Origins Of The M1 Garand

Now, in the 21st century, M1 Garands are highly revered, receive much adulation and are considered World War II’s best battle rifle. However, it might surprise some readers to learn such a wonderful rifle did not arrive on the scene without problems and stiff competition. It did not simply travel from John C. Garand’s drawing boards to Springfield Armory’s machinery and into troops’ hands without complications. Years of development went into the M1’s creation and during this time other weapons designers were investing their time and effort into competing with Mr. Garand. Their names were Pedersen and Johnson.

Mr. Garand’s Opus

Canadian born John C. Garand went to work at Springfield Armory in the early 1920s and by the mid ’20s was tasked with developing a semi-auto main battle rifle for the U.S. Army. Practically everyone who ponders the M1 Garand in its final form simultaneously thinks “.30-06” but more specifically it was U.S. Caliber .30 M2 Ball. This particular permutation of U.S. ammunition fired a 150-gr. FMJ bullet at approximately 2,740 fps muzzle velocity.

The first prototypes of Mr. Garand did no such thing. They chambered an experimental .276 round sometimes also referred to as .276 Pedersen — named for the other famous weapons designer. The .276 fired a 120-gr. bullet at about 2,700 fps. Also interesting is the bullets were not 0.276″ though it was the bore diameter of the rifles meant for it. Their groove diameters were nominally 0.284″ as were the bullets in the .276 Pedersen rounds. So when considered by today’s cartridge terminology, the experimental cartridge was actually a 7mm.

One day in 1932 must have been a dismal one for Mr. Garand. His brand-new rifle was ready for submission and official testing. At this time the U.S. Army Chief of Staff was General Douglas MacArthur but he rejected it primarily because of its .276 cartridge. General MacArthur made many mistakes in his legendary career but this wasn’t one of them.

One reason was the United States had enormous stocks of U.S. Caliber .30 ammunition left over from World War I. Another reason was if America’s main battle rifle became a .276, what about all the .30 caliber M1918 Browning Automatic Rifles (BARs) and M1917 and M1919 Browning machine guns in service? Would or could they be rebarreled? Or, should the U.S. Army supply two different, full-sized rifle cartridges to its combat units? Mr. Garand was instructed to return to the drawing boards and make his rifle accept .30-06.
Meanwhile, John P

Meanwhile, John Peterson …

All this time another Springfield Armory employee, John Pedersen, was working on a .276 rifle designated T2E1 (fancy talk for experimental). Whereas Mr. Garand developed a gas system for his rife — where gas from fired rounds was collected and then fed back to operate a piston system for semi-auto function — Mr. Pedersen invented a delayed blow-back, semi-auto action where the force of the cartridge firing pushed back a toggle system. Blow-back was a system used by most submachine guns and semi-auto handguns of the era. To imagine how a jointed toggle system operated, consider the famous “Luger” pistols.

However, firing small pistol cartridges is one thing and high-pressure rifle rounds is another so Pedersen had to develop a delay in the toggles so chamber pressures were lower when they operated. Functioning was still spotty and didn’t become perfect unless cartridge cases were waxed. This didn’t go over well with army brass.

Personally I’ve only seen and handled one Pedersen .276 rifle but never fired it. Some knowledgeable firearms people think if the cartridge extraction problem could have been worked out, the rifle would have been a great success. For instance, its 10-round, non-detachable box magazine could be loaded from the top by means of five-round stripper clips. As the magazine was contained within the stock, M1s were a bit thicker and heavier than a .276 Pedersen. Regardless, Springfield Armory’s interest in it died with General MacArthur’s anti-.276 decree.

The Johnson Rifle

In regards to Melvin Johnson’s semi-auto M1941 rifle, I have some shooting experience. A friend offered me the loan of his M1941 and I soon found the Johnson did have some beneficial points. One was its 10-round rotary magazine could be loaded with single rounds or by means of five-round stripper clips. Its long, thin barrel with no protective wood made for a lighter rifle than the M1 while probably making it more susceptible to damage in combat. Shooting the M41 beside my M1 Garand left me unimpressed. It just was not a tight grouping rifle albeit upon returning it to its owner we found the stocks screws could be tightened somewhat.

From My Cold, Dead FIngers

Many experienced military riflemen in both U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps resisted giving up their bolt action Model 1903 Springfields in favor of semi-auto M1s. Their primary complaint was they wouldn’t be as accurate as bolt actions and they would be ammo wasters. In truth, off-the-rack M1s probably couldn’t shoot as accurately as comparable ’03s but after some combat use, veteran troops came to love the fire superiority an American unit had over bolt action-carrying enemies.

What about ammo wasters? Yes, in the strict sense. An acquaintance participated in metal detecting in some European battlefields. He told me they often found a few rounds of .30-06 and an empty en-bloc loader in the bottoms of old foxholes. A GI would lose count of rounds fired and during a pause pop out whatever was remaining in their M1s and load up a fresh en-bloc loader.

Finally, what about the claim the sound of the M1 flinging out its empty en-bloc loader telegraphed to enemies the soldier’s gun was empty? Many poo-poo it as mere legend but I prefer to believe my late Uncle James “Buffy” Virse.

Hell In Paradise

He was a rifleman in the USMC’s 3rd Marines, fighting on Bougainville and Guam. On the latter island he was involved in the mopping up phase. After the island was declared secure, there were still hundreds of Japanese soldiers roaming the dense jungles. Combat ranges were in feet, not yards. To prevent a Japanese soldier — eager to die for the emperor — from charging at the pinging sound of the loader ejecting, the Marines worked in teams. One man always had a loaded rifle.

The last time I saw Uncle “Buffy” in the early 1990s he asked me to find him a good M1. He died suddenly before I could do so.

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