US Military Rifles Part 6: M1 Garand
The weapon that General George S. Patton would call the greatest battle implement ever devised, started out as the brainchild of John C. Garand. Garand worked at the Springfield National Armory and received a patent in April of 1930 for the new rifle. In the gas operated system that Garand designed, gas was tapped through a port under the barrel into the gas cylinder where it drove an operating rod to the rear. This caused the bolt to rotate slightly, releasing the bolt so they then traveled back together. The spent cartridge was ejected and the action was cocked as it went. In hitting the buffer, the rod and bolt were driven forward by a spring, picked up a round from the magazine, chambered it and recocked the bolt. The rifle Garand designed made use of an 8 round en-bloc clip in an internal magazine. The clip made an audible pinging sound once it was empty and ejected. The rifle was chambered to fire the.
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