The Armory Life(TAL):Im guessing that firearms have been a lifelong passion for you.
If thats the case, what got you started with them?
Was it a family tradition?
It was chock full of guns that my father, Bob Reese, had collected.
It was fun as heck for my brothers and me to look around in there.
It was like a treasure box to my brothers and me.
TAL:It sounds like an amazing collection.
Were guns a hobby for your father, or something more?
Those demilitarized guns still had valuable parts that could be removed and sold to surplus dealers.
All of these were in a huge pile in the corn crib and other farm buildings on our farm.
In fact, my father was a serious competitive trap shooter.
In 1949, when he was 16 years old, he was the North American Junior Trapshooting Champion.
There was no shortage of work to do on our farm after school!
We would get home from school and head out to the corn crib.
It was a lot of hard work, but it was a great childhood.
TAL:So, guns as both fun and a business was ingrained into you at a young age.
How did this translate into the founding of Springfield Armory in 1974?
What led you to that?
I had decided it was just not for me.
I came home and asked myself, Where am I going to go from here?.
My brothers and I were racing motorcycles back then, and I wanted to be a professional motocross racer.
And at the same time, I was still fascinated with guns.
I loved shooting and hunting.
Are you comfortable with us going bigger into this?, I heard him ask her.
While we had gone down to Texas to settle a debt, it turned into a much bigger opportunity.
My parents risked everything on their 19-year-old son and his younger brothers in this new venture called Springfield Armory.
TAL:So that was the birth of the Springfield Armory in Geneseo, Ill., we know today?
and took it all back home to Geneseo.
This was now Springfield Armory.
TAL:What were those early days and months like with the new company?
DR:Well, we had moved from selling surplus parts to assembling and manufacturing rifles.
My brothers were in high school at the time but would come in and work after school.
We were taking orders, building guns, test firing, packing and shipping them.
It took my Dad and me four hours to build the first M1A.
Here we were, with a fledgling gun business set up in a tiny former diner.
This was truly a family business and a family effort.
TAL:Was it what you expected it to be?
We were building guns from immaculate condition M14 surplus parts in the grease.
We thought we had enough parts to last forever.
The business really took off, and we found ourselves running out of parts before we knew it.
So, we began the arduous task of learning to produce the parts we needed.
We would meet with suppliers and vendors and work out plans to manufacture the parts we needed.
It was an education on the fly.
My family had literally bet the farm on this effort.
Can you tell us your thoughts on this?
DR:A lot of businesses start out in a garage.
Ours started in a certain way in a corn crib.
My family is extremely important to me, and the company was founded as truly a family effort.
But I believe in my heart that Springfield Armory is part of my family.
We all believe in what we are doing and work like crazy to achieve our goals.
Thats the main reason why Springfield Armory is a leader in our industry.
TAL:Its amazing to see where Springfield Armory started from and where it is today.
Can you tell us a little bit about what you see as the future for the company?
We are constantly looking to expand and grow in areas we believe there is a void in the market.
We also just broke ground on a new manufacturing and headquarters facility at Geneseo.
Can you tell us a bit more about your thoughts on this subject?
DR:For me, it comes down to legacy.
Legacy is creating something youre proud of and you want to protect.
Certainly, Springfield Armory is exactly that to me.
Its not just my lifes work of almost 50 years, it represents my fathers and mothers work.
Weve all worked for this.
Thats the legacy we will always have it.
We cant wait to see what the next 50 years has in store!
DR:It was my pleasure.
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