US MILITARY1936M1 GARAND

C a n a d i a n b o r n J o h n G a r a n d b e g a n w o r k i n g o n a . 3 0 c a l i b e r p r i m e r - o p e r a t e d b r e e c h . Tw e n t y - f o u r r i fl e s , i d e n t i fi e d a s " M 1 9 2 2 " , w e r e b u i l t a t S p r i n g fi e l d i n 1 9 2 4 C a n a d i a n b o r n J o h n C a n t i u s G a r a n d , b e c a m e a n A m e r i c a n fi r e a r m s i n v e n t o r , w e n t t o w o r k a t t h e A r m y ' s S p r i n g fi e l d A r m o r y ,

a n d b e g a n w o r k i n g o n a . 3 0 c a l i b e r p r i m e r - o p e r a t e d b r e e c h . Tw e n t y - f o u r r i fl e s , i d e n t i fi e d a s " M 1 9 2 2 " , w e r e b u i l t a t S p r i n g fi e l d i n t h e s u m m e r o f 1 9 2 4 , a n d a t F o r t B e n n i n g d u r i n g t h e s u m m e r o f 1 9 2 5 t h e y w e r e t e s t e d a g a i n s t m o d e l s b y B e r t h i e r , H a t c h e r - B a n g , T h o m p s o n , a n d P e d e r s o n , t h e l a t t e r t w o d e l a y e d b l o w b a c k t y p e s . T h i s l e d t o a f u r t h e r t r i a l o f t h e i m p r o v e d " M 1 9 2 4 " G a r a n d a g a i n s t t h e T h o m p s o n , u l t i m a t e l y p r o d u c i n g a n i n c o n c l u s i v e r e p o r t . T h e r e f o r e , t h e O r d n a n c e B o a r d o r d e r e d a G a r a n d v a r i a n t . 3 0 - 0 6 , w h i l e i n M a r c h 1 9 2 7 t h e C a v a l r y B o a r d r e p o r t e d t r i a l s b e t w e e n t h e T h o m p s o n , G a r a n d , a n d ' 0 3 S p r i n g fi e l d h a d n o t l e d t o a c l e a r w i n n e r , l e a d i n g t o a g a s - o p e r a t e d . 2 7 6 m o d e l .

D u r i n g t h e s p r i n g o f 1 9 2 8 , b o t h I n f a n t r y a n d C a v a l r y B o a r d s r a n t r i a l s w i t h t h e . 2 7 6 P e d e r s e n T 1 r i fl e , c a l l i n g i t " h i g h l y p r o m i s i n g " ( d e s p i t e i t s u s e o f w a x e d a m m u n i t i o n , s h a r e d b y t h e T h o m p s o n ) . O n 1 3 A u g u s t 1 9 2 8 , a S e m i a u t o m a t i c R i fl e B o a r d c a r r i e d o u t j o i n t A r m y , N a v y , a n d M a r i n e C o r p s t r i a l s b e t w e e n t h e . 3 0 T h o m p s o n , b o t h c a v a l r y a n d i n f a n t r y v e r s i o n s o f t h e T 1 P e d e r s e n , " M 1 9 2 4 " G a r a n d , a n d . 2 5 6 B a n g , a n d o n 2 1 S e p t e m b e r , t h e B o a r d r e p o r t e d n o c l e a r w i n n e r . T h e . 3 0 G a r a n d , h o w e v e r , w a s d r o p p e d i n f a v o r o f t h e . 2 7 6 .

F u r t h e r t e s t s b y t h e S R B i n J u l y 1 9 2 9 , w h i c h i n c l u d e d r i fl e d e s i g n s b y B r o w n i n g , C o l t - B r o w n i n g , G a r a n d , H o l e k , P e d e r s e n , R h e i n m e t a l l , T h o m p s o n , a n d a n i n c o m p l e t e o n e b y W h i t e , l e d t o a r e c o m m e n d a t i o n t h a t w o r k o n t h e ( d r o p p e d ) . 3 0 g a s -o p e r a t e d G a r a n d b e r e s u m e d , a n d a T 1 E 1 w a s o r d e r e d 1 4 N o v e m b e r 1 9 2 9 .

Tw e n t y g a s - o p e r a t e d . 2 7 6 T 3 E 2 s G a r a n d s w e r e m a d e a n d c o m p e t e d w i t h T 1 P e d e r s e n r i fl e s i n S p r i n g 1 9 3 1 . T h e . 2 7 6 G a r a n d w a s t h e c l e a r w i n n e r o f t h e s e t r i a l s . T h e . 3 0 c a l i b e r G a r a n d w a s a l s o t e s t e d , i n t h e f o r m o f a s i n g l e T 1 E 1 , b u t w a s w i t h d r a w n w i t h a c r a c k e d b o l t o n 9 O c t o b e r 1 9 3 1 . A 4 J a n u a r y 1 9 3 2 m e e t i n g r e c o m m e n d e d a d o p t i o n o f t h e . 2 7 6 c a l i b e r a n d p r o d u c t i o n o f a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 2 5 T 3 E 2 s . M e a n w h i l e , G a r a n d r e d e s i g n e d h i s b o l t a n d h i s i m p r o v e d T 1 E 2 r i fl e w a s r e t e s t e d . T h e d a y a f t e r t h e s u c c e s s f u l c o n c l u s i o n o f t h i s t e s t , A r m y C h i e f o f S t a ff G e n e r a l D o u g l a s M a c A r t h u r p e r s o n a l l y d i s a p p r o v e d a n y c a l i b e r c h a n g e , i n p a r t b e c a u s e t h e r e w e r e e x t e n s i v e e x i s t i n g s t o c k s o f . 3 0 M 1 b a l l a m m u n i t i o n . O n 2 5 F e b r u a r y 1 9 3 2 , A d j u t a n t G e n e r a l J o h n B . S h u m a n , s p e a k i n g f o r t h e S e c r e t a r y o f W a r , o r d e r e d w o r k o n t h e r i fl e s a n d a m m u n i t i o n i n . 2 7 6 c a l i b e r c e a s e i m m e d i a t e l y a n d c o m p l e t e l y a n d a l l r e s o u r c e s b e d i r e c t e d t o w a r d i d e n t i fi c a t i o n a n d c o r r e c t i o n o f d e fi c i e n c i e s i n t h e G a r a n d . 3 0 c a l i b e r .

O n 3 A u g u s t 1 9 3 3 , t h e T 1 E 2 b e c a m e t h e S e m i - A u t o m a t i c R i fl e , C a l i b e r 3 0 , M 1 . I n M a y 1 9 3 4 , 7 5 M 1 s w e n t t o fi e l d t r i a l s ; 5 0 w e r e t o i n f a n t r y , 2 5 t o c a v a l r y u n i t s . N u m e r o u s p r o b l e m s w e r e r e p o r t e d , f o r c i n g t h e r i fl e t o b e m o d i fi e d , y e t a g a i n , b e f o r e i t c o u l d b e r e c o m m e n d e d f o r s e r v i c e a n d c l e a r e d f o r p r o c u r e m e n t o n 7 N o v e m b e r 1 9 3 5 , t h e n s t a n d a r d i z e d 9 J a n u a r y 1 9 3 6 . T h e fi r s t p r o d u c t i o n m o d e l w a s s u c c e s s f u l l y p r o o f - fi r e d , f u n c t i o n - fi r e d , a n d fi r e d f o r a c c u r a c y o n J u l y 2 1 , 1 9 3 7 .

P r o d u c t i o n d i ffi c u l t i e s d e l a y e d d e l i v e r i e s t o t h e A r m y u n t i l S e p t e m b e r 1 9 3 7 . B y S e p t e m b e r 1 9 3 9 , S p r i n g fi e l d A r m o r y h a d r e a c h e d a n o u t p u t o f 1 0 0 p e r d a y. D e s p i t e g o i n g i n t o p r o d u c t i o n s t a t u s , d e s i g n i s s u e s w e r e n o t a t a n e n d . T h e b a r r e l , g a s c y l i n d e r , a n d f r o n t s i g h t a s s e m b l y w e r e r e d e s i g n e d a n d e n t e r e d p r o d u c t i o n i n e a r l y 1 9 4 0 . E x i s t i n g " g a s - t r a p " r i fl e s w e r e r e c a l l e d a n d r e t r o fi t t e d , m i r r o r i n g p r o b l e m s w i t h t h e e a r l i e r M 1 9 0 3 S p r i n g fi e l d r i fl e t h a t a l s o h a d t o b e r e c a l l e d a n d r e w o r k e d a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h r e e y e a r s i n t o p r o d u c t i o n a n d f o r e s h a d o w i n g r e w o r k o f t h e M 1 6 r i fl e a t a s i m i l a r p o i n t i n i t s d e v e l o p m e n t . P r o d u c t i o n o f t h e G a r a n d i n c r e a s e d i n 1 9 4 0 d e s p i t e t h e s e d i ffi c u l t i e s , r e a c h i n g 6 0 0 a d a y b y 1 0 J a n u a r y 1 9 4 1 , a n d t h e A r m y w a s f u l l y e q u i p p e d b y t h e e n d o f 1 9 4 1 .

DEVELOPMENT

Fo l l ow ing the outbreak o f Wor l d War I I i n Europe , Winches te r was awarded an "educa t i ona l " p roduc t i on cont rac t f o r 65 ,000 r i fl es

The B r i t i sh Army tes ted the M1 as a poss i b l e rep l acement f o r i t s bo l t -ac t i on Lee -Enfi e ld No.1 Mk I I I , bu t re j ec ted i t

The M1 's semi automat i c opera t i on gave Un i ted S ta tes f o rces a s i gn i fi cant advantage i n fi repower and sho t - t o - sho t recovery t ime ove r i nd i v i dua l enemy i n fant rymen i n ba t t l e

Genera l Geo rge S . Pa t ton ca l l ed i t " the g rea tes t imp lement o f ba t t l e eve r dev i sed” The impac t o f f as te r-fi r i ng i n f ant ry sma l l a rms i n genera l soon s t imu l a ted bo th A l l i ed and Ax i s

f o rces to g rea t l y augment i s sue o f semi - and fu l l y -automat i c fi rea rms then i n p roduc t i on , a s we l l a s to deve l op new types o f i n f ant ry fi rea rms

Much o f t he M1 i nvento ry i n the pos t -Wor l d War I I pe r i od underwent a rsena l repa i r o r rebu i l d i ng . Wh i l e U .S . f o rces were s t i l l engaged i n the Ko rean War , the Depar tment o f De fense de te rmined a need f o r add i t i ona l p roduc t i on o f t he Ga rand , and two new cont rac t s were awarded . Dur i ng 1953 -56 , M1s were p roduced by I n te rna t i ona l Ha rves te r and Ha rr i ngton & R i cha rdson

A fi na l , ve ry sma l l l o t o f M1s was p roduced by Spr i ngfi e ld Armory i n ea r l y 1957 , us i ng fi n i shed components a l ready on hand . Be re t ta a l so p roduced Garands us i ng Winches te r t oo l i ng

The M1 proved an exce l l en t r i fl e th roughout i t s se rv i ce i n Wor l d War I I and the Ko rean War. Surp l us M1 r i fl es a l so a rmed many na t i ons a l l i ed t o the US A pos twar , i nc l ud ing West Germany , I t a l y and J apan . Some Garands were s t i l l be i ng used i n the V i e tnam War i n 1963 ; desp i te the M14 ' s offi c ia l adopt i on i n 1957 , i t was no t unt i l 1965 the changeover f rom the M1 Garand was comple ted i n the ac t i ve -duty component o f the Army (w i th the except i on o f the sn ipe r va r i an t s , wh i ch were i n t roduced i n Wor l d War I I and saw ac t i on i n Ko rea and V i e tnam) . I n o the r components o f the a rmed f o rces , such as the Army Rese rve , A rmy Na t i ona l Guard and the Navy , Garands cont i nued to se rve i n to the 1970s o r l onger

SERVICE USE

The we igh t o f the M1 va r i es be tween 9 .5 l b . (4 .31 kg ) and 10 .2 lb . (4 .63 kg ) un loaded (depend ing on s l i ng t ype and s tock wood dens i t y ) - - a cons iderab le i nc rease over the p rev ious M1903 Spr ingfi e ld . The l eng th was 43 .6 i nches (1 ,107 mm) . The r i fl e i s fed by an "en b loc " c l i p wh i ch ho lds e igh t rounds o f .30 -06 Spr ingfi e ld ammun i t i on . When the l as t ca r t r idge i s fi red , t he r ifl e e jec t s the c l i p and l ocks the bo l t open . C l i p s can a l so be manua l l y e jec ted a t any t ime . The "en -b loc " c l i p i s manua l l y e jec ted by pu l l i ng the opera t ing rod a l l t he way to the rea r , and then dep ress ing the c l i p l a t ch bu t ton . Much c r i t i c i zed in modern t imes , t he en -b loc c l i p was innova t i ve fo r i t s e ra . The concep t o f a d i sposab le box magaz ine had no t been embraced and en -b loc c l i p s were cheap and re l i ab le . I t was even ha rder and s lower to re load than the M1903 r ifl e . Con tempora ry r i fl es w i th the ab i l i t y t o eas i l y t op - off a magaz ine i nc luded the Johnson M1941 , the obso le te Krag - Jø rgensen and the Lee -Enfi e ld No1 and No4 .

The r i fl e ' s ab i l i t y t o rap id l y fi re power fu l .30 -06 r ifl e ammun i t i on a l so p roved to be o f cons iderab le advantage in combat . In Ch ina , J apanese banza i cha rges had p rev ious ly met w i th f requent success aga ins t poo r l y - t ra ined Ch inese so ld ie rs a rmed w i th bo l t -ac t i on r ifl es . A rmed w i th the M1 , U .S . i n fan t rymen were ab le t o sus ta in a much h igher ra te o f fi re than the i r Ch inese coun te rpa r t s . I n the sho r t - range jung le fi gh t ing , where oppos ing fo rces somet imes met each o ther i n co lumn fo rmat ion on a na rrow pa th , t he penet ra t ion o f t he power fu l .30 -06 M2 ca r t r i dge enab led a s ing le U .S . i n fan t ryman to k i l l up to th ree Japanese so ld ie rs w i th a s ing le round

The Garand ' s fi re ra te i n the hands o f a t ra ined so ld ie r , averaged ou t t o 40 -50 accu ra te sho t s pe r m inu te a t a range o f 300 ya rds , mak ing i t t he s ing le fas tes t fi r ing se rv i ce r i fl e o f any na t ion by a w ide marg in . The c loses t c locked ra te o f fi re fo r a s tandard se rv i ce r i fl e was i n 1914 by a Lee Enfi e ld , fi r ing a t 38 rounds per m inu te , s t i l l l e ss than the Garand

FEATURES

T 1 N / A P r o t o t y p e T 1 E 1 N / A A s i n g l e t r i a l r i fl e t h a t b r o k e i t s b o l t i n t h e 1 9 3 1 t r i a l T 1 E 2 N / A Tr i a l d e s i g n a t i o n f o r g a s - t r a p G a r a n d . B a s i c a l l y a T 1 E 1 w i t h a n e w b o l t . M 1 N / A B a s i c m o d e l . I d e n t i c a l t o T 1 E 2 . L a t e r c h a n g e t o g a s p o r t d i d n o t c h a n g e d e s i g n a t i o n M 1 E 1 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; m o d i fi e d c a m a n g l e i n o p - r o d M 1 E 2 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; p r i s m a t i c s c o p e a n d m o u n t M 1 E 3 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; r o l l e r a d d e d t o b o l t ’ s c a m l u g ( l a t e r a d a p t e d f o r u s e i n t h e M 1 4 ) M 1 E 4 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; g a s c u t - o ff a n d e x p a n s i o n s y s t e m w i t h p i s t o n i n t e g r a l t o o p - r o d M 1 E 5 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; 1 8 - i n c h b a r r e l a n d f o l d i n g s t o c k , f o r A i r b o r n e a n d Ta n k c r e w m a n u s e . M 1 E 6 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; s n i p e r v a r i a n t M 1 E 7 / M 1 C N / A M 1 E 6 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; M 1 C s n i p e r v a r i a n t w i t h M 8 1 s c o p e ( t h o u g h t h e M 8 2 o r M 8 4 s c o p e c o u l d b e u s e d ) o n a G r i ffi n &

H o w e m o u n t M 1 E 8 / M 1 D N / A M 1 E 7 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; M 1 D s n i p e r v a r i a n t w i t h M 8 2 s c o p e ( t h o u g h t h e M 8 4 s c o p e c o u l d b e u s e d ) o n a S p r i n g fi e l d A r m o r y

m o u n t M 1 E 9 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; s i m i l a r t o M 1 E 4 , w i t h p i s t o n s e p a r a t e f r o m o p - r o d M 1 E 1 0 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; v a r i a n t w i t h t h e L j u n g m a n d i r e c t g a s s y s t e m M 1 E 1 1 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; s h o r t - s t r o k e Ta p p e t g a s s y s t e m M 1 E 1 2 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; g a s i m p i n g e m e n t s y s t e m M 1 E 1 3 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; " W h i t e " g a s c u t - o ff a n d e x p a n s i o n s y s t e m M 1 E 1 4 M k 2 M o d 0 M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; r e c h a m b e r e d i n . 3 0 T 6 5 / 7 . 6 2 x 5 1 m m N A T O w i t h p r e s s - i n c h a m b e r i n s e r t T 2 0 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; s e l e c t - fi r e c o n v e r s i o n b y J o h n G a r a n d , c a p a b l e o f u s i n g B A R m a g a z i n e s T 2 0 E 1 N / A T 2 0 v a r i a n t ; u s e s i t s o w n t y p e o f m a g a z i n e s T 2 0 E 2 N / A T 2 0 v a r i a n t ; E 2 m a g a z i n e s w i l l w o r k i n B A R , b u t n o t t h e r e v e r s e T 2 0 E 2 H B N / A T 2 0 E 2 v a r i a n t ; H B A R v a r i a n t T 2 2 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; s e l e c t - fi r e c o n v e r s i o n b y R e m i n g t o n , m a g a z i n e - f e d T 2 2 E 1 N / A T 2 2 v a r i a n t ; u n k n o w n d i ff e r e n c e s T 2 2 E 2 N / A T 2 2 v a r i a n t ; u n k n o w n d i ff e r e n c e s T 2 2 E 3 N / A T 2 2 v a r i a n t ; u n k n o w n d i ff e r e n c e s ; u s e s T 2 7 fi r e c o n t r o l T 2 6 N / A M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; 1 8 - i n c h b a r r e l a n d s t a n d a r d s t o c k , f o r a i r b o r n e a n d t a n k c r e w m a n u s e . T 2 7 N / A R e m i n g t o n s e l e c t - fi r e fi e l d c o n v e r s i o n f o r M 1 G a r a n d ; a b i l i t y t o c o n v e r t i s s u e M 1 G a r a n d s t o s e l e c t - fi r e r i fl e s ; fi r e

c o n t r o l s e t u p u s e d i n T 2 2 E 3 T 3 1 N / A E x p e r i m e n t a l b u l l p u p v a r i a n t T 3 5 M k 2 M o d 2 M 1 G a r a n d v a r i a n t ; r e c h a m b e r e d f o r . 3 0 T 6 5 / 7 . 6 2 x 5 1 m m N A T O T 3 6 N / A T 2 0 E 2 v a r i a n t ; T 2 0 E 2 r e c h a m b e r e d f o r . 3 0 T 6 5 / 7 . 6 2 x 5 1 m m N A T O u s i n g T 3 5 b a r r e l a n d T 2 5 m a g a z i n e T 3 7 N / A T 3 6 v a r i a n t ; s a m e a s T 3 6 , e x c e p t i n g a s p o r t l o c a t i o n

MODELS

Information provided from Wikipedia.org