M1 Garand. (for newbies)

First, lets start with the specs.

Operation: Semiautomatic, Gas Operated
Caliber: .30 (.30-06)
Length: 43.6 in. (1103 mm)
Weight unloaded: 9 lb 8 oz (4.37 kg)
Barrel: 24 in. 4 grooves, right hand twist
Magazine: 8 round internal box, clip loaded, clip ejected after last round fired
Muzzle: velocity 2800 fps, 2903 ft-lb
500 yds: 1918 fps, 1362 ft-lbs
Ammunition: 174 gr bullet, 50 gr charge, Ball M1
Effective Range: 440 yds
Classification: "Standard" from 1936 until M14 adopted in 1957
Total production: Approx. 4,040,000

Now for History and how it came into today.

After 16 years of development, the M1 Garand U.S. Cal. .30 Rifle was cleared for procurement on 7 November 1935 and on 9 January 1936 the M1 Garand became Army standard. The first production M1 was successfully proof fired, function fired, and fired for accuracy on 21 July 1937 at Springfield Armory, the start of what was to become the greatest production effort in the Ordnance armory's history. At first, production difficulties and design issues continued to plague the new M-1 rifle. By February 1940, after approximately 50,000 M1 rifles had been produced, the barrel and gas cylinder assembly were redesigned. (The older design was called the "gas trap" barrel while the new design is referred to as the "gas port" version.) By mid-1940 Springfield Armory went into full production of the M-1. By the end of 1941 the Army was fully equipped with the new rifle. After the U.S. entered World War II, production ramped up further; Winchester was engaged for M1 production in 1943. By the end of WW II in 1945, over 4 million M-1 Garand rifles had been produced.
After the conclusion of WW II, the M1 rifle inventory underwent arsenal repair or rebuilding. In 1950, U.S. and Allied forces entered the Korean War with the M-1 Garand as their standard rifle. The then-new Department of Defense awarded contracts for additional M-1's, produced by International Harvester and Harrington and Richardson from 1953 to 1956, In early 1957, the last production of M1 Garand rifles took place at Springfield Armory, using components already in inventory. Production during and after the Korean War totaled over 1.4 million, for a production lifetime total of 5.4 million M1 rifles.

The "US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1", or M1 Garand as it came to be known after the name of its inventor, John Garand, held many advantages over the M1903 Springfield rifle. The semi-automatic operation and reduced recoil allowed new troops to achieve a higher degree of accuracy with a shorter period of training than was previously possible. The sighting system was superior under actual combat conditions. Ease of disassembly, cleaning, and oiling were also a great advantage. Most important was the increase in rate of fire, limited only by the proficiency of the soldier in marksmanship and his dexterity in inserting eight round clips of ammunition into the weapon. In the face of overwhelming odds, the capability of the M1 rifle to deliver superior firepower would most often carry the day.

The M1 was 43.6 in. (1103 mm) in length. Any soldier who carried one will tell you it weighed a ton, but its actual unloaded weight was "only" 9 lb 8 oz (4.37 kg).

The semiautomatic M1 Garand gave United States forces a significant advantage in firepower and shot-to-shot response time over individual German and Japanese infantrymen who were still largely armed with bolt-action rifles. General Douglas MacArthur reported on the M1 to the Ordnance Department during heavy fighting on Bataan that:

Under combat conditions it operated with no mechanical defects and when used in foxholes did not develop stoppages from dust or dirt. It has been in almost constant action for as much as a week without cleaning or lubrication.






General George S. Patton Jr. reported to the Ordnance Department on 26 January 1945:

In my opinion, the M1 Rifle is the greatest battle implement ever devised.



Hoped this helped you learn something you didn't know about the M1 Garand.


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"Effective Range: 440 yds "

What do you base that off of? The 30-06 has the power to kill someone at 1,000 + yards.

 

Well done on citing the source Raider..........Olivedrab.com is an great resource

Brad

 

don't worry about that, i already did.
i was looking for a good source that could explain the M1 Garand clearly. And i happend to stumble on that site.
Thanks.

 

Slip hit it on the head - just because something has a max range (my .308's can travel 1.5 miles I think) doesn't mean that is their effective range. In order to be 'effective', it needs to be close enough to hit with killing power most of the time. You're very rarely going to engage targets beyond the 100 - 150 yds mark as it is.

 

Well the sites are indexed to 800 yards. Trying to hit a moving target in excess of 300 meters would be "some shootin' "

460 meters. (Maximum effective range is the greatest distance at which a weapon my be expected to fire accurately to inflict casualties or damage.)

From a copy of : FM23-71 located at : FM 23-5: Chapter 1. - INTRODUCTION

That is from and "Army" Manual

A Marine themed site states the 500 Meters is the Max effective range:

The M1 rifle

Now all things being equal the 1903 Springfield has sites indexed to 2100 yards and during WW1 the 5th Marines managed to inflict some damage to the German troops defending Belleau Wood from a distance of 800 yards.

I realize that we are comparing apples and oranges as far as rifles go; but, they did use the same ammunition.........so the round is effective in excess of 500 yards.

I have had no problems hitting a stationary "B" Modified Target from 500 meters using a prone postion and Military ammo. I honestly have not tried to touch anything further. At 500 meters the front sight blade covers the target. I have seen National Match front sights that are a few 1/100ths thinner for shooting longer ranges.

I would assume that a well trained / experienced rifleman could put effective fire on a target using a Garand in excess of 500 yards and he could probably even scare the hell out of someone at 1000 yards; but, to make a habit of firing at a hostile target from much further than 500 yards, with Iron Sights, would most likely invite a lot of doom on your postion.

Just my opinion though

Brad

 

You're right.

 

M1 at 1000 yards scoped? you bet.

like others have already said it is a maximum range and maybe not realistically effective in combat, but possible.

YouTube - 1,000 yards M1 Garand (Springfield M1D sniper rifle)

enjoy.

ps. this guy is my hero

 

Good find.

 

Wow, thank you for the video.
Very impressive.

 

That's an interesting attachment at the tip of the sniper rifle. It doesn't seem to be a muzzle brake or flash suppressor. What does it do?

 

Thanks for that. I guess it works by deflecting the flash sideways, instead of toward the enemy?

 

It blocks the flash from the shooter's field of vision.........not too much of a concern during the daytime; however, in low light or at night muzzle flash will cause "dots" to appear in your vision. Kind of the same thing as a flash bulb does, but more intense because you are looking at it through a telescope.

Brad

 

Ah, that makes sense. I never considered that was the reason for flash suppression -- I thought it was to hide the shooter's location from the enemy.

I learn more here every day!

 

Not only does the flash suppressor partially hide the flash from the firer's eyes to preserve vision in low-light conditions, it performs a much more important function from a sniper's perspective. The muzzle attachment blocks the downward direction of the hot gases from the muzzle so that they do not kick up dust on the ground when the rifle is fired from the prone position. This dust is very visible to anyone downrange and will often give away the shooter's position.

 

Not having seen a Garand sniper rifle in WW2 is understandable Sir, since:

On the basis of Infantry Board tests of the M1E7 and M1E8 rifles, the M1E7 equipped with a two and one half power telescope was standardized in June 1944 as U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1C (Sniper's).

In order to assure meeting production requirements, the M1E8 was adopted in September 1944 as U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1D (Sniper's), but except for a few prototype specimens the M1D was not produced during WWII, and would not properly be considered as a WWII infantry weapon. Relatively large numbers of standard M1 rifles were converted into M1D configuration during the early 1950's, but it was the M1C that was the principal sniping weapon for the American army in Korea. (emphasis mine)

From:

M1C Sniper Rifle

From that it is clear that none made it into combat during WW2.

 

The standard issue M1 garand actualy gave the US GI alot more accuracy than if he had any other standard issue rifle of the day. (At least I think)