Wiki History Listing
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Designed by John Garand, a French-Canadian immigrant to the US, the Garand was the standard issue American infantry rifle of WW2 and Korea, which replaced the [[M1903 Springfield]] bolt action rifle and the M1917 Enfield. It was the first semi-auto rifle to be issued in large quantities by a military. The Garand uses a flat-top rotating bolt, now known only as the "Garand Action" linked to a long stroke gas piston underneath the barrel. The weapon has a flush, internally mounted magazine with only a plate spring; the ammunition is held, and loaded, by an "En-Bloc" clip that is plunged into the magazine from the top and held within the magazine until the ammunition is exhausted or the clip-release button on the middle left of the rifle is depressed, upon which the clip is flung clear out the top of the rifle with a famous and distinctive "ping" sound. Contrary to popular belief, the Garand's clip can be ejected at any time, be it full, half-full, or empty. Upgrades that John Garand and other inventors pushed for eventually worked their way through the Army bureaucracy and the design was adapted into the M14 Battle Rifle by a number of changes; including replacing the archaic En-Bloc clip system with a detachable box magazine and optional stripper clip guide, the long stroke gas piston with a short stroke, shorting the barrel, adding an early plastic or metal heat shield, and optional buttplate and muzzle device. However the victory was bittersweet; and the M14 arrived a decade too late; hampered further by appalling quality control and manufacturing issues from all provides, wandering zero, a poorly bedded barrel, an outdated and excessive cartridge, and enormous weight. The issues compounded until the M14 (and it's heavier brother, the M15) was replaced with the newer Colt Model 602, better known as the M16. John Garand's name is routinely mispronounced. It is not "Grand" nor "gar-and" nor "ger-and"; being a native of Quebec and native speaker of canadian French, Garand pronounced his name more like "gher-ahn-d", with a very soft d. h4. See Also * [[M14]] h4. External links * "Wikipedia: M1 Garand":https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Garand Updated by bot Sun, Sep 18 '22, 02:55 |