The US Rifle M1 was the first semiautomatic rifle to be the standard small arm of the US Military, and the first semiautomatic rifle to be adopted by a major military power. It was the product of a genius, John Cantius Garand. While the M1 Rifle was never officially referred to as the Garand, it is known by no other name so widely. First adopted in 1936, the M1 Rifle served the US in World War II, Korea, a host of "police actions" and interventions, and, in the hands of allies, in the Vietnam War. Even there the US Army used the M1 rifle as a sniper rifle even though the M1 had by that time been supplanted by the M14 and later the M16.
The M1 Garand is a full-blown combat rifle with maximum range of 3,200 meters and maximum effective range of 400 meters. Fully loaded with 8-round en block clip, cleaning kit in butt stock, sling and with stock of dense GI issue wood the M1 weighed in at 11-1/4 lbs. The M1 came into production in 1936 using the .30-06 rifle cartridge. It was the designated service rifle of World War II and the Korean War for the United States Military. Also was designed for semi-automatic fire using a spring steel clip containing 8 rounds. This is where the term "clip" originated. All other rifles used a detachable or fixed magazine. There is some discussion on whether this is accurate though. The M1 Garand was designed for long-range accuracy and was the only rifle that had fully adjustable rear sights, with windage and elevation.
Criticisms of the M1 are its weight, limited ammunition supply, the fact that single rounds could not be pushed in (8 round clip, or nothing). Also, the spent clip was automatically ejected after the last round was fired, making a distinctive sound, which could be fatal in close quarter or sniper operations. This be true the M1 proved to be quite accurate, durable, rugged and reliable. The M1 Rifle was also distributed to several nations under many American military assistance programs and used to date.
During The Vietnam War the M1 served as a training rifle for troops inducted into the U.S. Army and still serves in the training rifle role for the U.S. Navy. The M1 was the main rifle of many military reserve units until the mid-1970s (for example, the M1 was seen in the hands of Illinois National Guard troops during confrontations between Guardsmen and demonstrators outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention complex), when it was replaced by the M16.
The amount of ammunition that is allowed by law to be loaded into a firearm criminalize many popular handguns, even those used by the military like the Beretta m9 9mm, which is the standard issue side arm of the United States military that has an ammo capacity of a whopping 15 bullets. 16 bullets if one is locked in the chamber. According to this new law only seven are allowed to be loaded at any given time except when in a competition on a range.
2nd Raider battalion was one of the first U.S. military units to use the newly issued M-1 Garand in combat. This special privilege allowed the Raiders to experiment with a variety of new innovations and weaponry, resulting in a unique, yet deliberately selected armory. With an emphasis on mobility, the Raiders opted for lighter weapons with higher rates of fire. For example the Raiders utilized the .30-caliber air-cooled Browning machine gun instead of its .50 caliber brother, issued to standard infantry units. The Raiders tested a plethora of innovative equipment including, individual, man portable stoves, collapsible bicycles, and eight foot toggle ropes which had a loop at one end and a peg at the other, useful for scaling cliffs. Certain items in the Raider arsenal became unique to the raiders such as the “Raider Stiletto,” a dagger issued to Raider units modeled after the British commandos Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife, and the “Gung Ho” knife and jacket, the later being a large heavy Bowie style knife and the jacket being a hunting jacket with large pockets replacing the need for a pack. One of the most unique weapons in the Raider arsenal was the British Boys anti-tank
...aid the groundwork for the invention of more modern repeating arms, and their mechanisms are in fact still in use in many modern civilian arms. Modern versions of the Gatling gun, such as the .30 cal. Dillon Aero mini gun and the 30mm GAU-8 on the Air Force’s A-10 Warthog, are still in common use in the military today.
Each shot couldn’t be more than inches from the center of the bull’s eye. At the end of these contests, 1,000 winners were enlisted in the 1st United States sharper shooters. The next generation of breechloaders, called magazine rifles, would prove ever more deadly to confederate opponents. “Guns such as Spencer and Henry repeating rifles were designed to carry preloaded magazine of seven to fifteen bullets which could be inserted into the rear of the gun. ”3
A popular weapon used by both sides was the rifle. Rifles were invented before the Civil War and were greatly used in the War of 1812. However, more types were built and a larger amount was used during the Civil War. Rifles added a spin to bullets for a greater accuracy at longer ranges. Using this weapon, soldiers could fire 400 yards away, as opposed to the average 80 yards (Robertson 50). Rifles were the fastest and hardest weapon of the time. Rifles allowed their bullets to be shot harder and faster towards its target. New inventions, used by the Union more than the Confederate, included Parrott rifles. They were composed of iron. Robert Parker Parrott, an American soldier and inventor, created these weapons, hence the name Parrott rifles. Despite its name, the Parrott rifle was actually a cannon. Its size ranged from 10 to 300 pounders. It was not favored by most because it was considered unsafe (“Civil War Artillery”). Because of its bulkiness and heaviness, it seldom led soldiers to inaccuratel...
The Lemat revolver, pictured above, was a popular pistol among southerners and confederates during the Civil War (Lemat revolver. (2014, January 27). Retrieved from wikipedia). ‘’This gun has a nine round magazine and has a barrel that holds a 20ga round birdshot’’ (Lemat revolver. (2014, January 27). Retrieved from wikipedia). Many of the famous generals used it, which made it more popular. ‘’They only made about 2,900 Lemat pistols’’ (Lemat revolver. (2014, January 27). Retrieved from wikipedia). ‘’This gun was used through 1861-65 and was made from 1856 to 1865’’ (Lemat revolver. (2014, January 27). Retrieved from wikipedia). After the war, they stopped production of this weapon.
The primary long gun of the Union Army was the M-1861 Springfield Rifle. The 1861 Springfield was a .58 Caliber, muzzle loading, single-shot rifle. The 1861 Springfield rifle used the 500 grain .58 caliber bullet and 60 grains of powder. It had a muzzle velocity of 950 Fps and was accurate up to 300 yards with a maximum range of 500 yards. The 1861 Spring...
Pike, John. A. The "Mosin-Nagant M1891/1930. " www.globalsecurity.org - www.globalsecurity.org.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an assault rifle as any various automatic or semiautomatic rifles with large capacity magazines designed for military use. An assault weapon might have characteristics like a pistol grip, a silencer, a bayonet mount, a grenade launcher or a flash suppressor. The Violence Policy Center, a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C., provided a study that listed the top ten points about what assault weapons are and why they are so deadly. This document stated, “semiautomatic assault rifles (like AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles) are civilian versions of military assault rifles and there are virtually no significant differences between the two.” Machine guns or military style assault rifles are fully automatic, which means as long as you ho...
A majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increased in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Mi...
Now to talk about the technology for infantry; There are five main rifles that are used for infantry. The SCAR-light, XM-25, SAR 21, Corner shot launcher, and the FMG9 Folding Machine Gun. The S...
...rounds per minute, all with just the pull of the trigger. The recoil operation was a milestone in machine gun development. Warfare had truly changed. “Point a machine, and killing men was like killing bugs” (Chivers, 2010, p.85). It used new forms of cartridges which were placed on a belt that was automatically fed into the gun via the recoil operation.
M253 Cannon (barrel): The M253 cannon consists of the barrel, sealed at the lower end with a removable breech plug that houses a removable firing pin. At the muzzle end is a cone-shaped Blast Attenuator Device (BAD) that is fitted to reduce noise.