The United States Department of Defense plans to sell more than 100,000 surplus M14 military rifles to American civilians starting in January 2027.
The firearms will be distributed to eligible buyers through the Civilian Marksmanship Program, a federally chartered organization authorized by Congress to sell surplus U.S. military property to the public. Military.com reported that order shipments were originally targeted for late 2026 or early 2027, but overwhelming public interest forced program administrators to extend inventory preparation timelines and set the official release for January 2027.
Jerry O'Keefe, the chief executive officer and chairman of the board at the Civilian Marksmanship Program, said each rifle is expected to cost under 2,000 dollars, though final pricing has not been determined. Initial sales guidelines will restrict individual buyers to two weapons each, although O'Keefe indicated that officials could review and adjust the purchase limit later based on sales velocity.
Mandatory safety modifications and tracking
Before any weapon is handed over to a buyer, every surplus M14 must undergo mandatory physical modifications. The original military issue rifle was engineered with a selective fire mechanism capable of both semi-automatic and fully automatic operation. Federal regulations require all civilian market units to be permanently converted to operate strictly in semi-automatic mode.
O'Keefe said the Civilian Marksmanship Program spent an extensive period coordinating the alteration procedures with federal regulatory agencies. He explained that the primary requirement from government authorities was guaranteeing that no modified firearm could ever be converted back to its original automatic state. He noted that program officials devoted a tremendous amount of time and effort to planning every detail of the technical workflow.
To maintain full government accountability over the transferred defense assets, technicians will use specialized digital scanning technology to read and document serial numbers during the modification process. This inventory tracking system will record the verified physical state of each rifle following modification, establishing a complete audit trail for the authorities.
History of the M14 battle rifle
The Civilian Marksmanship Program expects to publish official purchasing rules, buyer eligibility criteria, and order placement procedures prior to the January 2027 sales start. A portion of the surplus M14 inventory will remain in government custody for ceremonial color guard duties and specific military requirements.
The strong public interest in the sale reflects the historic status of the M14 battle rifle. Adopted as the standard infantry weapon of the U.S. armed forces in 1957, the rifle was developed from earlier American designs, including the World War II era semi-automatic M1 Garand. However, frontline troops soon criticized the weapon for its heavy weight, long dimensions, and difficult handling during automatic fire.
During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military gradually replaced the M14 with the lighter M16 service rifle, which offered better control and fewer operational difficulties in dense environments. Despite its short tenure as the primary standard issue rifle, the M14 remained in inventory and saw renewed service in specialized designated marksman roles during modern operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The platform has maintained high popularity among military history collectors and target shooters, which program officials cited as the primary reason for the intense commercial demand.
Defense technology and autonomous systems
In related defense industry developments reported by UNIAN, American defense technology firm Anduril Industries is preparing for large-scale commercial production of its Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle. The uncrewed submarine is engineered to dive to extreme depths of up to six kilometers and operate continuously on mission tasks for up to 10 days.
The Dive-LD features an innovative free-flooding internal architecture that eliminates the heavy pressure hull typical of deep sea submersibles, while integrating wide-format 3D printing technology for component manufacturing. A new defense manufacturing facility in Rhode Island is designed to produce up to 200 autonomous vessels annually. Initial government and military clients for the deep water drone system include the U.S. Navy, Taiwan, and Australia.
