M1 Garand
The M1 Garand is a self-loading rifle and was the standard rifle of the United States Armed Forces from 1936 to 1957. Its official designation was Rifle, Caliber .30, M1.
History:
John C. Garand developed this rifle in the 1930s. It was introduced into the United States Army starting in 1936. It was rugged, reliable, and the first self-loading military rifle the United States used in a war. U.S. forces used this rifle in World War II and the Korean War. Its predecessor was the Springfield M1903 bolt-action rifle. The conversion to the M1 Garand was associated with a large increase in firepower, making it the primary weapon used by U.S. forces in World War II and the Korean War. Over 5.5 million were produced by the time production ceased in 1957. It was superseded by the M14.
Technology:
The Garand M1 rifle is a rotary breech gas loader. The gas cylinder is located parallel to the barrel axis under the barrel, and gas is extracted through a bore just in front of the muzzle. The gas piston is pressed to the rear by the pressure that occurs after the shot, the control piece that is firmly connected to it unlocks the breech in the recoil and runs back with it by a little more than one cartridge length. This ejects the fired case and cocks the hammer concealed beneath it. The recoil spring, which is located in a bore in the gas piston, then pushes the system forward, the bolt pushes the next cartridge into the chamber, is turned by the control piece and thus locked. The gun is ready to fire. To lock the bolt, it is rotated by means of a slide milled into the control piece. Two locking elements at the front of the bolt engage with abutments in the bolt housing located directly behind the barrel.
Cartridges are fed from a magazine well integrated into the rifle instead of a detachable magazine. The magazine box holds eight .30-06 Springfield caliber cartridges, which are inserted "en bloc" into a cartridge clip (cartridge frame) according to the Mannlicher system. After the last shot, the breech remains open and the empty clip is ejected, allowing for quick reloading. Reloading of individual cartridges is possible as long as the last cartridge of the loading frame has not been fired. Without a loading frame, reloading of individual cartridges is not possible.
To fire rifle grenades, the Grenade Launcher M-7 is attached. A bolt attached to it penetrates the gas cylinder from the front when it is put on, opening a relief valve, which reduces the gas pressure of the special propellant cartridges used for this purpose to a level permissible for the mechanism of the rifle.
M1 “Garand,” U.S. Rifle caliber .30
