30-06 round. Garand’s rifle was standardized by the US military on 9 January 1936 as the US Rifle, Caliber 30, M1. The M1 became the first standard issue semiautomatic military rifle at that point. However, M1s did not begin to reach units until early 1937. Developmental problems with the gas system created delays, but once they were solved, production picked up speed. M1 production finally caught up with the war effort in late 1942, early 1943 and by the end of the year, most units in the ETO were equipped with the rifle. American troops loved their M1s. It was widely regarded as an accurate, robust and powerful rifle. The fact that it was semiautomatic gave US troops a huge advantage over Japanese and German troops who were still armed with bolt action rifles for the most part. Once production of the M1 stopped in the 1950s, over 6 million were produced. Springfield, Winchester, Harrington & Richardson and International Harvester all made M1s.
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