Free Republic

At a small and lightly covered ceremony at Springfield Armory National Historic Site in Massachusets location, the U.S. Army officially turned over control of the Colonel Benton Small Arms collection to the National Park Service of the United States. Previously the U.S. Army technically had control over the small arms in the museum (but not the physical historic site itself). This led to some tensions between the Park Service and the Department of Defense despite Congress itself authorizing the creation of the site 40 years ago. Fortunately for both the National Park Service and the U.S. Army, the DOD realized...

Springfield Armory’s M1A has a legacy of accuracy behind its name. The esteemed .308 Winchester is also a caliber that has served this country, hunters and gun enthusiasts for many years. The M1A chambered for .308 Winchester is a combination that will be highly favored, but recently, shooting enthusiasts have been looking at another caliber with much interest. This newly appreciated caliber is the new kid on the block 6.5 Creedmoor and Springfield Armory now offers you their M1A version. For the M1A lovers, Springfield Armory will be offering their M1A in 6.5 Creedmoor in 3 different offerings. You will...

Critics said the M-14 was what happened when the U.S. government took many years and spent millions of dollars designing a rifle that was really just a glorified M-1 Garand from World War II. The M-14 was the U.S. military’s last battle rifle. It appeared in 1959—the contemporary of the Pentagon’s first jet fighters and ICBMs. With its heavy steel parts and walnut stock, the M-14 looked positively archaic. It was hardly a Space Age weapon. And it only endured as America’s battle rifle until 1970, when the M-16 completely superseded it—the shortest service record of any U.S. military rifle...