BULLET
POINTS
RO C K IS LAN D A R SE N A L
PHOTOS AND ARTICLE BY: BRODY KENNEN
A WALL OF BALLISTIC HISTORY
Constitutionally-protected Republic and keep the People within free. A handful
of displays outlined the cost, as well. It is one of those places that is perfect to
take a youngster on an adventure to. The lesson that freedom doesn’t come
easy, that humanity isn’t perfect, and that those weapons are an integral part
of what it takes to restore the balance of right and wrong to some parts of the
world.
As with other arsenals around the country, due to the lack of funding, they
are steadily falling under the axe of budget cuts as time rolls on. The Rock
Island Arsenal has already seen this occur; losing some of the display pieces
several years ago and there is only one employee left at the museum. If you
wish to see the Rock Island Arsenal Museum, I can tell you it would be a shame
to lose such a place. Especially considering how anti-firearms and anti-self-
defense the politics game is these days. The museum’s entryway held a small
donation box in the center of the hall and I do encourage generosity when
visiting.
Because the museum is on a military base, you will have to register at the
visitor center prior to driving through the gates. Paperwork is required, and ID
must be shown for an NICS background check. Furthermore, no foreign visitors
are permitted. Not even those with allied military service can enter. For those
who are allowed though, it’s well worth the hassle.
I recently took a trip to the Rock Island Arsenal Museum to see the small arms
collection that I have heard so much about over the years. I can say that I was
not disappointed with the collection on display. There were firearms that I had
both never heard of nor seen and firearms that I have always dreamed of seeing.
Among these were some Special Purpose Individual Weapons Program (SPIW)
firearms and the Cadillac Gage Stoner-63 machine guns, respectively. There
are over 1,000 firearms on display. Unfortunately, a couple of years ago, the
number of displayed pieces was cut drastically, and those firearms were stored
in Alabama.
As a compliment, the museum had logbooks containing armorer’s
documentation for each of the firearms on display. There were a few specific
files that I wanted pictures of, but I did not readily search through all of them
for some of the other platforms. While the museum offered a large compliment
of firearms from nearly every major combat action that the United States has
taken part in, I was focused on the modern platforms. I believe the platforms
dated back to examples from the Revolutionary War. Furthermore, these
firearms were not exclusively American designs and, often, the foreign weapons
on display were war bring-backs from their given era.
Evolutionary stages of more recent American military rifles were plentiful.
There were many different models of M-16s, nearly ever example of Springfield
M1903 (even one with a Pedersen device) that I could muster thoughts of, and
quite a few different M1 Garands and M1 Carbines. I did say “nearly every major
combat action” and the reason why is that there is not much of the current
American inventory: not even a to-spec M4 carbine that I can recall. A specific
Mk. 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle was on display, but that seemed to be the most
recent thing available to witness in the rifle category – a modified M-14 battle
rifle with history from the Iraq War. The lack of the more modern armaments
was somewhat disappointing. Some of those items are relatively hard for a
civilian to come by in sight let along handling and firing.
The museum held many artifacts of weapons manufacturing from yester-
years and stories from those who worked for the Arsenal, as well as those who
utilized the armaments during the heat of battle in wars abroad. The tenacity, If you wish to read the extended version of this article, visit : www.thearmednovelist.
the grit. What it took both at home and in the field to keep this nation a com. Questions or comments? Email [email protected].
16 Thunder Roads Magazine Louisiana/Mississippi | September 2018 | www.thunderroadslams.com
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