Intro I'm 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 following subsections I will describe the pistol's development history, maintenance history, and information about the different versions. I wanted to add diagrams of the M1 rifle but the images are copyrighted and I was unable to download them, but the diagrams can be found at http://www.chestnutridge.com/gchart.aspHistory of DevelopmentThe Origins of the United States Rifle, .30 caliber, M1s began around August 1900, when Captain OBMitcham wrote to the chief of artillery at the Springfield Armory regarding "the question of automatic small arms is now being taken seriously in Europe." Not much was done by the US Army until shortly before and during the US entry into World War I. Many rifles were tested, most of which were attempts to convert the M1903 rifle from bolt-action to semi-automatic. It was during this time that John Garand, then a young man of 30, moved to New York from Canada after the United States entered World War I. After learning about the gun problem, he decided to try building a rifle and got some funding. with the support of John Kewish. Garand's first rifle was built and tested before Hudson Maxim, who suggested that the rifle be submitted to the Naval Advisory Council. Government officials then determined that Garand's rifle had merit and agreed to pay Garand $35.00 per week for his services, with Kewish paying the other $15.00 per week of Garand's pay. This agreement later caused Kewish to claim that Garand had robbed him of his share when the M1 rifle was adopted eighteen years later. After his first design was rejected by the Army, Garand was transferred to the Springfield Armory in November 1919. Over the next five years, Garand created many rifle designs, but they all had one thing in common: the cartridge primer exhausted it was used to operate the rifle's action. When the Army changed the design of the M1906 cartridge, Garand could no longer use this operating principle. It was around this time that John Pedersen came along with a new design in a totally new caliber, .276. Pedersen was an expert of his time in weapons design, so the Army ordered Garand to build his rifle design around the new .276 caliber. Between... middle of the card... of conflict and peace. CONFLICTS USEDConflict: DateSecond World War: 1941-1945Korean War: 1950-1953Lebanon landing: 1958Taiwan Strait: 1958-1959Quemoy and Matsu Islands: 1958-1963Berlin crisis: 1961-1963Thailand landing: 1962Missile crisis cub ana: 1962 - 1963Congo: 1964Vietnam War: 1965 - 1970VERSION INFOUnited States Rifle, .30 caliber, M1Date of Adoption: January 9, 1936Length: 1,103 mm (43.50")Weight: 4.32 kg (9.50 lb)Caliber: .30 M1906 Ball M2Muzzle velocity: 853mps (2800FPS)United States Rifle, .30 caliber, M1CDate of adoption: July 1944Length: 1103mm (43.50")Weight: 5.09kg (11.20lbs)Caliber: .30 M1906 Ball M73Muzzle Velocity: 853mps (2800FPS) US Rifle, .30 Caliber, M1Date of Adoption: September 1944 Length: 1103mm (43.50") Weight: 5.23kg (11.50lbs) Caliber: .30 M1906 Ball M73 Muzzle velocity: 853mps (2800FPS))