The country's clearinghouse for milsurp rifles and pistols announced over the weekend that a collectible American battle rifle will soon be available. 

"By special authorization, the CMP is pleased to announce the future availability and sale of surplus M14 rifles," said the non-profit in a notice. "Prior to sale, the rifles will be modified to be permanently and irreversibly semi-automatic rifles. The modified semi-automatic M14s will be fully compliant with CMP enabling legislation authorizing the transfer and sale of military surplus .30 caliber rifles."

Adopted in the late 1950s to replace not only the M1 Garand but also the M1 Carbine, M3 Grease Gun, and M1918 BAR, the Springfield Armory-designed M14 in 7.62 NATO was America's battle rifle for a generation. However, as the McNamara-era Pentagon looked to Vietnam and followed the Air Force's lead in 1963 by fielding Eugene Stoner's much handier AR-15 as the M16, the M14's time in the spotlight was limited, and production ended in 1965. 
 

The number of surplus rifles available is likely to be small. While over 5 million Garands were produced, only 1.38 million M14s were made by H&R, Springfield Armory, TRW, and Winchester between 1959 and 1965. Of those, at least 479,000 were fed to "Captain Crunch" at Anniston Army Depot by order of the Clinton Administration. Another 321,000 were given away as military aid over the years to countries such as South Vietnam, Estonia, Lithuania, Turkey, Greece, the Philippines, and Ukraine. Partially demilled rifles were long-issued to JROTC units for drill purposes. 

Further, the M14 was never fully removed from service and remains in limited use with a variety of units, including the Army's "Old Guard" on ceremonial duties in the Washington, D.C. area, with the Service Academies for drill purposes, with assorted EOD units to deliver disabling fire at distance, and as line throwers and service rifles aboard Navy ships. 
 

The Bigger Deal Behind the Announcement

The importance of this news goes far past some M14s hitting the collectors' market. 

The ATF has long enforced a "once a machine gun, always a machine gun" policy when it comes to receivers, meaning they could only ever become scrap or remain an NFA item forever. Presumably, CMP has cleared the planned conversion of these surplus select-fire M14s with the ATF to be "civilian-legal" and non-NFA items, which could be part of the "Special Authorization" mentioned in the press release. 

This could open the door to applying the same logic to the millions of surplus 5.56 firearms (M16A1, A2, A4s, etc.) in military storage, provided Congress tweaks the organization's charter to include that caliber (currently, the CMP is only allowed to sell surplus U.S. military .30-caliber and .22-caliber rifles). 

Going past CMP, it could signal the end of the once/always standard, which could mean big things in terms of importing and commercial sales of former NFA items.
 

Price? 

The question on everyone's mind is, what about the cost? Well, CMP currently sells Garands for $1,150, and those are reconditioned guns using reclaimed drill rifle receivers with new barrels and furniture. Every other grade is sold out.

The popular commentary on the M14 pricing, which hasn't been announced, ranges from $4,000 to $6,000 on assorted CMP and collector forums, likely with a lottery system similar to that used in early batches of surplus M1911 sales, which will begin in late 2026 to early 2027. 

This could make brand-new cast receiver Springfield M1As, which start at about $1,500 for base models, a good alternative. Even Fulton and LRB-made M14 clones, using forged receivers, are out there for under $4K. 

Banner image: A soldier with "Sykes Regulars," 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, fires an M14 rifle on March 7, 2019, at Nueva Ecija Province, Philippines. (Photo: U.S. Army)