Here is everything you ever wanted to know about Springfield Armory.
When it comes to American gun companies, there are plenty of notable names. Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Winchester, Remington and Colt come to mind. However, there is one company that is notable just because their name is tied to the rich firearms history of the United States.
We're talking of course, about Springfield Armory Firearms.
The Springfield Armory of today isn't the same one that George Washington formed during the Revolutionary War, but we'll get to that in time.
Here is everything you wanted to know about one of the most iconic gun manufacturers in the United States.
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A brief history of the ORIGINAL Springfield Armory
As we already mentioned, our first President, George Washington formed the original Springfield Armory in 1777. Washington knew this burgeoning nation needed a primary arsenal.
At this point, the Revolutionary War was in full swing and was still six years from being over. America needed a place to store extra firearms, cannons and other munitions.
At the advice of General Henry Knox, Washington chose a high point near Springfield, Massachusetts to be the armory's location. During the war, the armory not only housed extra weapons and ammunition, but it was also used to manufacture ammo and other supplies.
After the Revolution ended, the armory continued to play a role in American history. It was nearly taken over during the citizen's uprising known as Shay's Rebellion in 1787. It manufactured muskets for plenty of major conflicts including the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and both World Wars.
During that time, they produced everything from carbines to howitzers to grenade launchers to machine guns.
We should mention some of the firearms they made during the World Wars because they are among the most iconic in history. Springfield Armory produced guns like the iconic M 1911 pistol, the M14 rifle and the M 1917 Enfield bolt-action rifle.
The single most notable firearm to come out of Springfield was the M1 Garand, which won over American troops and helped win World War II. The iconic firearm is now a favorite of collectors everywhere.
The armory finally ceased operations in 1968. Fortunately for us, the site has been preserved and turned into a National Historic site. It's a place that should be on any history or firearm buff's bucket list. You'll get to learn not only the history of our great nation, but a long history of firearms too.
Who owns Springfield Armory?
Springfield Armory as you know and love today wasn't always named that. It used to be called LH Manufacturing, which isn't nearly as exciting.
After the original armory closed, LH's founder Bob Reese made one of the smartest business decisions in the history of the firearms business by acquiring the rights to the Springfield Armory name and applying it to his company in 1974. Today, Dennis Reese runs the company.
So, the two Springfield Armories are separate entities, but are still beloved by firearms enthusiasts everywhere. The modern company operates out of Geneseo, Illinois. While this company doesn't manufacture the muskets and cannons the old armory was known for, they do still embrace the history of the name through many of the products they offer, as you'll see below.
Springfield Armory Products Today
This company still honors the history of the name, mainly through their increasingly popular M1A Series of firearms.
The design of these guns is based on the M14 rifle. These semi-automatic rifles are chambered in 7.62x51 NATO. The most classic-looking of these guns feature wooden stocks and wouldn't appear out of place in any war movie.
These M1A rifles come in many different variations including a shortened-down "tanker" version and a competitive model designed for precision shooting competitions.
Springfield Armory also makes modern sporting rifles, most notably the Saint Series. These guns are an AR-15 platform available in common and popular calibers like 5.56mm, .300 BLK and .308 Winchester. Basically, there's a platform for whatever your needs might be with these rifles.
Springfield Armory Handguns
The company is probably best known for their handguns. Their big attention grabber is the Springfield Armory XD series. These guns are available in a whole host of calibers including 9mm Luger, .45 ACP, and .40 S&W.
They've since expanded and specialized the XD Series, with models like the XD-M Elite 4.5' Tactical OSP. That gun features a massive 22+1 magazine capacity, a threaded barrel and an optics mounting system.
Springfield Armory offers some of these guns in 10mm for anyone looking for some serious power.
The XD-E series, meanwhile, is a collection of slim, single-stack handguns designed specifically for concealed carry. Speaking of concealed carry, they also offer the XD-S MOD.2 series of single stack carry guns.
Sure, you're only carrying six rounds with this gun, but if you get it chambered in .40 S&W or .45 ACP, you can rest assured you probably won't need many shots to stop a potential threat.
The entire Springfield XD series has proven to be an incredible hit for the company. Concealed carriers all over the U.S. rely on these guns to keep them safe in an emergency. However, they aren't done trying to come up with the perfect carry gun. They only recently released the much-anticipated Hellcat series.
Springfield Armory Hellcat
The Springfield Hellcat is an ultra-compact carry gun sporting just a 3-inch barrel. They only weigh around 18 ounces. Yet somehow, Springfield Armory found a way to give these 9mms the capacity of a subcompact. The two options give you either 11+1 or 13+1 rounds! That's astounding for such a small firearm.
They're even fitted for a red dot sights right out of the box. We're expecting these to become quite popular on the concealed handgun market.
Springfield Armory 911
We can't leave out the Springfield Armory 911 and Springfield Armory 1911 series. The 911s are an eye-catching collection of micro carry guns available in 9mm or .380 ACP. They're super small and come at a great price point. The 911 Alpha starts at just $429.
The new Springfield Armory is considered one of the top manufacturers of 1911-style handguns today. John Browning's classic design never looked so good. The company offers dozens of different configurations. You can get a Springfield Armory 1911 chambered in 9mm, all the way up to 10mm.
You can get customize these handguns in compact packages with shortened barrels too if you prefer the reliability of a proven design for you everyday carry gun.
The future of Springfield Armory
Based on how hot their products are right now, we'd say the Springfield Armory name is in good hands with the folks in Genesco. This company has been releasing a ton of great products in the last decade. While we're really interested to see what they continue to do going forward with the self-defense market, we're also nostalgic to see what their next release in the M1A line is too.
Whatever they do, it seems these guys are bent on innovating new products while still remembering the iconic firearms that made the name Springfield Armory an easily recognizable one. We expect them to be around for many years to come.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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