springfield armory

The Battle Rifle is commonly accepted to be an autoloading combat rifle that feeds from a detachable magazine and fires a full-sized .30-caliber round. While Battle Rifles found their stride in the years following the Second World War, they have been largely replaced by small caliber Assault Rifles nowadays. However, combat in such places as Afghanistan has shown us in recent years that the need still exists for a man-portable .30-caliber rifle that can offer precision fires out past the range of the 5.56mm cartridge.

“The careful hours, scrupulous effort, expert machining and meticulous tool work needed to complete an M1A from start to finish, make it a labor-intensive yet wholly worthwhile process,” says CEO Dennis Reese.

“The Springfield Armory Custom Shop is a collection of over 200 years of experience trying to reach the absolute pinnacle of what custom 1911 gunsmithing is,” says Springfield Armory Custom Shop Pistolsmith, Troy Schulz. “What we’re ultimately aiming for is absolute perfection.”

The Springfield Armory Custom Shop is not a place we visit often, lest I need to remortgage my house. But they do put out top notch guns, for those of discerning taste. I have never been accused of that, but they let me fondle the goods anyway.

First up was the XD-E in 45 ACP. I have written a lot about the XD-E since it was first introduced in 9mm last year.

I affectionately call it the dark horse of the Springfield family because it is definitely not the first pistol that pops into mind when talking about S.A.   For those that dig the XD-E, they’ll argue that it’s the best pistol in the lineup.

These are tiny guns with sub-3-inch barrels and short, flat grips. Springfield’s 911 pistols weigh less than 13 ounces unloaded, with the magazines — no small feat for an all-metal .380 build.

Our friends over at Springfield Armory are holding another awesome giveaway. The “EDC Giveaway” with $150,000 in prizes up for grabs. This time, though, instead of there being just one lucky winner. There will be 100!

Today, we finally get to talk about the new XD-S Mod 2. This is a difficult gun for me to review, for a number of reasons. First, I have said about all there is to say about the Gen 1 XD-S. I have carried the 3.3 model since 2013, and I reviewed the 4-inch model.

Last year, Clay got to go test out some of Springfield’s newest goodies at an event in Las Vegas. One of his favorites was the M1A in 6.5 Creedmoor.