Originally Posted By Tazaroo:
Just wondering on the quality of Rock Island M60's compared to Saco manufactured versions if anyone has any input.  Was Rock Island part of Springfield Inc at one point with manufacturing located in Geneseo, IL also?  I remember seeing these for sale around 1984/85 for about $2,800 or in that range.

Originally Posted By jbntex:


There is a lot to unpack in this question and you can really go down the rabbit hole on these guns.

To start with not all of the Rock Islands M60's are identical and neither are the Maremont Corp / Saco Defense guns either.

So Rock Island Armory was a private gun company that was started by David Reese who was the son of Robert Reese who founded Springfield Armory which is still in existence today and run by the Reese family (Dennis "CEO", and Dave, & Tom)

Rock Island made a couple hundred M60s with serial numbers up to about 500ish and the build components on the RIA M60s changed a bit over time.

Reportedly the first ~20 or so M60s from RIA could have some QC issues with parts that didn't always line up and fit/finish that wasn't the best. (This is just what I have read but have never seen first hand)

The first ~80 or so RIA M60s also had Saco trunions and the early guns also used Saco gas tubes as well.  (The Saco trunnions had the serial number milled off and a new RIA serial number engraved in the milled depression)   From a receiver build perspective all of the RIA M60s to the best of my knowledge used Saco T&E Plates and Rear Bridges.   However, all of the RIA M60s used Rock Island made rails and the later guns used Rock Island made Trunnions and Rock made Island Gas Tubes.  The Rock Island original Trunnions were cast where the Saco Trunnions are forged.  

All of the RIA M60 non-receiver riveted welded parts like the (Charging Handle, Trigger Group, Bolt, Op Rod, Barrel)  were also all USGI Saco parts. My understanding is that Rock Island even sold just bare M60 receivers where the end buyer could source and add all of their own surplus USGI M60 parts to make a complete gun.  Since these parts were all surplus and even sourced by the original end user / purchaser the quality of these non-receiver parts could vary dramatically from great to worn out junk.

There are also a lot of "Maremont Saco M60s" that have Saco Trunnions (demilled, rewelded, etc.) and other misc. demilled Saco parts but were actually built and registered by other builders out there and over time some of these guns even show Maremont or Saco as the original manufacturer on the paperwork even though the gun wasn't actually put together by Saco.  As an example there is a Knights Armament made Saco trunnion based M60 on Sturm for sale right now. The quality of these guns can vary depending upon the condition of the surplus parts that were used and the skill of the builder.

There are also fully original Saco factory manufactured guns out there as well, where every part was made by Saco and the gun was built and registered by Saco.  These are obviously some of the best made M60s out there and come with a price premium to match.

Aaron at beltfed put together a good video on the differences between a Rock Island Armory M60 receivers and a Maremont Saco receivers:

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7h7GxuB2Vg[url]


I have owned a Rock Island gun for over a decade and its been a very reliably shooter for the entire time I have owned it.  It was upgraded by US Ord to an E4 right when I purchased it so has been running US Ord E4 components for its entire life with me and I have a spare US Ord E6 kit for it one of these days.  Every person I know who owns a RIA M60 and has upgraded all of the part to either E3, E4, or E6 has had a very reliable weapon.

The big benefit of the Rock Island M60s is the registered part on most of the guns (with serial higher than ~10080 which were the ones that were built with used Saco Trunnions) is the receiver channel.  This means the entire RIA M60 receiver structural components (including the Trunnion) can be completely rebuilt by US Ord / Dessert Ord to current modern day M60 spec using all new US Ord Mil Contractor parts reusing just the original sheet metal channel.   The Maremont / Saco factory guns are all registered Trunnions so the structural heart of the gun can never be replaced if it wears out or is damaged.

The benefit of the Maremont / Saco made factory guns is well the pedigree of them being made by the original US Military contractor which carries some cache in the collector world.

Hopefully this all helps.

Originally Posted By Tazaroo:


Sir, that was the most detailed answer to a question that I asked since I joined arfcom in 2002.  Thanks!!