It is unknown if the special ops guys actually deployed the SOCOM they're a somewhat tight-lipped bunch about that kind of thing.ĭevelopment of a weapon that met special ops' demands for a short-barreled, heavy-caliber carbine was more difficult than you might imagine. So their weapons development team worked with Springfield Armory to come up with just that tool, the M1A SOCOM, a designation that stands for "Special Operations Command. A bunch of special ops guys who really know their guns thought it might be a good thing if they had another tool in their close quarter battle kit. Just like its long line of ancestors, the SOCOM 16 was created for the military. For example, the SOCOM's barrel has been shortened to 16.25 inches, the minimum length allowed under federal law. The Springfield Armory M1A SOCOM 16, like the M14, is a magazine-fed, rotating-bolt, gas-operated, air-cooled, semi-automatic, shoulder-fired rifle chambered in. Shortly after it was accepted, the military found that the majority of soldiers had trouble controlling the gun in full-auto mode, and the selector levers were pinned down to allow semi-automatic fire only. The M14 was accepted for service in 1957. Other modifications were the result of bulking up the rifle to make it capable of absorbing the repeated heavy recoil of its gas system. The M14 also included a selector switch that let the shooter choose semi- or full-automatic fire. Key among these improvements was a detachable box magazine, a much better system than the M1 Garand's en bloc clip loading device. But the M14 also differed from the M1 in a few significant ways. The original M1 Garand was modified to chamber the new 7.62x51mm cartridge along with other improvements and re-designated the M14 Battle Rifle. We know it in the civilian and police markets as the. 30 caliber cartridge, and it was finally accepted as the 7.62x51mm NATO.
The benefit was lower recoil and reduced carry weight. offered the T65 cartridge, which was a shortened. After the war, the newly formed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) decided that its multinational troops should use a single rifle cartridge and, considering their experiences both good and bad with the weapon, the European armies expressed admiration for the M1 and its.
On World War II battlefields, the M1 Garand proved to be such an excellent weapon that enemy soldiers would often use captured M1s in combat. It was adopted in 1932 and entered service in 1936. 30 Caliber Rifle became the standard long arm of the U.S. 30-06 by weapons designer John Garand, the M1. The company, now located in Geneseo, Ill., produces superior-quality M1A rifles in. In 1974, Robert Reese acquired the Springfield Armory name and began producing match-grade M1A rifles for the civilian and military markets. The original Springfield Armory served the country through wars and foreign conflicts for almost 175 years before it closed in 1968. George Washington designated Springfield Armory as the country's first arsenal in 1794. The historical connection here is the manufacturer, one of the oldest and proudest names in American firearms production: Springfield Arms. No, we're not talking about an officer pouring black powder down the muzzle of an issued flintlock rifle, although that would be both heavy caliber and long range. In a semi-automatic configuration with a 20-round magazine, there are few systems available that could be better suited to such a task.Īnd that brings us to the gun of the hour, a weapon system that has roots back to Gen. 308 Winchester round used for suppression fire is hard to match. Officer or citizen rescues involving a barricaded and actively shooting suspect are one area where the. 308 Winchester round in a built-up urban or suburban community becomes problematic. What this shows is that some right-thinking police administrators in urban departments have realized that their officers need a heavy-caliber, long-range option, even though touching off a. And now some urban departments are starting to field.