty.............and the excessive muzzle flash that could be seen pretty well at night.

DOD went back to Springfield to see if they could remedy those 2 little issues, WITHOUT changing anything else. Springfield made some careful modifications in the receiver, so the rifle would now shoot from a 20-round magazine instead of an 8-round clip. They also built, threaded and mounted a highly efficient flash suppressor on the end of the muzzle. Additionally, they reduced the cartridge (only slightly) from 30.06 to .308

The .308 is slightly shorter in length, which allows for a slightly faster rate of fire, yet it's still powerful enough to kill reliably out to 750-800 yards. It retained the same receiver, same design of bolt and the same trigger housing group. It was basically a TWENTY-round "Garand" with a flash suppressor. Same reliability, because they changed nothing else. Springfield had given the Marine Corps and the Army EXACTLY what they had asked for. It became the M-14 in 1957.

I got my hands on one for the first time in March of '66, when they were issued to us about 3 days into boot camp. I'd grown up around guns, and Dad would take me out to the range sometimes with a couple of his deer rifles, but I'd never seen anything like this M-14. It was a masterpiece of engineering, and you knew clear down into your soul, that there was nothing you couldn't accomplish with this rifle. It was THAT GOOD.

You aren't given any live ammunition in boot camp, but DURING boot camp, they take you to Edson Range at Pendleton for a week of live-fire practice and qualification. You're taught the techniques, positions, proper breathing, trigger control, everything you ever wanted to know but was afraid to ask, as they say.

At 200, 300 and 500 yards, you and your rifle BONDED! The M-14 is powerful, consistent, yet comfortable. It hits what you aim it at, takes it DOWN with authority. And like the old M-1 it followed.............it doesn't jam.

In a combat situation, the M-14 was EXACTLY what you wanted, and you never wanted it to go away.

But there were lean times ahead, and things were gonna get goofy.