The Springfield Armory M1A is a civilian version of the M14 rifle designed and manufactured by Springfield Armory, Inc. in 1974. The term "M1A" is a proprietary title for Springfield Armory's M14-pattern rifle. Early M1A rifles were built with surplus G.I. parts until Springfield Armory, Inc. began manufacturing their own.The M14 was developed to take the place of four different weapons systems—the M1 rifle, the M1 Carbine, the M3 "Grease Gun" and the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR).