This article has appeared in The Blue Press, but by request I'm repeating it here. I first encountered the M1 when I was 14 as a freshman Jr. ROTC cadet, and it's a rifle that has fascinated me ever since. Hope you enjoy these comments.
John
General George S. Patton Jr. called it “The finest battle implement ever devised.” It was carried by our troops with incredible effectiveness throughout World War II, Korea, and as late as the Vietnam War. Throughout WWII no other country had a generally issued battle rifle that could even come close to it. Many of our opponents in that war thought all of our men were armed with machine guns, so rapidly could our soldiers shoot. Millions of U.S. soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen and coastguardsmen cut their teeth on the M1, and most could field strip and assemble it blindfolded. It was robust, powerful, accurate and reliable. It put fear into the hearts of our enemies, and it has become an acknowledged classic.
The M1 was the brainchild of John Cantius Garand, a Canadian by birth. As a point of information, although most people refer to the rifle phonetically as the “Guh-RAND”, Garand himself pronounced his last name so as to rhyme with “errand.” He was born on New Year’s Day, 1888 in St. Remi, Quebec. During his illustrious career, he was granted fifty-four patents covering rifle and machinery designs. A true patriot of the United States, he freely gave those patents to our government. He made no undue profits from his work. He was simply an employee of Springfield Armory, content to excel in his field with no expectation of riches. He was an ordinary guy whose main hobby was ice skating. And yet, perhaps as much or more than any other man of his era, he was instrumental in winning World War II.
In October 1919, Garand, a tool engineer and automatic machine designer who had worked for the Brown and Sharpe Company and other firms, reported to work at Springfield Armory. The armory, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, was then the premier military firearms research and manufacturing site in the country. Under the supervision of the U.S. Army Ordnance Department, it had been turning out most of our nation’s issue firearms since the late 1700s. Garand had previously designed a light machine gun during WW I which had impressed a number of Army Ordnance officers. He was hired at a salary of $3,600 per year to work on possible designs for a semiautomatic rifle. He was to work tirelessly at Springfield for the next thirty-four years.
By 1924, Garand had invented a primer-actuated semiauto design that showed promise. However, the primer-actuation principle depended on too many variables to be completely reliable, and the decision was made to concentrate on a .276-caliber gas-operated design. When General Douglas MacArthur (then Chief of Staff of the Army) got wind of the proposed new caliber, he issued a directive that all future development would be in .30-06 caliber, which had been our standard since 1906. Subsequent events proved the wisdom of that decision. Garand then directed his efforts toward that end. The result, in 1932, was the T1E1. It was a design utilizing an en-bloc 8-round clip which would be automatically ejected after firing the last round. Gas was collected in a muzzle trap which re-directed the gas backward to actuate an operating rod. This rod cammed the bolt open and carried it to the rear. A spring in the operating rod returned everything back into battery, stripping a new round from the clip into the chamber. Eighty rifles were made and subjected to service tests in 1934. After generally satisfactory results, the rifle was type-approved and given the designation U.S. Semiautomatic Rifle Caliber .30 M1 on October 19, 1935.
Initial usage of the new rifle in the field resulted in a few modifications. The gas trap on the end of the barrel was very difficult to keep clean, so the arm was modified to bleed gas into the gas cylinder through a small port near the muzzle end. This worked quite well. A number of rifles had exhibited a curious characteristic. On the firing of the seventh round in the clip, the remaining round and the clip were ejected together, causing a stoppage. The quick-fix to quiet the now-doubting media was to reverse the order of staggering the rounds in the clip, resulting in the top round being on the left. This was not ergonomic for the design, and annoying to have to do. After much analysis, it was discovered that a small projection inside the receiver had not been finished during mass production to Garand’s original design. Once this was corrected, everything worked fine. A small tub of special lubricant that looked like peanut butter (Lubriplate ™) was stored in the butt of the rifle where a trapdoor had been added at about the time the gas-trap was replaced by porting. A disassembly tool and either a jointed cleaning rod or a pull-through thong and brass bristle brush were also stored there. A shorter version of the old M1905 bayonet was issued for the Garand. Designated the M1 bayonet and equipped with plastic scales, the blade measured 10 inches. It would also fit the older bolt-actions. Several types of grenade launchers were also made over the life of the M1. These could be latched to the bayonet lug.
The Marine Corps was the last to be issued M1s in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. Their first exposure to the new M1 was when the rifle was often unofficially “borrowed” from Army troops. Distrust turned to admiration as the firepower of the M1 became apparent, and the arm became general issue for the Marines, replacing their Model 1903 Springfields. Combat experience with the M1 was overwhelmingly favorable with only two problems noted. One could not replenish the arm when fewer than eight rounds had been fired. It was eight rounds or nothing. Also, when the last round was fired, the clip was ejected with a distinctive “ching” sound. While that alerted the firer to reload, it also notified the enemy that this particular American was out of ammo and was probably in the process of reloading. The countermeasure to this was to fling an empty clip against the operating rod to make that sound while you still had plenty of rounds left. When the expectant enemy rose to fire, you popped him. Good old American ingenuity.
In addition to Springfield Armory, Winchester Repeating Arms of New Haven, Connecticut produced M1s for the war effort. Winchester reached a production peak of over 122 thousand rifles in the one month of January, 1944. In all, somewhat over four million M1s were delivered to our troops during the war. The rifle illustrated was manufactured at Springfield in 1941, just prior to our entry into the war. It bears British proofs on the barrel, so it was in all probability a lend-lease arm to our English cousins.
M1C and M1D sniper rifles, equipped with scopes offset to the left, were standardized a bit late for more than minimal use during WWII. A cone-shaped flash hider was produced for these weapons, as was a strap-on leather cheek pad. The main sniper weapon during the war was the M1903A4, basically an M1903A3 bolt action rifle topped with a scope. Following the war, during the Korean War era, M1s were also produced by International Harvester and Harrington and Richardson. These were marked “International Harvester” and “HRA Arms Co.” respectively on the receiver. M1, M1C and M1D rifles were used throughout the Korean War. The T-37 pronged flash suppressor developed after that war for the sniper versions replaced the gas cylinder lock on those weapons. This eliminated accuracy problems caused by the original flash hider that was latched to the bayonet lug. A much handier M5 bayonet was designed in 1955. It had a 6 3/8” blade and utilized a stud which fitted into the gas cylinder lock screw.
In 1957, the Garand was officially replaced by the M14 rifle, itself a product-improved M1 with a 20-round magazine and optional full-auto capability. In spite of this, many active and reserve units continued to use the M1 through the mid-60s until M14 production caught up. John Garand did much of the initial development work on the M14 prior to his retirement from Springfield in 1953. He died February 16, 1974 in Springfield at age 86. A revered contributor to America’s war effort, he received many honors but little monetary compensation for his prodigious and industrious work.
Today, U.S.-released surplus M1s are still seen in the hands of other countries’ soldiers, as effective today as they ever were. Surplus M1s can be obtained from the U.S. government by qualified individuals through the Civilian Marksmanship Program, successor to the old DCM (Director of Civilian Marksmanship). They are used extensively in high power rifle matches, and are prime collector items. Garand rifles truly deserve a hallowed place in the roster of classic military rifles.
(c) 2013 JLM
John
General George S. Patton Jr. called it “The finest battle implement ever devised.” It was carried by our troops with incredible effectiveness throughout World War II, Korea, and as late as the Vietnam War. Throughout WWII no other country had a generally issued battle rifle that could even come close to it. Many of our opponents in that war thought all of our men were armed with machine guns, so rapidly could our soldiers shoot. Millions of U.S. soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen and coastguardsmen cut their teeth on the M1, and most could field strip and assemble it blindfolded. It was robust, powerful, accurate and reliable. It put fear into the hearts of our enemies, and it has become an acknowledged classic.
The M1 was the brainchild of John Cantius Garand, a Canadian by birth. As a point of information, although most people refer to the rifle phonetically as the “Guh-RAND”, Garand himself pronounced his last name so as to rhyme with “errand.” He was born on New Year’s Day, 1888 in St. Remi, Quebec. During his illustrious career, he was granted fifty-four patents covering rifle and machinery designs. A true patriot of the United States, he freely gave those patents to our government. He made no undue profits from his work. He was simply an employee of Springfield Armory, content to excel in his field with no expectation of riches. He was an ordinary guy whose main hobby was ice skating. And yet, perhaps as much or more than any other man of his era, he was instrumental in winning World War II.
In October 1919, Garand, a tool engineer and automatic machine designer who had worked for the Brown and Sharpe Company and other firms, reported to work at Springfield Armory. The armory, located in Springfield, Massachusetts, was then the premier military firearms research and manufacturing site in the country. Under the supervision of the U.S. Army Ordnance Department, it had been turning out most of our nation’s issue firearms since the late 1700s. Garand had previously designed a light machine gun during WW I which had impressed a number of Army Ordnance officers. He was hired at a salary of $3,600 per year to work on possible designs for a semiautomatic rifle. He was to work tirelessly at Springfield for the next thirty-four years.
By 1924, Garand had invented a primer-actuated semiauto design that showed promise. However, the primer-actuation principle depended on too many variables to be completely reliable, and the decision was made to concentrate on a .276-caliber gas-operated design. When General Douglas MacArthur (then Chief of Staff of the Army) got wind of the proposed new caliber, he issued a directive that all future development would be in .30-06 caliber, which had been our standard since 1906. Subsequent events proved the wisdom of that decision. Garand then directed his efforts toward that end. The result, in 1932, was the T1E1. It was a design utilizing an en-bloc 8-round clip which would be automatically ejected after firing the last round. Gas was collected in a muzzle trap which re-directed the gas backward to actuate an operating rod. This rod cammed the bolt open and carried it to the rear. A spring in the operating rod returned everything back into battery, stripping a new round from the clip into the chamber. Eighty rifles were made and subjected to service tests in 1934. After generally satisfactory results, the rifle was type-approved and given the designation U.S. Semiautomatic Rifle Caliber .30 M1 on October 19, 1935.
Initial usage of the new rifle in the field resulted in a few modifications. The gas trap on the end of the barrel was very difficult to keep clean, so the arm was modified to bleed gas into the gas cylinder through a small port near the muzzle end. This worked quite well. A number of rifles had exhibited a curious characteristic. On the firing of the seventh round in the clip, the remaining round and the clip were ejected together, causing a stoppage. The quick-fix to quiet the now-doubting media was to reverse the order of staggering the rounds in the clip, resulting in the top round being on the left. This was not ergonomic for the design, and annoying to have to do. After much analysis, it was discovered that a small projection inside the receiver had not been finished during mass production to Garand’s original design. Once this was corrected, everything worked fine. A small tub of special lubricant that looked like peanut butter (Lubriplate ™) was stored in the butt of the rifle where a trapdoor had been added at about the time the gas-trap was replaced by porting. A disassembly tool and either a jointed cleaning rod or a pull-through thong and brass bristle brush were also stored there. A shorter version of the old M1905 bayonet was issued for the Garand. Designated the M1 bayonet and equipped with plastic scales, the blade measured 10 inches. It would also fit the older bolt-actions. Several types of grenade launchers were also made over the life of the M1. These could be latched to the bayonet lug.
The Marine Corps was the last to be issued M1s in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. Their first exposure to the new M1 was when the rifle was often unofficially “borrowed” from Army troops. Distrust turned to admiration as the firepower of the M1 became apparent, and the arm became general issue for the Marines, replacing their Model 1903 Springfields. Combat experience with the M1 was overwhelmingly favorable with only two problems noted. One could not replenish the arm when fewer than eight rounds had been fired. It was eight rounds or nothing. Also, when the last round was fired, the clip was ejected with a distinctive “ching” sound. While that alerted the firer to reload, it also notified the enemy that this particular American was out of ammo and was probably in the process of reloading. The countermeasure to this was to fling an empty clip against the operating rod to make that sound while you still had plenty of rounds left. When the expectant enemy rose to fire, you popped him. Good old American ingenuity.
In addition to Springfield Armory, Winchester Repeating Arms of New Haven, Connecticut produced M1s for the war effort. Winchester reached a production peak of over 122 thousand rifles in the one month of January, 1944. In all, somewhat over four million M1s were delivered to our troops during the war. The rifle illustrated was manufactured at Springfield in 1941, just prior to our entry into the war. It bears British proofs on the barrel, so it was in all probability a lend-lease arm to our English cousins.
M1C and M1D sniper rifles, equipped with scopes offset to the left, were standardized a bit late for more than minimal use during WWII. A cone-shaped flash hider was produced for these weapons, as was a strap-on leather cheek pad. The main sniper weapon during the war was the M1903A4, basically an M1903A3 bolt action rifle topped with a scope. Following the war, during the Korean War era, M1s were also produced by International Harvester and Harrington and Richardson. These were marked “International Harvester” and “HRA Arms Co.” respectively on the receiver. M1, M1C and M1D rifles were used throughout the Korean War. The T-37 pronged flash suppressor developed after that war for the sniper versions replaced the gas cylinder lock on those weapons. This eliminated accuracy problems caused by the original flash hider that was latched to the bayonet lug. A much handier M5 bayonet was designed in 1955. It had a 6 3/8” blade and utilized a stud which fitted into the gas cylinder lock screw.
In 1957, the Garand was officially replaced by the M14 rifle, itself a product-improved M1 with a 20-round magazine and optional full-auto capability. In spite of this, many active and reserve units continued to use the M1 through the mid-60s until M14 production caught up. John Garand did much of the initial development work on the M14 prior to his retirement from Springfield in 1953. He died February 16, 1974 in Springfield at age 86. A revered contributor to America’s war effort, he received many honors but little monetary compensation for his prodigious and industrious work.
Today, U.S.-released surplus M1s are still seen in the hands of other countries’ soldiers, as effective today as they ever were. Surplus M1s can be obtained from the U.S. government by qualified individuals through the Civilian Marksmanship Program, successor to the old DCM (Director of Civilian Marksmanship). They are used extensively in high power rifle matches, and are prime collector items. Garand rifles truly deserve a hallowed place in the roster of classic military rifles.
(c) 2013 JLM
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