Gun Spotlight – The M1 – Garand 30.06 Semi-Auto Rifle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Type
Semi-automatic rifle
Place of origin
United States
Service history
In service
1936–1959 (as the standard U.S. service rifle)
1940s–present (other countries)

The M1 Garand^{[nb 1]} is a .30-06 caliber semi-automatic rifle that was the standard U.S. service rifle during World War II and the Korean War and also saw limited service during the Vietnam War. Most M1 rifles were issued to U.S. forces, though many hundreds of thousands were also provided as foreign aid to American allies. The Garand is still used by drill teams and military honor guards. It is also widely used by civilians for hunting, target shooting, and as a military collectible.
The M1 rifle was named after its Canadian-American designer, John Garand. It was the first standard-issue semi-automatic military rifle.^[13] By most accounts the M1 rifle performed well. General George S. Patton called it “the greatest battle implement ever devised”.^[14][15] The M1 replaced the bolt action M1903 Springfield as the standard U.S. service rifle in the mid 1930s, and was itself replaced by the selective fire M14 rifle in the late 1950s.
Although the name “Garand” is frequently pronounced /ɡəˈrænd/, the preferred pronunciation is /ˈɡærənd/ (to rhyme with errand), according to experts and people who knew John Garand, the weapon’s designer.^[16][17] Frequently referred to as the “Garand” or “M1 Garand” by civilians, its official designation when it was the issue rifle in the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps was “U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1” or just “M1” and Garand was not mentioned.

LegacyArmory.com gives the M-1 Garand a 4/5 stars. Great collectible gun, but no longer practical as a service weapon. Still, it has carved out a prominent place for itself in the history of warfare. It cannot be denied its place in the firearms pantheon.

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