Civilian Marksmanship Program Announces Sale of M14s

For decades, the Civilian Marksmanship Program has offered military surplus rifles for sale to members of CMP-affiliated clubs. In 2018, the CMP expanded its offerings to include 1911 pistols, and now the non-profit is adding another rifle to its roster: the M14. 

In an announcement, the CMP revealed that the rifles will be modified to be “permanently and irreversibly semi-automatic rifles,” and will be “fully compliant with CMP enabling legislation authorizing the transfer and sale of military surplus .30 caliber rifles.”

Big win for gun owners and the Second Amendment!

We’ve been pushing the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) to start selling over 100,000 historic M14 rifles to American citizens. After approvals from the Army and ATF, the first sales are now expected to occur in late 2026 or… pic.twitter.com/j77S5BnKx2

— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) July 25, 2026

It’s interesting that the ATF has approved this, since the agency’s position has historically been “once a machine gun, always a machine gun.” Second Amendment attorney Matthew Larosiere put out a video in response to the CMP’s announcement going through the history of the ATF’s position and wondering what the implications will be for other firearms going forward. 

Hey check it out we’re talking about gun lawhttps://t.co/o2EcjE8Tti

— Fudd Busters (@FuddBusters) July 26, 2026

In its announcement, the CMP noted that it is “singularly authorized to modify these rifles and make them available for sale to eligible US Citizens,” which may be an indication that the ATF sees this as the exception that proves the rule rather than a move that will require a hard and fast rule change. 

I’m curious to learn more about the authorization given to the CMP and the specific language that was used, but the bottom line for those interested in acquiring a select-fire rifle is that the CMP sale of M14s will not greatly expand the number of pre-1986 machine guns available for sale. 

CMP has also not said how much the surplus M14s will be going for, or how many will be released in the first offering. As Guns.com’s Chris Edger noted, though, the number of M14s that were produced is dwarfed by the number of M1 Garand rifles that were manufactured for use as the standard rifle for infantrymen. 

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. 

Like Larosiere, Edger says the bigger impact may be on the ATF’s “once a machine gun, always a machine gun” policy. 

Presumably, CMP has cleared the planned conversion of these surplus select-fire M14s with 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 apply 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.

Congress has already tweaked the CMP’s charter to allow it to sell surplus 1911s, so with some pushing and prodding it’s entirely possible that it could do the same for 5.56 rifles.

The CMP hasn’t said how much the surplus M14s will cost, but my guess is we’re probably looking at somewhere around $3,000 to $3,500. Any more than that and CMP is competing with high-end commercial M14-pattern rifles, and while CMP customers are purchasing a little piece of history too, there is still a practical ceiling for many buyers. 

We’ll be keeping our eyes out for any more details, but the CMP’s announcement is significant, both in itself and what it might portend for the future. 

Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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