IntroI am doing this report on the M1 Garand for Mr. Walker's History class 182. The Garand is a fascinating semi-automatic rifle from World War II. In the subsections below I will describe the development history of the gun, service history, and information on the various versions. I wanted to add schematics of the M1 rifle but the images are copyrighted and I was unable to upload them but the schematics can be found at http://www.chestnutridge.com/gcart.asp Development History Origins of the American rifle, .30 caliber, M1 began around August 1900, when Captain OBMitcham wrote to the Chief of Ordnance at the Springfield Armory about "the question of automatic small arms is now being taken seriously in Europe" . The U.S. military did little before and during the United States' entry into World War I. Many rifles were tested, most of which were attempts to convert the M1903 bolt-action rifle to semi-automatic. It was at this time that John Garand, then a young man of 30, left Canada for New York after the United States entered the First World War. After learning about the gun problem, he decided to try making a rifle and obtained funding. with support from John Kewish. Garand's first rifle was built and tested before Hudson Maxim, who suggested that the rifle be presented before the Naval Consulting Board. Government officials then determined that Garand's rifle had merit and arranged to pay Garand $35.00 per week for his services, with Kewish paying the remaining $15.00 per week of Garand's salary. This arrangement later led Kewish to claim that Garand cheated him on his part when the M1 rifle was adopted eighteen years later. After his first model was rejected by the Army, Garand was transferred to the Springfield Armory in November 1919. Over the next five years, Garand created numerous rifle designs, but they all had one thing in common: l The primer from the spent cartridge was used to operate the action of the rifle. When the military changed the design of the M1906 cartridge, Garand could no longer use this operating principle. It was at this time that John Pedersen arrived with a new design in a completely new caliber, .276. Pedersen was an expert of his day in weapons design, so the Army then ordered Garand to build his rifle design around the new .276 caliber. Between...... middle of paper ...... conflict and peace. CONFLICTS USEDConflict: DateSecond World War: 1941 - 1945Korean War: 1950 - 1953Landing in Lebanon: 1958Taiwan Strait: 1958 - 1959Quemoy and Matsu Islands: 1958 - 1963Berlin Crisis: 1961 - 1963Landing in Thailand: 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: 1962 - 1963Congo : 1964Vietnam War: 1965 - 1970VERSION INFORMATIONAmerican rifle, caliber .30, M1Date of adoption: January 9, 1936Length: 1103 mm (43.50")Weight: 4.32 kg (9.50 lb)Caliber: .30 M1906 Ball M2Muzzle velocity: 853 mps (2800 FPS)American rifle, caliber .30, M1CDate of adoption: July 1944Length: 1103 mm (43.50")Weight: 5.09 kg (11.20 lb)Caliber: .30 M1906 Ball M73Muzzle velocity: 853 mps (2800 FPS) American rifle, caliber .30, M1DDate of adoption: September 1944 Length: 1103 mm (43.50") Weight: 5.23 kg (11.50 lbs) ) Caliber: .30 M1906 Ball M73 Muzzle velocity: 853 mps (2,800 FPS))