Thanks to the ingenuity of one man, a Marine infantry unit serving in the Korean War was equipped with M1 Garand rifles capable of full-auto fire. This is the story of selective fire Garands built by then Marine Staff Sergeant Harold Johnson that were used in combat during the Korean War.

During the Korean War, WWII Marine combat veteran Harold Johnson, at the time a staff sergeant, was serving as platoon sergeant in 1^st Battalion, 5^th Marine Regiment. During his time there, the Korean Army was largely out of the fight, and the enemy were the Chinese communists. The war was fairly static, and his unit spent the bulk of their time in an established bunker and trench line. There were frequent Marine night patrols forward of their line to keep themselves informed of enemy troop activities. Most of the Chinese troops in his area were armed with the Soviet PPSH submachine gun. Naturally most of Hals Marines were armed with the M1 Garand or M1 Carbine with approximately one Thompson submachine gun and one Browning Automatic rifle per squad. In short, he felt that his patrols were short of firepower when they engaged in skirmishes with the Chinese during patrols.

Accordingly, Hal Johnson modified several Garands, though the total number is unknown, to be capable of selective fire. He did this work in the field, which is testimony to his skill. Also bear in mind that Hal Johnson was a tanker in WWII, and an infantryman after that; it was not until after the Korean War that he moved into the Ordnance Corps.

During our many conversations, Hal stated to me that he always sent at least two of his modified rifles out with each patrol. In use, the modified rifles provided good, reliable service. They put lots of rounds in the direction of the enemy and helped keep their heads down. On occasion the front hand guard would char or even smoke from the overheated barrel. A story Hal liked to tell was of a buddy of his from WWII arriving at his unit. This guy’s attitude was “a Springfield was good enough to shoot Japanese, its good enough to shoot Chinese.” Accordingly, he carried a Springfield on his first night patrol, made contact with the enemy and heard burp-gun fire all around him. Upon his return to friendly lines, he promptly asked Hal for one of his modified Garands.

HOW WAS THE RIFLE MODIFIED

The modification made by Johnson was simple in design and was reliable. Starting with the trigger group and working forward, the left disconnector hook is ground off of the hammer to prevent that left hook from engaging. A trip lever is fabricated and installed inside a channel cut inside the stock. This trip lever has a lug welded to its rear that protrudes into the action of the gun. This lug engages with the right side of the disconnector. This trip lever pivots on the selector switch to the rear of the center of the trip lever. A spring is installed under the rear of this trip lever to provide upward tension. A transfer bar is fabricated and installed on the outside of the stock below the charging handle. It pivots at its center and has no spring tension on it. The charging handle is ground flat on its front surface. The transfer bar and trip lever were fabricated from M1919 and M2 .50 caliber feed cover belt feed levers. Disclaimer: This is not a how-to guide on building your own full auto M1. Do not modify an M1 to fire full auto unless you are in possession of the appropriate licenses.

HOW THE RIFLE WORKS, THE CYCLE OF OPERATION

When the rifle is fired, the operating rod moves to the rear, bringing the bolt with it. At the beginning of this movement, the flat surface of the charging handle moves away from the transfer bar. Spring tension on the rear of the trip lever moves it up out of engagement with the right side of the disconnector. toward the end of the rearward travel of the bolt, the hammer will lock in the rearward position, held by the disconnector on the remaining right lug on the hammer. As the bolt is returning forward, and just as the bolt locks up, the flat cut into the front of the charging handle impacts the top of the transfer bar forcing the rear of this transfer bar up. This forces the front of the rear trip lever up, moving the rear of the trip lever down against spring tension. The lug welded to the rear of the trip lever pushes down on the right hook on the disconnector, pushing and holding it to the rear and releasing the hammer to fire the chambered round and firing the successive round. The cycle repeats as long as the trigger is held down, or until the rifle runs out of ammunition.

A MODERN REPRODUCTION OF HAL JOHNSONS DESIGN, PROOF OF CONCEPT

Some years ago, in the post-1986 era, but prior to the advent of handheld movie studios, hence the low-quality photos taken with a disposable camera, a working copy of Hals design was built. It was built under my tutelage by a tax stamp holder. That individual has long since surrendered his tax stamp and the rifle was duly turned into the BATFE. I like to think that it resides in their reference collection. It was built as a tool-room prototype with no attempt to make it pretty or field worthy. It also lacks the selective fire option and is full-auto only. This rifle ran and ran flawlessly for many rounds. The rate of fire was an estimated 600 rounds per minute. Controllability of this rifle was not great, but it was manageable for an experienced full-auto shooter. As the owner of an original M-14, I can state that it was more controllable than an M-14 in full-auto mode. It is worth noting that it is possible to build this design to operate at a rate of fire of 600 per minute up to 800 rounds per minute. To do this imagine the lock-up of the bolt and auto firing taking place during a very short window of time. If the rifle fires at the earliest moment in this window, the rate of fire will be faster. The reproduction rifle I fired could have been made to shoot at a higher RPM by adding metal to any contact surface in the linkage, causing a slightly earlier release of the hammer by the lug on the rear of the trip lever.

Though largely unknown, Garands capable of full-auto fire were used in combat in the Korean war by infantry Marines in 1/5 courtesy of the efforts of one smart and able man, Harold Johnson, who has gone largely unrecognized by history.

Despite Its High Cost, Millions Were Made for the U.S. and the Allies in WWII

The Thompson submachine gun was conceived by U.S. Army General John Thompson as a weapon to assault and clear out enemy trenches during World War I. Thompson formed the Auto-Ordnance Corporation to develop his submachine gun. World War I ended before the weapon went into production. After the post-war design was finalized, Auto-Ordnance, which had no facilities for mass production, subcontracted with Colt to manufacture the Thompson submachine gun. A total of 15,000 Thompson submachine guns were produced by Colt from 1921 to 1922. Sales were very disappointing; for all intents and purposes the concept was a failure though criminals of the day recognized the Thompson’s value. Police departments began to purchase Thompsons just so they would not be outgunned by gangsters. Many gangland shootings made the headlines in all the newspapers; the Thompson submachine gun was getting a very tainted reputation.

By early 1939 when it appeared World War II was imminent, the Thompson submachine gun was nearly 20 years old. An entrepreneur by the name of Russell Maguire sensed that there would be a need for weapons when war came. Through some dubious tactics, Mr. Maguire was able to gain controlling interest in the floundering Auto-Ordnance Corporation.

World War II was a more fluid conflict than World War I had been. It would be a war where the submachine gun would play a significant role. Despite the design being over 20 years old, it was the only proven weapon that could be fielded quickly. However, once again Auto-Ordnance had no manufacturing capabilities. A forward-thinking Russell Maguire contracted with the Savage Arms Company to manufacture the Thompson for Auto-Ordnance. The first Thompsons made by Savage were similar to those made by Colt. Savage delivered the first completed guns to Auto-Ordnance in April 1940. Savage also manufactured many parts to supply Auto-Ordnance’s own factory in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that began manufacturing the M1928A1 model in August 1941.

The British Army, despite their resistance to what they referred to as “gangster guns,” was one of the first customers to order Thompsons. At this point, the United States had not yet entered the war. The United States was forced to enter World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The U.S. Army began quickly growing, and weapons were needed to arm soldiers and Marines.

The U.S. government had on several occasions voiced concern over the .45 caliber submachine gun’s high price, which was costing the government the same as a Browning belt-fed machine gun. Savage and Auto-Ordnance were both aware that the Ordnance Department was seeking a less expensive submachine gun to replace the Thompson.

In November 1941, the engineering staff at Savage began conducting a study of how the M1928A1 model Thompson could be simplified. The engineers were looking for ways to decrease cost and increase production. Consuming much of the manufacturing effort was the receiver, more specifically, the rails inside of the receiver that the bronze Blish lock traveled on. The three-piece bolt/lock/actuator of the 1928 model was also labor intensive to manufacture. The engineers at Savage doubted that the locking device was necessary.

A Less Complex Submachine Gun

In late February 1942, a “simplified” prototype Thompson submachine gun conceived by Savage was ready to be submitted to the Ordnance Department for testing. The bolt assembly was a very simple rectangular block of steel. This allowed the receiver to be redesigned for easier manufacture and its width reduced. The inside of the receiver simply had a rectangular channel milled into it to accommodate the bolt. The bolt had been redesigned with two sear notches. This allowed the weapon’s safety lever to be engaged when the bolt was in the forward position on an empty chamber. Since drum-type magazines had proven unsuitable for military use, the new receivers eliminated the lateral slots on the sides of the magazine well for accommodating them.

Savage shipped the new weapon to Russell Maguire at the Auto-Ordnance Corporation headquarters. The Savage Corporation told Auto-Ordnance that it was submitting the redesigned Thompson, “Without any claims for compensation, reimbursement, royalty or patent interest.” The Auto-Ordnance engineering staff examined the new design and then submitted it to the Ordnance Department in March 1942. The new Thompson was sent to Aberdeen Proving Ground for testing and evaluation. After a few government recommended alterations to the prototype were made, the new Thompson was recommended for adoption as “Submachine Gun, Caliber .45 M1” on March 24, 1942.

The pilot rod for the recoil spring was simplified for easier manufacture and was held in place by a new type buffer. The M1’s pilot rod was made longer than those for the 1928 design to completely contain the spring. The M1’s pilot rod and buffer lessened the possibility of damaging the recoil spring during assembly and disassembly; a problem often encountered with the 1928 models.

The M1 featured a smooth barrel without the radial cooling fins or a threaded muzzle for a compensator. The rear sight installed on early production M1 Thompsons was the same simple unprotected “L” type. This design proved to be easily damaged and was replaced by a similar sight but with protective side “ears.”

By July 1942, Savage began delivery of the first new Thompson model, now designated as the M1 Submachine Gun. The Auto-Ordnance Bridgeport and Savage Arms factories both began production of the Thompson M1 model in July 1942. However, due to many technical problems experienced by the Bridgeport factory with the change over from the M1928A1 model, the actual manufacture of their M1s was delayed by several months.

While in July 1942, Savage had turned out 48,000 guns, Auto-Ordnance was struggling to meet its scheduled production mark. Contributing to the production delays were problems in deliveries of materials, equipment and tooling authorized by the government for M1 production.

After the M1 production finally commenced at Auto-Ordnance’s Bridgeport plant, more problems were encountered. The Springfield Ordnance District refused to accept any of the Auto-Ordnance Bridgeport-manufactured M1s because of the increase in their full-auto cyclic rate over the M1928A1 model. Officials from Washington, the district ordnance office and Auto-Ordnance engineers conducted studies and tests, all failing to provide a correction for the condition. Finally, on December 9, 1942, official notice from the Ordnance Department in Washington gave the district permission to waive the rate-of-fire requirement and accept the Bridgeport M1 guns. In the interim, the M1 Thompsons being produced at Savage were being accepted in large quantities by the Rochester Ordnance District without any problems.

The M1A1 Model

The Savage Arms Company continued attempts to further simplify the design by experimenting with a fixed firing pin model. The prototype was originally fitted with an M1 type bolt with a firing pin fixed in an extended or “in battery” position. The firing pin, spring, hammer and hammer pin were omitted. Later the “fixed” separate firing pin was eliminated and replaced by a fixed “firing pin” machined onto the bolt face.

The Springfield Ordnance District was notified that manufacture of a fixed firing pin bolt for use in the M1 submachine gun was authorized. In order to distinguish between submachine guns equipped with separate firing pins and fixed firing pins, the submachine guns fitted with the fixed firing pin would be designated as “Gun, Submachine, Caliber .45, Thompson M1A1” (A1= Alteration 1).

By the time the Springfield Ordnance District began accepting the M1s made at the Bridgeport plant, the new Thompson M1A1 model had replaced the M1. Most of Auto-Ordnance M1 Thompsons were then upgraded to the M1A1 configuration and the A1 designation added by hand stamping “A1” on the receiver.

On earlier models, the forward motion of the bolt was stopped by the front of the bolt cavity in the receiver, a major factor in determining the length of the chamber. To increase reliability the cylindrical protrusion at the front of the M1A1 bolt was increased by .028-inch. With the longer front shank, the bolt’s forward motion was stopped by the cartridge seated in the barrel’s chamber unless the chamber was empty. The redesign ensured that the fixed firing pin would strike the primer with greater force, reducing misfires. However, the downside to the fixed firing pin design was that it increased the chance of an out of battery discharge of a cartridge.

The cost for Savage to manufacture an M1 was $23.44. On February 24, 1942, Savage agreed to a contract to manufacture the M1 model for Auto-Ordnance at the cost of $36.37 per unit, providing Savage with a profit of $12.93 per gun. Auto-Ordnance then charged the U.S. government $43.00 for an M1 model and $42.94 for the M1A1 version, although the prices and profits varied slightly from contract to contract.

Serial Numbers

Unlike the 1928 Thompsons, the manufacturer’s initials, “AO” or “S,” were not used as a serial number prefix on the M1 series. To identify who made a particular M1 or M1A1 Thompson, the manufacturer stamped their code letters on the bottom of the receiver where the front grip mount is fitted. The letters used were “S,” which indicated Savage manufacture, or “A.O.C.” for weapons made at the Auto-Ordnance Bridgeport plant. As on the previous M1928A1 model, the Auto-Ordnance Corporation name and Bridgeport address are present on the receiver’s right side, regardless of who manufactured the weapon. Another change noted in the M1/M1A1 Thompson was the spelling of the word “caliber” on the receiver. The word was changed from the early spelling of “CALIBRE” to the U.S.-recognized spelling, “CALIBER.”

Savage-manufactured M1 and M1A1s were stamped with the Army Inspector of Ordnance’s initials of the Rochester, NY, Ordnance District. AIOs of the Rochester District were Lt. Colonel Ray L. Bowlin, using stamp “RLB,” and Colonel Frank J. Atwood, using stamp “FJA.” The Bowlin RLB marking is found only on the early M1 Thompsons. All Savage M1 and M1A1 submachine gun receivers and frames were also marked with the encircled “GEG” acceptance stamp of Auto-Ordnance’s civilian inspector at Savage’s factory, George E. Goll.

M1 and M1A1 Thompsons produced at the Auto-Ordnance plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut, would have the acceptance stamp of the Army Inspector of Ordnance of the Springfield District. Very early M1s would be marked with the stamp “WB”—Colonel Waldemar Broberg. Later production would be marked with the “GHD” stamp—Colonel Guy H. Drewery.

There have been many M1A1 trigger frames documented that do not have serial numbers. During repairs and rebuilds, the frames and receivers were often mismatched. This caused a lot of confusion when the weapons were stored in racks, and the frame number was mistakenly recorded instead of the receiver serial number. U.S. Ordnance specification AXS-725, dated January 7, 1943, called for a serial number to be marked, “Only on the receiver.” Subsequently, M1A1 frames manufactured after that date had no serial numbers applied. Arsenals were instructed to obliterate or remove serial numbers from the frames of the M1/M1A1 Thompsons. Due to the depth of the markings, the practice was soon discontinued.

M1’s and M1A1’s Final Days

In January 1943, the Ordnance Department announced to the Auto-Ordnance Corporation that the Thompson was going to be replaced by the newly developed U.S. M3 submachine gun. After the Ordnance Department’s official adoption of the M3 submachine gun, Thompson production was scheduled to be concluded in July 1943. Plans were made to begin tapering off production of the weapon. In April 1943, 62,948 M1A1 guns were manufactured; this was reduced to 55,000 in May and 51,667 in June. This left only 5,000 guns remaining to be manufactured in July 1943 from existing contracts. Authority was then received from the Ordnance Department in June to procure an additional 60,000 weapons by the end of August. Before the end of August, more orders for the Thompson gun were received from Washington. A total of approximately 119,091 additional Thompson M1A1 models were to be manufactured, providing continuance of production through December 1943. At the end of December, there were enough parts remaining to assemble approximately 4,500 additional guns. In January 1944 authorization was granted to complete the remaining guns by February 15, 1944. Production briefly resumed in February, completing a total of 4,092 additional guns. On February 15, 1944, the very last M1A1 Thompson submachine gun was accepted by the government via contract W-478-ORD-1949.

The Savage Arms Corporation manufactured an estimated total of 464,800 M1 and M1A1 model Thompsons, while the Auto-Ordnance Bridgeport plant turned out an estimated 249,555 M1s and M1A1s. A presentation-grade M1A1 Thompson was made by Savage. The serial number represented the total number of 1928 and M1/M1A1 Thompson submachine guns made by Savage: 1,244,194 from April 1940 until February 15, 1944. The number does not include the Thompsons made by Auto-Ordnance’s Bridgeport factory.

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Article excerpted from the book American Thunder III, available from Chipotle Publishing LLC.

Special thanks to Curator Alex MacKenzie and the entire staff at the Springfield Armory National Historic Site.
Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Springfield, MA
413-271-3976
www.nps.gov/spar

During a recent visit to the Springfield Armory National Historic Site Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts, Small Arms Review was granted access to the area of the museum where weapons not on display are stored. Only 16-percent of the museum’s collection is currently on exhibit.

One might wonder why some of the more unique, one-off firearms are not on display. I have asked this question of several museum curators over the years, and the answer is always the same. The average military museum visitor is interested in seeing a rifle or handgun that was issued to them, their father or grandfather. Most are not interested in one-of-a-kind prototypes.

High Standard T48 7.62mm FN FAL Rifle Serial Number HS-1

One of the rarest FN FAL rifles was manufactured by the High Standard Corporation, Hamden, Connecticut in 1954. The Belgian FN FAL rifle, as originally manufactured in Europe, was produced using the metric system of measurement. Canada, Great Britain and the United States all used the Imperial system of inches. Any rifle produced in these countries would need to adhere to their standard of measurement. One of the obstacles encountered with the Belgian rifle was that all the factory drawings were done using the metric system.

The Springfield Armory was busy with the T44E4 rifles and numerous other projects and decided to turn the task over to a commercial entity. Bids were taken for the project, and the contract was eventually awarded to the High Standard Corporation. As part of the agreement, High Standard was to manufacture at least 12 functional FN FAL T48 rifles from their final drawings. Harrington and Richardson received a contract and manufactured 510 inch-pattern T48 rifles for testing and evaluation.

Inland M1 Carbine Serial Number 1

The M1 carbine was manufactured during World War II, issued to primarily arm personnel who were not engaged in front-line infantry fighting. The carbine used a new 7.62x33mm cartridge with a 110-grain bullet at a muzzle velocity at approximately 1,970 feet per second. The carbine was designed to supply a more effective weapon to those who would normally be issued a handgun. The M1 carbine was manufactured by a large number of contractors. One of those contractors was the Inland Division of General Motors. In the museum’s holdings is the first production M1 carbine made by Inland, serial number 1, with two unusual characteristics: a “web” forward of the trigger guard and a corrugated curved butt plate. The first five tool room models of the Inland carbine were made by R.F. Sedley, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

T29 .30 Caliber Grease Gun Serial Number X38

The experimental T29 submachine gun was developed by the Guide Lamp Division of General Motors during the fall of 1944. The T29 is a straight blowback M3A1 “Grease Gun” chambered for the .30 carbine cartridge. The barrel is 14 inches in length; the overall length is 28.8 inches. Development was terminated with the introduction of the select-fire M2 carbine.

Savage Submachine Gun .45ACP Serial Number X-1

The experimental Savage submachine gun, caliber .45, was manufactured by Savage Arms, Utica, New York. Equipped with a folding spike bayonet, magazine and sling, this submachine gun shares many features with the production Reising M50 submachine gun and feeds from a 20-round Reising magazine. The weapon was designed in the 1940s by Eugene Reising for Savage Arms.

High Standard Submachine Gun .45 ACP Serial Number 7

The High-Standard Submachine Gun Caliber .45 was designed by Carl G. Swebilius of High Standard with the patents assigned to the corporation. The .45 caliber prototypes were made by High Standard; production UD42 9mm models were manufactured by Marlin for the United Defense Supply Corporation. Reportedly only seven weapons in caliber .45 ACP were made for submission to various testing boards.

Submachine Gun Thompson M1A1 .45 ACP Serial Number 1244194

Manufactured by Savage for the Auto-Ordnance Corporation, Bridgeport, Connecticut, this is a presentation M1A1 Thompson submachine gun with a polished blue finish. The serial number represents the total number of Thompson submachine guns; 1928, M1 and M1A1 models made by Savage. The weapon was donated to the Springfield Armory NHS by Savage Arms, Westfield, Massachusetts on October 17, 1978.

Swedish-K, 9mm Caseless Ammunition Serial Number 356615

A submachine gun that was introduced to the Navy SEALs at Fort Bragg and remained in their inventory through the Vietnam War, was the Swedish Model 45, also known as the m/45 or Swedish-K.

A Swedish-K submachine gun, serial number 356615, was converted by the U.S. Smith & Wesson Corporation to electrically fire caseless 9mm ammunition. The m/45 was followed by several S&W Model 76 submachine guns that were designed for caseless ammunition before the program was terminated.

Smith & Wesson Model 76, Caseless Ammunition Serial Number X219

Model 76 serial number X219 was one of several Model 76 submachine guns converted to fire caseless ammunition. The ammunition was fired electrically. Power was supplied by a 30-volt dry cell battery located in a compartment forward of the trigger guard. The magazine release lever was redesigned to clear the battery box. Note the on-off safety switch on the pistol grip (barrel is missing from the weapon).

U.S. Rifle, M1 Caliber .30 Serial Number 1

Manufactured by Springfield Armory, Springfield, Massachusetts in May 1934, this is the first model shop semi-automatic, gas-operated (gas-trap) M1 Garand rifle with 8-round clip feed mechanism. Manufactured by semi-production, tool room methods in the Model Shop at Springfield Armory under direct supervision of John Garand. The cost to the government for the 80-model shop M1 rifles was $1,831.00 in 1934, or $32,268.51 in 2018 dollars.

U.S. Rifle, M1 Caliber .30 Serial Number 81

This M1 was manufactured by Springfield Armory, Springfield, Massachusetts in 1937. It is the first series production model M1 gas-operated, semi-automatic rifle with 8-round clip feed mechanism. Parkerized finish with many small parts blued. This is the first production line M1 manufactured in 1937 at a cost of $214.54. Serial numbers 1 to 80 were tool room models.

U.S. Rifle, T20 Caliber .30 Serial Number 1

The T20 was manufactured at Springfield Armory, Springfield, Massachusetts in October 1944. Experimental gas-operated, select-fire rifle, essentially a modified M1 adapted to a 20-round detachable BAR box magazine. The receiver was made .3125-inch longer than a production M1 to solve a problem feeding from the BAR magazine. The weapon was designed to fire from open bolt in the full-auto mode; closed bolt in semi-auto mode. The open bolt feature did not adequately solve cook-off problems.

Muzzle velocity was 2750 feet per second and cyclic rate of fire 500rpm. Weapon has an overall length of 44.5 inches, a barrel length of 24 inches and weighs approximately 10 pounds without accessories. Development of the T20 model was terminated in January 1945 with recommendations that minor changes and strengthening of various components be made. A rifle incorporating these minor design changes was designated as the T20E1.

Remington T22E2 .30 Serial Number 1

Concurrent with Garand’s work on the T20 rifle, a competitive contract was awarded to Remington Arms Company to develop an improved M1 rifle. Remington’s prototypes were designed around a standard length M1 receiver. Like the T20, the T22 used a BAR-style 20-round magazine. Manufactured and developed by Remington Arms, Ilion, New York. The T22E2 was essentially an M1 converted to select fire and modified for a detachable box magazine.

Belt-Fed German Fallschirmjagergewehr, FG42

After World War II ended, the idea to develop a new U.S. general purpose, light machine gun was renewed. A captured World War II German weapon, a late model FG42, was examined and adopted as a base design. The FG42 (Fallschirmjagergewehr, or Paratroopers Rifle) was a limited production, shoulder-fired, rifle caliber weapon intended solely for the German paratroop forces, produced from stampings and welding.

The mechanical solution for the conversion was engineered by the Bridge Tool & Die Works, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1946. The resulting weapon is a conversion of the Type 2 FG42 German paratrooper rifle with the belt feeding mechanism of the Maschinengewehr 42, a German, belt-fed general purpose machine gun, fabricated from sheet metal stampings. The Bridge Tool & Die conversion weapon is a gas-operated, blowback type combination—air-cooled; bipod supported; with forward handgrip and rear shoulder stock. The receiver cover is marked WaA 147.

T33 Clarke Arms Rifle Serial Number 8

The Clarke Arms Company of Boston entered their T33 series rifles in the U.S. Ordnance Department’s lightweight rifle competition. The T33 rifle development program was begun in March 1949. The weapon was a lightweight, selective full- and semi-automatic rifle. The purpose of the lightweight rifle program was to replace the M1 rifle. This project was suspended in late 1950, because the weapon lacked sufficient ruggedness and demonstrated poor performance under adverse conditions. The Clarke Arms Company dissolved on December 22, 1954.

T44 Rifle Serial Number 1

The first 7.62mm T44 rifles were built on .30 caliber T20 receivers. Spacers were used in the receiver to adapt the T20 receiver for the shorter 7.62mm cartridges. A new short receiver, specifically designed for the 7.62mm round, was introduced on the T44E4 model.

First Production M14 Rifle Serial Number 2000

The first U.S. M14 rifle off the series production line at the Springfield Armory in 1957 was serial number 2000. The presentation grade rifle was finished in a high polish blue with a fine black walnut wood stock.

M14E2/A1 Rifle Prototype, Springfield Armory M14 Serial Number 6488

The M14 rifle as issued, was very difficult to fire accurately in full-automatic. As a result, many were issued with selector locks, limiting their operation to semi-automatic-only. In attempt to design an M14 that could effectively use its full-auto feature, the USAIB/M14 was conceived at Fort Benning, Georgia, by Captain Durward D. Gosney. The Springfield Armory M14 Serial Number 6488 was fitted with an in-line pistol grip stock, wooden foregrip, muzzle stabilizer and commercial rubber recoil pad. In this configuration, the M14 demonstrated that the automatic fire accuracy requirements could be consistently achieved.

Due to size limitations, only a small portion of the unique firearms stored at the Springfield Armory Museum are featured in this article, as are the brief descriptions. Watch future issues of Small Arms Review for more in-depth articles and photos on many of these weapons.

Special thanks to Curator Alex MacKenzie and the entire museum staff.

For more information about the museum:

Springfield Armory National Historic Site
One Armory Square, Suite 2
Springfield, MA 01105-1299
Phone: 413-271-3976 Website: nps.gov/spar

I sat quietly taking notes as the Purchase Description was being reviewed, making sure I would capture the important points. The development of a new rifle for the U.S. Military is not an everyday occurrence and I wanted to make sure I understood all of the requirements clearly. The Government speaker went quickly over the next point. He knew that this one rarely enlisted any questions: “The rifle shall be compatible with the multi-purpose Bayonet and attach securely at the bayonet mounting points.” No eyebrows were raised, no questions asked. And why should there be? It was a foregone conclusion that every service rifle would be configured to accept the standard bayonet.

What does this mean to a designer of weapons? For one thing, whatever had been envisioned or planned for the muzzle area of the weapon was now complicated by design constraints. Any muzzle device, no matter how effective in its current configuration, would now have a 0.86 diameter so that the bayonet ring could pass over and ride securely. The fit would have to be loose enough for a quick deployment yet tight enough so there was no rattle. At a prescribed position aft of the muzzle, the gas block or other appendage would need the special T-configuration for securing the bayonet. This would require chamfered corners for a smooth and rapid connection. The rifle would have to be rugged in the muzzle area as well. When the M14 was in development, testing showed that thrusts with the bayonet resulted in damage to the weapon prompting a redesign. There were but few words in the Purchase Description where the bayonet was mandated, yet in an instant, the freedom of design was greatly restricted.

Why in the world do we need a bayonet anyway, I asked myself? During the break I considered other devices that might be better suited to the end of the barrel. How about a stun gun or a Taser? Maybe a pyrotechnic wire cutter or a laser would be better; something, anything that was more “21st Century.” Surely there must exist some new technology that might carry us beyond these design constraints from which we seem to be forever encumbered? I needed to give this more thought and also made a mental note to check how we got to the point of a never-ending bayonet requirement.

Weeks later, while searching my files and other reference sources, I learned that the first bayonet use was recorded in the 17th century. Riflemen wielding a matchlock rifle were protected by a soldier carrying a pike, whose job it was to keep the enemy at bay long enough for the rifleman to reload. When they closed in on the enemy, the rifleman jammed a special “plug bayonet” in the end of the barrel so he could join the pikesmen in combat when there simply wasn’t time to reload.

In the years that followed, bayonet designs were never very innovative but there was one that is remembered for out of the box thinking. Early rifles needed a ramrod and later ones a cleaning rod, so one designer sold the U.S. on a ramrod bayonet combination design. In 1905 this bayonet received some high level attention when president Theodore Roosevelt wrote a letter to the Secretary of War telling him, “I must say that I think that ramrod bayonet is about as poor an invention as I ever saw. As you observed, it broke short off as soon as hit with even moderate violence. It would have no moral effect and mighty little physical effect.” He questioned the need for a bayonet and went on to ask that further studies be undertaken by officers seeing combat in the Philippines and from military attachés who were sent as observers to the Russo-Japanese war. Two American Colonels from the office of the Surgeon General were assigned to accompany the Russian Army in combat in order to study the wounds caused by weapons of modern warfare. Observations on the use of the bayonet would be part of their mission.

The Russian and Japanese armies faced off on three different fronts in battle lines that extended 10 miles, 60 miles, and 80 miles. Nocturnal engagements were frequent and much use of the bayonet was made on both sides, yet the actual number of casualties attributed to the bayonet was a mere 0.3%. In their report, the Colonels concluded: “The experience of the Boer War and that of the present Russo-Japanese war has shown that the bayonet is not yet an obsolete weapon and that we still must reckon with it.”

Reckon with it we did, from the First and Second World Wars and the Korean War right up until the 1950s when the M14 rifle was being developed to replace the M1 rifle, Browning Automatic Rifle, M2 Carbine and M3 Grease Gun. The bayonet used with the M1 rifle did not fit the M14, which got the Army thinking about the requirement for a bayonet. Mr. Amos Bonkemeyer, who was then head of the Light Weapons Section of the Army’s Infantry and Aircraft weapons section, stated the Army “… is considering not using a bayonet with the M14.” This came as a result of a recommendation from Fort Monroe where they reported, “The bayonet is rarely used in combat.” These observations led to seriously consider arming the soldier and Marine with a K-bar knife with no means of attachment to the rifle. This concept met resistance from the troops and eventually the bayonet was accommodated on the M14. The front end of the weapon was redesigned and the stock reinforced to a point where the M14 was tested and determined to be as good as the M1 for bayonet fighting. The M16 that followed met the same requirement.

Resigned to be forever burdened with a bayonet, the Army funded a project to make the bayonet more useful. The soldier needed a saw, a wire cutter, or an all purpose knife far more frequently than those combat situations that required him to affix a bayonet to the end of his rifle. In 1973 a project was funded to develop a multi-purpose Knife-Cutter Bayonet that would perform multiple tasks and also be effective as a fighting tool. A contract was awarded, designs were conceived, and a number of prototypes were built for field trials. Just as the multi-purpose M14 rifle that preceded it, the Knife-Cutter Bayonet proved once again that a product that makes design compromises in order to do multiple jobs ends up doing none of them very well. Their overweight designs were not able to cut double strand barbed wire and were too cumbersome for most practical uses. At the time these studies were undertaken, men had already been sent to the moon, yet these developers were overwhelmed by the challenge to develop a multi-functional bayonet, their final report stating: “Development was terminated when it was concluded that it was beyond the state of the art to develop a single item encompassing all the features stated as essential.”

Only one year after the first “new rifle for the military” meeting, I found myself in a carbon copy of the first meeting. It was another new requirement, this time for a carbine that would also require the accommodation of a bayonet at the muzzle. When they reached the point in the purchase description that would cover the bayonet I thought once again about Teddy Roosevelt, the Russo-Japanese War, Stun guns, Tasers, and Lasers. I turned to a combat veteran next to me and whispered, “Why are we doing this again? Do you guys really need a bayonet?” The answer was short and profound. “George, when the soldier’s weapon no longer works for whatever reason, the bayonet is his last remaining means of defense.” Gee, I never thought about it like that. I don’t feel so bad though. Teddy Roosevelt didn’t get it the first time either.

2006 marks the 100th Anniversary of the quintessential American 20th Century military cartridge. While outdated by modern cartridges it has been kept alive by nostalgia and the deep affection of shooters and collectors the world over.

The average gun enthusiast may be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about. After all, didn’t the .30-06 start its service life with a 150-grain spitzer bullet and end its service life with basically the same 150-grain bullet? Well, yes it did, but for the first 50 years of its service life it was available in a myriad of military loadings and for the following 25 years it was used as a vehicle for testing ideas in small arms ammunition development. By the turn of the 21st century, its military use was limited to training purposes and for military salutes.

This article will focus on the U.S. military evolution of the .30-06 and only briefly touch on non-US development and civilian use. Even so, this will be a superficial look at the official U.S. rifle and light machine gun cartridge through two World Wars and countless “Police Actions.”

Politics and Cavalry Charges

To look at the use of the .30-06 around the world is a lesson in geopolitics. Its spread around the world didn’t really occur until after WW2 when the U.S. sought to influence foreign governments, either to stem the spread of communism or to develop trade – and what better way than to provide these friendly governments with your excess munitions. Eventually the .30-06 was used in almost 50 countries.

Even a cursory look at the various .30-06 loadings and how they were developed illustrates the changing face of warfare through the 20th Century – from cavalry charges to “dirty tricks.” The development of the .30-06 through the 1920s and 30s reflected the lessons learned during WW1. However, by the advent of WW2, cavalry charges had been relegated to the history books and the importance of the aircraft was becoming obvious.

During WW2, the diverging requirements of ground, air and sea warfare often resulted in serious development and production delays for the various .30-06 loadings. Basically, they were trying to have a single cartridge do everything.

As the U.S. became more and more involved in S.E. Asia after Korea, it seems that running wars became the province of the intelligence agencies and not the armies, navies and air forces actually doing the fighting.

The .30-06 was replaced by the 7.62mm NATO round in 1954 and U.S. military production for combat use ceased in the 1960s.

Modest Beginnings

The .30-06 was the result of several basic developments that occurred in the late 19th Century: the use of smaller caliber weapons; smokeless powder and rimless cases. The move towards smokeless powder came with the .30-40 Krag introduced in 1892 but this had limited powder capacity.

By 1901, Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia (the government facility where the majority of ammunition development took place) had developed a rimless .30-caliber round. This was adopted as the .30 Ball Model of 1901 and commonly referred to as the “.30-01”. It used a 220-grain round-nose bullet and it had a thick rim – much thicker than contemporary rimless cartridges. At this time, Springfield Armory was also developing what would become the .30 Rifle, Model of 1903. The .30-01 was also further developed, losing its thick rim but retaining the 220-grain round-nose bullet to become the .30 Model of 1903 – or “.30-03”.

With the rest of the world pursuing pointed bullets, it only took a couple of years for someone to stick a pointed bullet into a .30-03 case that had the neck shortened by 0.10-ins to accommodate the reduced bearing surface of the pointed bullet. Things were simpler in those days and on October 15, 1906, the resulting cartridge was approved as the .30 Cal. Model of 1906, what we now call the “.30-06”.

Loadings

Before discussing the various loadings, we should mention colored bullet tips. The U.S. used these to identify various loadings in the .30-06. The following is a list of the colors used on service rounds and their meaning. Caution is advised if you are using this list to identify a loading as other countries did not always follow U.S. marking practice.

Common U.S. .30-06 Bullet Tip Color Codes

• Black: Armor Piercing (AP)
• Black/Silver: AP Plate Test
• Blue: Incendiary
• Green: AP for UK
• Green/White: Frangible
• Green/Tan: Frangible
• Orange: Tracer
• Red: Tracer
• Silver: Armor-Piercing Incendiary (API) and Navy contract Ball (1941)
• White: Tracer (and unfinished Frangible)
• Yellow: Observation

BALL

The first ball round for the .30-06 used a 150-grain flat-based bullet with a cupronickel jacket. This is referred to as the “M1906” bullet and it remained in use through World War I.

The use of machine guns at long range in that war revealed that the .30-06 was outclassed by rounds firing heavier bullets. Thus, in the immediate post World War I period, the U.S. experimented with heavier bullets. They tested many variations and it is amusing to note that one of the rounds tested at this time used a modified round-nose Krag bullet. The result of these tests was the adoption, in 1925, of the 172-grain boat-tailed “M1” bullet which had a gilding metal (a copper alloy) jacket.

By the mid-1930s it was evident that the use of machine guns at long range was a thing of the past and the recoil of a 172-grain bullet would be uncomfortable for the average GI. As a result, the original 150-grain M1906 bullet was re-adopted in 1937, though it did now have a gilding metal jacket. At first the original nomenclature “M1906 Ball” was used, but this was quickly changed and this new bullet was called the .30 M2 Ball. The 172-grain M1 bullet didn’t go away and continued to be used by the Navy. Initially, M2 ball rounds used a stannic (i.e.: tin) stained bullet to identify them from the M1 and this staining lasted until 1940. To further confuse matters, one of the last lots of M1 ball rounds produced by Frankford Arsenal in 1941 for the U.S. Navy had silver-tipped bullets. These should not be confused with silver-tipped API rounds which didn’t appear until 1943.

During World War II, because of supply problems with strategic materials like copper, the use of a steel bullet jacket was permitted. The jackets were given a gilding-metal plating and are referred to as the “.30 M2 Alternate” – a name which often appears on packaging. Though the supply of copper improved, the M2 Ball and the M2 Alternate Ball bullets continued to be used for the remainder of the .30-06’s military career.

ARMOR-PIERCING (AP)

The first AP round produced in service quantities in the U.S. was the controversial M1917 which had a cupronickel jacket with an exposed lead tip. Since The Hague Convention of 1899 effectively banned the use of expanding bullets on personnel, there were significant worries from the front lines to the extent that General Pershing ordered that it not be used by the American Expeditionary Forces.

The M1917 was quickly replaced by the M1918, which was identical in design except that it did away with the exposed lead tip. It is identified by a smooth cannelure (ring) on the bullet above the casemouth. The M1918 remained the service issue AP for a few years but was replaced in 1922 by a round having a slightly heavier steel core and identified, for the first time, by a black tip to the bullet. It was termed the “M1922” and had a gilding-metal jacket.

By the early 1930s, with the increasing use of armor, significant development took place with high-velocity AP bullets. It resulted in the adoption in 1934 of the high velocity AP M1. It was also identified by a black bullet tip and at 3,180 fps was considerably faster than the M1922 AP’s 2,600 fps. This was very much an interim measure as experimentation continued with this high-velocity series throughout the 1930s. In 1939, this avenue was abandoned and the M1922 was adapted slightly and renamed the AP M2, which remained the standard .30-06 AP bullet until the 30-06 was phased out.

One variation of the AP that wasn’t “service issue” is worth mentioning and this is the AP Plate Test. Loaded at various velocities and provided to companies manufacturing armor plate, it was intended to “proof” the plate prior to government acceptance. Initially they were not identified except by a box label and can be found with a black or a plain bullet tip. From about 1940, when large quantities of these Plate Test AP rounds were made, they were identified by a silver-over-black-tipped bullet.

ARMOR-PIERCING INCENDIARY

While the search for a way to give the small .30-06 AP bullet an incendiary effect started in World War I, it wasn’t until World War II that they had any success. The small lead point filler between the steel core and the bullet jacket was exchanged for a small quantity of a barium nitrate/magnesium mixture called IM-11. First identified by a black and blue bullet tip and called the T15 in 1943, it was quickly changed to a silver bullet tip and called the M14 API. By the late 1940s, they had changed the shape of the AP core which allowed substantially more of the incendiary mixture to be used and this was termed the M14A1.

BLANKS

Blanks were designed to perform a variety of functions from simply noise blanks to the launching of grenades or radio antennas.

In the U.S., the first noise blanks were those using the same paper bullet as used in the .30-03 blank and these were called the M1906 Blank. The paper bullet also contained a charge of powder to facilitate its break up. Some may be found with the tinned cases and in 1909 some .30-03 blanks with this bullet were adapted to the .30-06 chamber by resizing the neck.

Due to the cost and complex production process, an alternative to the paper bullet blank was designed that had a casemouth simply roll-crimped over a tan cup-shaped wad and this was adopted as the M1909 Blank. It went through a series of improvements, the most notable of which was the use of a simple red card wad, and was the standard noise blank for the life of the .30-06.

Grenade blanks first appeared on the scene in the early 1920s. Most of these functioned on a rod-type grenade and used a heavy powder charge to propel it. These were eventually standardized as the M3 Grenade Blank in 1941. This was identified by a rose-crimped casemouth with a red seal. Also of note is that throughout its life, the powder charge was a mixture of smokeless and black powder.

One interesting grenade blank from the 1920s is that made for the Viven-Bessiere practice grenade, which functioned by using the residual gases of a ball cartridge with the bullet passing through the center of the grenade. Since the danger space of a ball round greatly exceeds the danger space for the grenade (the bullet being able to travel much further than the grenade), a blank using a solid wood bullet was designed that could launch the practice grenade in range areas too small to accommodate a full-power ball cartridge.

It is worth mentioning here that you cannot safely tell a noise blank from a grenade blank strictly by its appearance. While the U.S., for the most part, used a blank with a roll-crimped casemouth over a red wad as the service issue noise blank, other countries did not adhere to this identification. In addition, there are numerous movie blanks that used military surplus cases, with a rose-crimped casemouth. Lake City made several batches of .30-06 blanks as late as 2002 for veterans’ funerals and these had a rose-crimped casemouth.

While not a U.S. development, Norway, France and Germany made extensive use of plastics for blanks starting in the 1950s. The U.S. did not embrace plastic cartridges in small arms ammunition in those days and even now there seems to be some reluctance. Nevertheless, these are colorful variations and perhaps the most familiar in the U.S. is the blank made of gold-colored plastic that was used in the movie “The Longest Day.”

DUMMIES

The early drill practice dummies (called the M1906 Dummy) had 6 corrugations running down the tinned case and from 1 to 4 holes in the case. It evolved, losing the tin plating, and gradually reducing the number of case holes until there were none, but retained its “Dummy M1906” designation through World War II. It was resurrected in the Korean War as the Dummy M40 and may frequently be encountered with a corrugated steel case.

Dummies for weapon functioning and inspection normally have smooth cases as corrugations might not reveal imperfections in an action or chamber. These smooth-case dummies first appeared at the end of World War I. These were usually tinned with two holes in the case. In 1938 a similar dummy, called the M2, was introduced with the tinned case and from one to three holes. It was made through the 1950s and is often seen with a plain brass or steel case.

The Range Dummy is, as far as we know, unique to the .30-06. It appeared in 1920 as a device for detecting flinching with recruits on the firing range. Identified only by a tinned primer and a groove cut in the head of the case, it was slipped into a magazine by the instructor without the knowledge of the recruit. It remained in use in some places until the early 1940s.

Perhaps the oddest .30-06 dummy is that intended for the Hollifield Target Practice Rod device. A special rod with a sharp point was fitted into the rifle barrel. The “Dotter” cartridge also had a rod in it and when it was “fired” the blow was transmitted to the rod in the barrel which popped out and pricked a paper target hung just in front of the muzzle. Designed in 1908 it was used extensively through World War I.

FRANGIBLE

The development of the frangible cartridge (i.e.: where the bullet breaks up on impact without damaging the target) illustrates the challenges endured by developers faced with different requirements from each branch of the Armed Forces.

In the early 1940s, the basic idea was to be able to train bomber gun crews by having them fire at real aircraft. Initially the Air Force approached the Ordnance Department but nothing happened. To cut a long story short, the NDRC (National Defense Research Committee – a civilian “think-tank”) was contacted. Duke and Princeton Universities got involved and eventually developed the frangible cartridge two years later. The mottled green/gray bullet was a mixture of bakelite and powdered lead referred to as RD-42-93. It was identified by a green and white bullet tip and muzzle velocity was a mere 1,360 fps. It was initially called the T44 Frangible but formally accepted in April, 1945 as the M22. A minor variation, the T74, using a tan over green bullet tip was developed in 1945 using a different propellant. By this time, the limited value of .30 cal. aircraft armament had been realized and most aircraft had been upgraded to .50 cal. machine guns.

GUARD & GALLERY

While these were initially considered separate loadings, they eventually filled both functions. The first Guard cartridges appeared in 1907 for use by sentries at military installations and prisons in urban areas. They were identified by 5 cannelures in the middle of the case and had a very small powder charge (muzzle velocity was 1,200 fps). The cannelures were its downfall as the case would separate in a dirty chamber. The identification was then changed to 6 short corrugations on the case shoulder. Production ceased about 1918 though it was still issued for a number of years after that.

Gallery or “Short-range” cartridges were used for training purposes. Up until 1919, various solutions were tried and the most common being a 198-grain pointed lead bullet called the “Ideal” bullet. It was replaced by a 140-grain lead bullet that became the Gallery Practice M1919. This nomenclature was changed again in 1933 when it became the M1 Guard Cartridge.

Countries like Norway and Germany used plastic cases and/or plastic bullets in .30-06 short-range cartridges from the 1950s. Again, these did not prove popular in the U.S.

INCENDIARY

The earliest .30-06 incendiary round was the M1917 which had a charge of white phosphorous and was identified by a flat tip bullet. The side of the bullet had a small hole that was sealed with solder which melted as the bullet traveled down the barrel – igniting the phosphorous on contact with the air.

This was quickly replaced by the M1918 which was identical internally but had a blackened pointed bullet to match the trajectory of the ball cartridge of the day. With experience passed on from the R.A.F. following the Battle of Britain, the U.S. was able to develop a bullet with a charge of barium nitrate/magnesium as the incendiary agent inside a steel sleeve. It was identified by a blue bullet tip and was accepted as the M1 Incendiary in 1941. It remained virtually unchanged for the rest of its service life.

SPORTING

While sporting cartridges are beyond the scope of this article, it is worth mentioning one commonly encountered load that had a military connection. It was made by Remington with a 280-grain round-nose soft-point bullet and packaged in military style boxes with a government contract number. Folk-lore has its purpose as protecting Alaskan bases from polar bears. As has recently been discovered, these were actually a contract for Springfield Armory in Massachusetts for their heavy recoil tests of 1955.

TRACER

The earliest .30-06 tracer you are likely to encounter is the M1917, which was identified by a chemically blackened case and used through World War I. The bullet had a cupronickel jacket until 1921 when it was changed to gilding metal.

In the 1920s there was considerable effort to improve the tracer with the M1923 and then the M1924 Tracers being adopted, both identified by black cases. It was renamed the “M1 Tracer” in 1926 and in 1930 the identification was changed from a black case to a red bullet tip. It remained in service into World War II when the differing requirements of air and ground wars triggered further development. Like its ball counterpart, the use of steel jackets was permitted in 1943 and packaging may be seen labeled “M1 Alternate Tracer.”

While the M1 tracer was used until the end of WW2, a short-trace version was developed in 1942 and became the “M2 Tracer.” Initially it was identified by a white bullet tip but this was quickly changed to a red bullet tip with an additional knurled cannelure on the bullet. Also in 1942, the Air Force voiced the need for a dark-ignition trace; one that would not blind the pilot. The result was a dim-ignition tracer at first called the T10 and later adopted as the M25 in 1945 with an orange tipped bullet. It remained the standard tracer for the rest of the .30-06’s military life.

SPECIAL PURPOSE LOADINGS

While there were many experimental loads developed in its first 50 years, we will concentrate here on a few of the unusual loads that illustrate the .30-06 usage in the 1950s and 60s.

Multiball

The concept of firing multiple projectiles with one shot is as old as ammunition itself. As far as the .30-06 is concerned there were experiments by Greener of the UK in the post World War I period with duplex and triplex loads being developed. In the U.S., it wasn’t until Project Salvo (1952-1961) that serious development took place along these lines. Commonly seen with both the standard length case and ones with an extended neck holding two or three bullets, these were developed by Olin (who owned Winchester-Western). Of note is the powder charge between the bullets to ensure separation and the fact that they had to angle the base of the lower bullets to ensure sufficient dispersion to make it worth while. Some of these rounds had colored bullet tips to identify special lots.

Explosive/Observation

These were designed to either increase damage to a target or to indicate the point of impact – often in a sub-caliber device. There were World War I experiments with a blunt-nose bullet with protruding nipple/firing pin, and World War II experiments using the Pomeroy bullet done by Winchester. The latter bullet is notable in that it has a capsule of dynamite in the nose activated by the bullet’s rotation. Both Frankford Arsenal and Winchester developed observation bullets with a complex internal mechanism called the T99. These appeared in the early 1950s and were identified by a yellow bullet tip. (A yellow bullet tip was used on a number of experimental loadings and not just observation rounds).

Silent Cartridge

Nothing illustrates the changing use of the .30-06 more than the silent .30-06 cartridge. Using the captive bolt principle, these were an all-steel assembly where a piston propelled a steel bullet that had a nylon driving band. It was developed in the 1960s and eventually patented in 1977. The same concept was applied to the QSPR (Quiet Special Purpose Revolver) rounds for the Viet Nam “Tunnel Rats.”

DUDS

Most will be familiar with the Remington “Accelerator” round that uses a .223-cal. bullet in a plastic sabot to provide a high velocity round as pictured in the lead photo on page 42. The concept was used on what is probably one of the .30-06’s rarest loadings – the Depleted Uranium Discarding Sabot (DUDS). This armor-piercing round was developed during the 1960s and 70’s and used the plastic sabot to hold the uranium slug.

These represent just a few of the special purpose loadings from this era. Others include manstopper, helmet test, radio destructor, flare and tear-gas loads.

U.S. Manufacturers

While many military and commercial manufacturers made the .30-06, this is a listing of the main U.S. Military manufacturers. The headstamp letters used are shown in parenthesis.

• Frankford Arsenal, Philadelphia (FA, FAL) made .30-06 from 1906 until ~1961. It closed in 1977.
• Denver Ordnance Plant, Colorado (DEN) made .30-06 from 1941-1944.
• Des Moines Ordnance Plant, Iowa (DM) made .30-06 from 1942-1945.
• Eau Claire Ordnance Plant, Wisconsin (EC/EW **), made .30-06 from 1942-1943. (** Initially they used “EC” on the headstamp but this was changed to “EW” to avoid confusion with Evansville Chrysler – which didn’t actually make .30-06).
• Lake City Ordnance Plant / Lake City Arsenal / Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, Independence, Missouri (LC), made .30-06 from 1941-1945, 1951-late 1970s, 1993, 2002. Also produced the clandestine headstamp “C / N [false date]” in 1953.
• St. Louis Ordnance Plant, Missouri (SL), made .30-06 from 1941-1945, 1952-1957. Also produced the clandestine headstamp “B / N [false date]” in 1953.
• Twin Cities Ordnance Plant, Minneapolis (TW), made .30-06 from 1942-1945, 1951-1957. Also produced the clandestine headstamp “A / N [false date]” in 1953.
• Utah Ordnance Plant, Salt Lake City, (U, UT), made .30-06 from 1942-1943.

The big commercial companies like Winchester-Western, Remington, Peters, United States Cartridge Company (U.S.C.Co.) and UMC also made .30-06 on government contract at various times.

Chris Punnett is author of the book “.30-06” and Editor of the International Ammunition Association’s Journal (http://cartridgecollectors.org).

There have been many accolades bestowed upon the World War II performance of the semiautomatic Caliber .30, U.S. M1 rifle, better known as the Garand. The U.S. had prudently adopted the M1 rifle back in 1936. During the ensuing years the weapon was continually being developed and improved, resulting in an exceptionally reliable weapon by December 1941 when the U.S. was suddenly plunged into war. The United States’ M1 rifle was by far the most successful semiautomatic service rifle fielded in World War II. Russia and Germany also fielded limited numbers of semi-auto rifles, but none of them could compare to John C. Garand’s M1.

Despite its stellar reputation, the M1 rifle did have a few shortcomings, such as its enbloc 8-round clip that made a distinct sound when ejected, and the rifle’s propensity to jam during a heavy rainfall. Work had begun during World War II to fix the weapon’s various problems as well as provide the rifle with a select-fire capability. During 1945 a select-fire, magazine fed Garand designated as the T20E2 rifle was briefly adopted as a limited procurement item. However, the end of the war curtailed all interest in the weapon resulting in the cancellation of a contract for 100,000 of the modified Garand Rifles.

There were only two concerns that manufactured the M1 rifle during World War II; the U.S. Government Springfield Armory and the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. By the end of World War II the total production of M1 rifles was 4,040,802 weapons, a wartime production figure second only to the M1 carbine. All during the war there numerous upgrades and modifications being implemented into the rifle. When hostilities ended in 1945, M1 production was suddenly terminated, and the Springfield Armory began to receive shipments of well-used M1 rifles to upgrade, rebuild and place into long-term storage.

On 25 June 1950, the North Korean Army stormed across the 38th Parallel on the Korean peninsula into South Korea marking the start of the Korean War. The U.S. took quick action under the United Nations flag to assist their South Korean allies and basically fought the war with same small arms issued in World War II. The same U.S. weapons were also supplied to the South Korean army. As the war dragged on a need for additional service rifles became apparent. Despite the continued work on a select-fire, magazine fed service rifle, none were manufactured for issue. Instead, the government decided to resume production of the stalwart M1 Garand rifle. The Springfield Armory, who had produced a large number of M1 rifles during World War II, began to remove its vast array of M1 tooling and machinery from storage. During 1951, preparations for resuming manufacture began, however the monthly rifle and spare parts production rate was nowhere near that achieved during the Second World War.

International Harvester Company was awarded a government contract for the manufacture of M1 rifles at their Evansville, Indiana plant on June 15, 1951. The company’s primary business was the manufacture of commercial trucks and farm machinery. Although the company was seemingly an odd choice to manufacture a service rifle, experiences during World War II had proven that American companies, especially those who had mass production assembly line experience, could easily adapt and produce excellent small arms, and in large quantities. The location of the International Harvester plant was also considered to be geographically advantageous, due to the growing post World War II fear of a nuclear attack on North America. Small arms manufacturers like the Armory, Colt, H&R and High Standard were all located in the New England area and could theoretically be wiped out in a single strike.

The Line Material Company of Birmingham, Alabama was granted its first government contract for the manufacture of M1 rifle barrels on April 30, 1951. The barrels were marked LMR for contractor identification and were used on International Harvester rifles and were, on occasion, supplied to the Harrington & Richardson factory.

The Harrington & Richardson Arms Company of Worcester, Massachusetts received a government contract for 100,000 complete M1 rifles and spare parts on April 3, 1952. There were several contract amendments issued for additional M1 rifles from H&R. Harrington & Richardson was a well established manufacturer of sporting arms, and had produced the Reising submachine gun during World War II, and on into the 1950s for police sales. They would also become a primary contractor for the U.S. 7.62mm M14 rifles.

The adoption of the M14 rifle and 7.62mm NATO cartridge on May 1, 1957 would signal the end of the M1 Garand’s long reign as the standard U.S. service rifle. M1 Rifle production continued until May 17, 1957 when the last service grade M1 emerged from the Springfield Armory plant.

Original World War II configuration M1 rifles are quite uncommon, due to the Ordnance Corps rebuild and upgrade programs. The exclusive use of corrosive caliber .30 ammunition during World War II also resulted in the replacement of many of the rifle’s original 1940s dated barrels. An original configuration 1940s era M1 is able to bring quite a premium price in today’s M1 collectors market. This situation has resulted in a growing collector interest in the M1 rifles manufactured during the Korean War. Many original Korean era M1 rifles can be found in good to excellent condition, because most were actually manufactured after the Korean War had ended. Despite a production run during the 1950 to 1953 war era, most of the M1 rifles used during the war were refurbished weapons of World War II vintage.

Springfield Armory rifles manufactured during the 1950s era will have serial numbers beginning in approximately the 4,200,000 range. Like the World War II era Springfield rifles, the receivers were marked with the Springfield Armory name. The barrels and parts were marked SA and the barrels were also marked with a 1950’s date of manufacture. The stock cartouches on early manufacture rifles would be SA/JLG to designate the Army Inspector of Ordnance Colonel James L. Guion. After 1953, rifles of Springfield manufacture would have been fitted with a stock stamped with the Defense Eagle stamp enclosed inside 1/2-inch square box also known as the DOD stamp. Total production at the Springfield Armory from 1952 through 1956 was 661,747 rifles.

International Harvester M1 rifles had at least four separate varieties of receiver marking configurations, due to the subcontracting of some of the company’s receiver manufacture. Barrels found on International Harvester M1s are usually those of the Line Material Company marked with the letters LMR. Parts manufactured by or for International Harvester were stamped IHC. All stock cartouches were the Defense Eagle stamp enclosed inside 3/8-inch square box. International Harvester produced 337,623 rifles from 1953 until 1956.

Harrington and Richardson M1 rifle receivers were marked H&R Arms Co. Barrels and other parts were marked with the letters HRA, although there is evidence that during production some H&R M1 rifles were fitted with barrels supplied by the Lines Material Company (LMR). All H&R stocks were stamped with the Defense Eagle cartouche enclosed inside 1/2-inch square box. The company manufactured 428,600 M1 rifles from 1953 to 1956.

There are certainly enough variations of post-World War II M1 Garand receivers, parts and barrels to interest the purist collector, as well as today’s average shooter/collector.

M1 Garand rifles were at one time difficult for collectors to obtain resulting in the salvaging of many demilled receivers by welding remnant pieces back together. During the 1980 period many M1 rifles and other U.S. small arms were allowed to be re-imported back to the U.S. as many of these rifles had been given to friendly countries as military aid. Many of the re-imported rifles came back from Korea, their condition being anywhere from good to poor. One government import requirement that turned many collectors off was that the barrels had to be marked with the importer’s name and address. Sometimes this was tastefully done with small letters; others used much larger fonts that greatly distracted from the gun’s appearance. Another source for M1 Garand rifles has been the Civilian Marksmanship Program; more commonly known as the CMP. The CMP offers M1 rifles in various grades direct from U.S. Government stores. Both of the rifles available from these sources are commonly referred to as “mix-masters,” meaning that the rifles were assembled from parts from different manufacturers and eras. This is a common virtue among U.S. weapons that have been repaired or have undergone Ordnance rebuild programs. The CMP does however occasionally offer “collector grade” M1 rifles, although these generally sell out very quickly. Another source for collector grade M1 rifles is from M1 expert and author Scott Duff. Scott has written many articles and books on the M1 rifle and is highly regarded among the M1 collector community. He posts his rifle offerings monthly at http://www.scott-duff.com and they usually sell out very quickly.

by Bill Ball

When poorer military rifles are made, you’ll find the Italians made them! So remarked a friend as he closed the bolt on a Carcano M1938 infantry rifle used by Mussolini’s infantry. This somewhat biased opinion would undergo significant revision when his hands wrapped around the Italian .30 M1 Garand rifles produced by Beretta or Breda, fully the equal of US .30 M1 rifles produced by Springfield Armory and Winchester. Had my skeptical friend taken the opportunity to hold and fire one of the rarest of the M1 variants, Beretta’s “Type E” Garand, frowns would turn to smiles.

By 1945, millions of Garands filled soldiers’ hands, rifle racks and armories across the world. Surviving World War II soldiers on both ends of the .30 M1 Garand documented some of the M1’s life-impacting lessons. Axis soldiers learned the tactical disadvantage of trying to outshoot a reliable 8-shot self-loading rifle with a 5-round bolt-action rifle of Mauser or Arisaka origin. Shouldering the 10-pound .30 M1 Garand in every theater of operation, allied soldiers learned it was quite heavy. In the South Pacific and facing mass Banzai charges, U.S. Marines quickly decided the ability to fire more than eight .30-06 rounds without reloading was a good lesson learned. While the rifle designed by John Garand fired eight rounds quickly and consecutively, recharging a partially expended clip proved nearly impossibly under battle conditions, and when finally expended, the eight round en-bloc clip ejected with a great deal of noise.

Following successful Allied landings in 1943, Italy left the German/Italian/Japanese Axis and joined the Allies as a co-belligerent. In a series of interesting political turns in the subsequent postwar years, Italy joined the NATO alliance, received large shipments of .30 M1 parts and machinery from the United States, and began to manufacture Garands at privately owned factories (Beretta) and state owned facilities (Breda). United States armories and technicians provided continuing technical assistance as the Italians gained expertise on .30 M1 rifle production and sales. Ultimately, thousands of Italian and Danish soldiers cleaned, shouldered and fired Beretta and Breda built .30-06 Garands.

The World War II lessons learned, and NATO’s adoption of the shorter 7.62x51mm cartridge, accelerated efforts to replace the .30 M1 with new battle rifle designs. The 1950s and 1960s saw the emergence of the FN FAL and Heckler & Koch G3, M14 (United States) and Beretta BM59 (Italy).

A new cartridge (and new rifles chambering it) changes a nation’s military capabilities. Advocates for change promise better reliability, performance and standardization – almost certainly leading to combat successes and reduced costs in the future years. The opposition reminds everyone change costs a lot of money, and the current inventory and infrastructure constitutes a significant investment. Every military establishment has staff officers whose primary job is to insistently raise questions about risk: “What happens if we go to war right in the middle of the transition?”

To field new ammunition calibers and rifles, the spare parts, technical documentation, repair and range facilities, individual proficiency, and tactical ability to effectively employ a rifle/cartridge combination most likely change as well. Modifying an existing weapons system could be a better decision than introducing a new one.

With millions of .30 M1 Garands as potential modification candidates, relative new M1 tooling and expertise available in Italy, a common new cartridge under adoption by NATO nations, and a recognized need for rifles to correct some of the lessons learned in World War II, the time seemed right to upgrade the Garand.

Against this backdrop, Beretta developed a proposal to modify the millions of existing M1s in different nations’ arsenals. Beretta’s strategy accommodated the adoption of the 7.62x51mm cartridge through simple and relatively inexpensive changes to existing M1 rifles.

Looking like a .30 M1 Garand with a big box magazine and new muzzle brake, the modified firearm was nomenclatured as the “Type E” or “E model” Garand in Beretta’s BM59 series of military rifles. BM59, by the way, stands for “Beretta Modification 1959,” a family of Beretta-produced rifles based on the .30 M1 Garand, with many similarities to the US M14 and M14E2 series of battle rifles.

Beretta’s modifications did not reduce the M1’s combat loaded weight. A 20-round box magazine made the “Type E” Garand heavier, but greatly increased firepower without reloading. To fire 40 rounds from a loaded, unmodified M1 rifle, four reloading operations are needed. On the other hand, the “Type E” Garand user can fire 20 rounds without changing anything, and 40 rounds with just one magazine change. A new cartridge clip guide was fitted to the receiver so a partially expended 20-round steel magazine could be reloaded easily using stripper clips. While the typical “Type E” model was self-loading, the greater ammunition capacity proved useful as Beretta also offered the “Type E” Garand in a fully automatic version. The selector switch is discretely located on the left front of the receiver.

This capability, combined with recoil of the 7.62x51mm cartridge raised controllability questions. To address these concerns, Beretta workmen fitted new four-groove, right-hand rifled barrels chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, and added a unique muzzle brake, replacing the M1’s gas cylinder lock. Asymmetrical spacing and size of holes on the muzzle break brought the muzzle down and right, offsetting the normal muzzle rise in fully-auto fire. Compensating for a right-handed barrel twist, the muzzle brake directs gas flow with 24 ports on the right side; but only eight on the left side. From steel butt plate through the wooden front handguard to the muzzle, everything else on the “Type E” Garand retained the John C. Garand’s original design. The extra length of the muzzle brake increased the overall rifle length by over 1.5 inches to almost 45 inches.

Beretta did not produce a Garand magazine for .30-06 length cartridges – all of “Type E” Garands were chambered for the 7.62x51mm round. Incidentally, “Beretta “Type E” Garand and BM59 magazines are constructed from blued steel with an aluminum follower, and interchangeable between rifles. Magazines for US M14 rifles appear similar but will not interchange due to size and mounting differences.

Internet-based chat boards and .30 M1 Garand forums occasionally run messages from individuals seeking to wean the M1 away from the 8-round en bloc clip in favor of a large-capacity box magazine. Since the conversion to a box magazine involves machining the hardened M1 bolt and receiver, and subsequent re-heat treating, most qualified advisors do not recommend this conversion. However, when a major arms manufacturer like Beretta (with original production machinery, tons of spare parts, the Val Trompia production facilities, a heritage of nearly 500 years of gun making expertise, and the support of US armories and technicians) undertakes these modifications, then no questions about the quality, reliability and safety need be raised.

Questions raised by potential customers in various NATO and other nations turned instead to issues of cost, national pride, and desire for a different rifle than a modified M1. In Small Arms Today, author Edward Ezell reported that Argentina converted US-supplied M1s to use the 20-round box magazine. Argentina also purchased Beretta-produced BM59 rifles taking an identical magazine, so the possibility exists Beretta modified the Argentinean M1s into a “Type E” configuration. Additional research did not identify other national users of “Type E” Garands, suggesting Beretta’s “Type E” proposal, while technically sound, did not achieve wide scale acceptance. Ultimately, the FN FAL and the Heckler & Koch G3 rifles, along with the US M14 rifle, predominated among 7.62x51mm battle rifles, prior to the widespread acceptance of the 5.56x45mm cartridge in the late 1960s.

Overall, the “Type E” Garand conceived by Beretta retained many strengths of the underlying M1 design, but the modifications did not offer sufficient performance and cost advantages to edge out more modern, competitive offerings. Today, the only known source for “Type E” Garands is Reese Surplus in Geneseo, Illinois. Owner Bob Reese purchased the remaining “Type E” parts and much of the Beretta tooling in the 1980s. Today, Bob reports a few of the self-loading “Type E” rifles remain unsold.

In late February of 1942, a prototype of the Savage redesigned Thompson Submachine Gun was ready to be submitted to the Ordnance Department for testing and approval. The Savage Corporation had just conducted their own 10,000 round endurance test, which the new weapon successfully passed. The Savage Corporation told Auto-Ordnance that they were submitting the redesigned Thompson “without any claims for compensation, reimbursement, royalty or patent interest”. The new Thompson was sent to Aberdeen Proving Ground for testing and evaluation. The Aberdeen trials of the new Thompson were rather brief and concluded on 21 March 1942. The Aberdeen report stated that “The overall consideration of the mechanical functioning leads to the judgement that the gun as a mechanism is equivalent or superior to the M1928A1”. After a few government recommended alterations to the prototype were made, the new Thompson was recommended for adoption as Submachine Gun, Caliber .45 M1, at an Ordnance Committee meeting held on 24 March 1942. At the same meeting it was recommended that the 1928A1 be reclassified as Limited Standard. On 25 April 1942, the Ordnance Committee approved the recommendation for adoption of the M1 Thompson.

The Stevens Company’s chief designer Nicholas Brewer, and Savage engineer John Pearce were credited with designing the new Thompson. The M1 model had no provisions to use the drum style magazines. It used the same box style magazine as the 1928A1 model. Savage had estimated the cost of producing an M1 model to be $4.36 for material and $6.94 for labor with 175% in overhead. The total cost for Savage to manufacture an M1 would be $23.44. On 24 February 1942, Savage agreed to a contract to manufacture the M1 model for Auto-Ordnance at a cost of $36.37 per unit, providing Savage with a profit of $12.93 per gun. Auto-Ordnance in turn charged the U.S. Government $43.00 for an M1 model. The price varied slightly from contract to contract.

One of the major design differences between the M1 Thompson and the earlier 1928A1 model was that the M1 used a straight blowback design, eliminating the controversial bronze “H” lock. This allowed the receiver to be redesigned for easier manufacture. The bolt assembly was a very simple one-piece block of steel. The inside of the M1 upper receiver simply had a rectangular channel milled into it to accommodate the bolt. The internal felt oiler of the earlier 1928 model was considered unnecessary and thus eliminated in the M1 design. The cocking handle and slot were moved from the top of the receiver to the right side. An enlarged takedown notch was cut in the slot to allow the handle to be easily removed for disassembly (after the receiver has been separated from the frame). Since the drum style magazines had proven unsuitable for military use, the M1 series receivers were not designed to utilize them. The lateral grooves on the sides of the magazine well for accommodating the drum magazine were eliminated.

Like the 1928 and 1928A1, the early M1 Thompson used a separate firing pin and spring, that was the same as the ones used in the earlier models. A separate hammer was also used but the hammers for the M1 were configured differently than that of the 1928 and 1928A1 models. The 1928 series hammers were a triangular configuration, while the M1 hammers were crescent shaped.

Both the recoil spring pilot rod, and the buffer were redesigned for the M1 series Thompson receivers. The pilot rod for the recoil spring was simplified for easier manufacture, and was held in place by the new style buffer. The M1 buffer assembly consisted of a fibre plate secured between two metal plates. The buffer was a substantial improvement over the simple fibre disc used in the 1928 series Thompsons. The M1 pilot rod and buffer also made disassembly and assembly of the weapon much easier, and lessened the possibility of damaging the recoil spring in the process. The pilot rod could be removed and installed through the rear of the receiver once the buffer was removed.

The M1 featured a smooth, unfinned barrel that was similar to the one fitted to the late 1928A1 models, but the muzzle end was not threaded for fitting a compensator. A simple blade style milled sight was fitted and pinned to the muzzle in place of the compensator.

Early M1’s were assembled using the same uncheckered “paddle” style rocker and safety levers that were used on the U.S. 1928A1 model. The magazine latches on many M1 and M1A1 weapons were the same style as the 1928 and 1928A1 type that had a raised area for securing a drum magazine. Since the M1 series would not accommodate a drum style magazine, the magazine latch was later redesigned, and the raised area on the latch was eliminated.

The pistol grip was reconfigured to fit the redesigned M1 trigger frame, and the stock was redesigned as it was now semi-permanently attached directly to the frame with screws. The contour of the stock also differed from the earlier 1928 and 1928A1 design. The stock’s buttplate was also simplified, but retained a spring-loaded trap door for storage of a larger cylindrical oil bottle. The early M1 stock came from the factory without the reinforcing cross bolt installed. The cross bolts were not included until mid 1943 on the M1A1, although most M1 models had their stocks upgraded to include the cross bolt. The standard military horizontal style foregrip was installed on all M1s.

One of the distinctive features of both the M1 and M1A1 guns were their breech bolts, that had been redesigned to have two sear notches machined into them, so that the weapon’s safety could be applied when the bolt was forward on an empty chamber. The 1928 and 1928A1 bolts had only one notch machined into it, and the safety could not be applied when the bolt was closed. Several accidents had been reported with earlier 1928 and 1928A1 models when the weapon was carried with a loaded box style magazine and the bolt closed on an empty chamber. If the weapon was accidentally dropped on its butt, inertia would allow the bolt to travel rearward far enough to pick up a round from the magazine, but often not far enough to engage the sear (that would have held the bolt rearward). The bolt would begin to move forward and chamber the round. The result was usually an accidental discharge of the weapon.

Note; some very early M1 Thompson bolts were manufactured with only one sear notch. An Ordnance Department directive ordered that all one-notch bolts be deemed obsolete, and be replaced with the two-notch bolts as they became available.

While in July of 1942, Savage had turned out 48,000 M1 guns, Auto-Ordnance was struggling to meet its scheduled production mark. The assembly line conversion from the 1928A1 model to the M1 in July through October of 1942, caused serious production setbacks at the Auto-Ordnance plant in Bridgeport. Contributing to the production delays were problems in deliveries of materials, equipment and tooling authorized by the government for M1 production.

After the M1 production finally commenced at the Bridgeport plant, more problems were encountered. The Springfield Ordnance District refused to accept any of the Auto-Ordnance manufactured M1’s because their full-auto cyclic rate exceeded the 860 rounds per minute Ordnance Department specification. Officials from Washington, the District Ordnance office along with Auto-Ordnance engineers conducted studies and tests, all failing to provide a correction for the condition. Finally on 9 December 1942, official notice from the Ordnance Department’s office in Washington gave the district permission to waive the rate of fire requirement and accept the Bridgeport M1 guns. In the interim, identical M1 Thompsons being produced at Savage were being accepted in large quantities by the Rochester Ordnance District without any problems.

The rear sight that was first installed on the M1 was the same simple unprotected “L” style that was also installed on late manufacture 1928A1s. This design proved to have several flaws and was replaced by a similar sight, but with protective side ears added. On 29 June 1942, a letter was sent from Auto-Ordnance to Savage requesting a few changes in a contract originally dated 24 February 1942. One of the changes proposed was to the rear sight. Savage agreed to the changes as long as they conformed to Auto-Ordnance drawings 42-53 for the front sight and A42-86 (protected rear sight). Auto-Ordnance accepted the proposed supplement to the original contract on 17 July 1942. The new sight first appeared on the Savage Arms M1 Thompson in the high 137,000 serial number range. All of the Subsequent M1 and M1A1 models were fitted with new “protected” style sight. The drawing number for the new sight was B147717.

A few of the M1 side-protected style “L” sights have been noted on 1928A1 models depicted in Army manuals. Two such weapons were also documented in the author’s database. The protected rear sight was introduced after the 1928A1 production run had concluded. A protected type of “L” sight fitted to a 1928 model was most likely the result of the weapon going through an Ordnance Department rebuild program.

While Lyman manufactured most of the “L” style sights, Savage, Auto-Ordnance and the H.L. Judd Company manufactured the improved model with side protectors. Manufacturer’s markings noted on the second design sights are either AOC or J, but the majority of them appear to be unmarked. The rebuild guidelines of the Ordnance Department required that all rear sights without protective side ears would be replaced with rear sight drawing number B147717.

There were approximately 285,480 M1s manufactured by Savage Arms and Auto-Ordnance, Bridgeport. Savage Arms manufactured the vast majority of the early M1 model.

This article was excerpted in part from the book “American Thunder, the Military Thompson Submachine guns”. The book is now available from Moose Lake Publishing 207-683-2959

With increased availability of surplus military M1 rifles through the Civilian Marksmanship Program and other sources, numerous civilian shooting clubs all over America regularly conduct their own JOHN C. GARAND MATCHES as a preliminary to the annual National Matches at Camp Perry, Ohio. Fired with ordinary ball ammunition at 200 yards in a variety of positions using unmodified American service rifles like the M1 Garand, the ’03 Springfield and even the M1 Carbine, this competition is fun and rewarding for novices and expert riflemen alike.

No formal marksmanship training is required of shooters, who are also not restricted by age, sex, or skill level. Most matches, while well supervised and controlled for safety and integrity of scoring, are rather relaxed affairs. Comfortable civilian attire and all sorts of amenities such as powerful spotting scopes, luxuriously thick ground pads, special shooting jackets, sun umbrellas, and coolers full of refreshing soft drinks are the order of the day.

While such niceties certainly make the usual Garand Match pleasurable, this just doesn’t have the right flavor for certain types of shooters. These slightly curmudgeonly competitors – some perhaps harking back to their young adulthood in service of Uncle Sam – seek to re-create those days of yore when the science and art of riflery was taught and mastered for the most serious of reasons.

Old Hickory Association

One such group of borderline grouches can be found in the North Carolina based Old Hickory Association. These guys make preparation for both local and national level Garand Matches a particularly colorful and meaningful experience by conducting preliminary training and range firing just like American soldiers did in WWII.

“When you go out to the range in the uniform of a WWII GI, with the same kind of rifle and qualifying the way they did, it can’t help but make you appreciate what all these guys went through to prepare for combat.” Paul Gill, Old Hickory Association

The group’s current president, Don Shupe, is quick to point out OHA’s official purpose. “We are historians, collectors, military vehicle enthusiasts, and reenactors dedicated to keeping the memory of the soldiers of the 30th Infantry Division alive,” he said. This is done, Shupe added, through activities like research, study, numerous public displays and occasional historical re-creation.

This last category is usually associated with groups of uniformed historical military enthusiasts who get together for mock combat using blank ammunition. Perhaps the best known manifestation of this phenomenon can be found all over America in various Civil War commemorative battles, as well as live fire competitive shooting called “skirmishes.”

According to Shupe, the same sort of thing applies to activities of Old Hickory members except that their chosen time period is 1940 to 1945 when America mobilized for WWII. Not coincidentally, given the focus of this feature article, this is also the heyday of the incomparable M1 Garand Rifle, rightly called by famous General George Patton, “The greatest battle implement ever devised.”

The Army Way…

Recently, members and invited guests gathered at historic Camp Butner, located off Interstate 85 about twenty miles north of Durham, for a weekend of basic training in rifle marksmanship and other military subjects. Built in 1943, the camp is still an active training base under command of the North Carolina National Guard and its facilities are regularly utilized by various military, law enforcement and other organizations.

Of particular interest to the OHA membership is Butner’s classic 1000 yard Known Distance Range, essentially unchanged since when it was first constructed about 57 years ago! Several civilian high power matches are held there each year as regularly noted in various NRA bulletins.

The association, currently around fifty members strong, enjoys a close relationship with the North Carolina National Guard, many of whom still wear the 30th’s distinctive red and blue oval patch. As such, Shupe says, “We support the Guard with historical displays of artifacts, vehicles and authentically uniformed personnel, and they return the favor by allowing us to use their facilities for reenactments and range firing.”

Small Arms Review was invited to the club’s spring rifle weekend to both participate in and do a feature article on this unique event. The author, who learned to shoot the M1 as a seventeen year old recruit in the Virginia Army National Guard way back in 1964, brought along his recently acquired CMP Garand for its first firing since coming out of cosmoline (the rifle, not the author) late last year.

We caught up with Shupe and about fifteen other uniformed WWII reenactors on Friday evening as they were moving gear and rifles into a no-frills bivouac area not far from Camp Butner’s headquarters. Olive drab canvas cots covered with brown GI wool blankets soon sprang up in orderly rows inside the small cinderblock buildings. As darkness fell gasoline lanterns provided light, their persistent hiss serving as background noise to lively conversation mixed with 1940’s swing music from a tape recorder hidden inside a vintage radio. You didn’t even need to close your eyes to imagine that this could actually be a typical evening during WWII.

Rise and Shine

First formation on Saturday morning was at a leisurely 0900 (that’s 9am for you civilians), allowing plenty of time for shaving and chow. This was an opportunity for a number of traditional military activities including inspection of uniforms and weapons, an orientation on the day’s planned activities, and some much-needed practice in close order drill. Interestingly, although nearly half of the participants had never served in the military, it takes much coaching by unit top sergeant Mark “Sparky” Burfete before the squad could do a passable job.

Next on the agenda was an hour-long class in fundamentals of rifle marksmanship conducted by Jim Higgins, in real life a pension plan administrator. Higgins is an accomplished competitive high power rifle shooter and, along with demonstrations by his friend Mike Owens, he led the group through such basics as sling adjustment as well as standard Army positions for prone, sitting, kneeling and standing. This was followed by a considerable amount of time for individuals to practice their shooting positions, with the benefit of corrections and suggestions from the instructor team and other old hands.

The final phase of the morning’s refresher course was a classic military style chalkboard lecture (though a modern dry erase board was standing in for the traditional blackboard) on sight alignment and steady hold factors of breathing, aiming and squeezing off each shot. The windage and elevation rule as it applies to multiples of 100 yards and “click” adjustment of the M1’s excellent rear sight was also explained in depth.

Forward March!

Although the range was located more than a mile away, these guys didn’t climb into their family cars for a comfortable ride over. Instead, the command was given for “Right Shoulder Arms” and the column of reenactors moved out at a brisk pace accompanied by vintage GI cadence calls. Meanwhile, Shupe and others had loaded some necessary gear into his WWII US Army weapons carrier truck (sort of like a 1940’s version of the HUMM-VEE) and gone ahead to begin setting up for the day’s shooting. The author bummed a ride on a jeep, professing he had too much heavy camera equipment to lug it over on foot. Yeah, right….

First stop for all was the target pits, a long wide ditch holding a reinforced concrete bunker and a wall safely fronted with a thick mound of earth to stop incoming bullets. There, a long column of large rectangular frames awaited installation of the large paper bullseye targets. About the only change to have been applied to this classic target pit area since WWII is a modification to the old manually lifted frames. Now, these are motorized and can be controlled either by individual scorers or in unison from a central panel.

The course of fire used by the group is a slightly modified version of the John C. Garand Match, Course B (Table 7 of 2001 CMP Competition Rules), so the troops busied themselves with staple guns to attach the first set of regulation “Target, Rifle Competition SR, 200 Yards” to thick cardboard backings on sturdy wooden frames. This is the military equivalent of the NRA 200 yard SR target as specified under CMP rules.

Even old timers may agree that the staple gun is a welcome change from buckets of sloppy and stinking wheat paste originally used. These frames, in turn, were raised into position on the metal holders and lift motors were checked for proper function. Five firing points were set up and the group split into shooters and scorers for the first round of qualification.

Steel ammo boxes containing a supply of pasters and spotters were handed out at each target position. Pasters are rolls of rectangular white or black stickers used to cover previous bullet holes after recording the hit. Another modern innovation is the “peel and stick” paster – no need to swipe your tongue over a nasty tasting glue backing made from dead mules. Spotters are various sizes of thick cardboard discs that are black on one side and white on the other, with a pointed spindle in the middle. These are used to mark the location of each hit during zeroing so as to make this impact point clearly visible to shooters way back on the firing line.

When everything was in order, Jim Higgins gathered the whole group around a target to explain how spotting and scoring is done. Immediate feedback to shooters is given after each zeroing or practice shot by dropping the target frame and marking the location and value of each hit. Depending on whether the hit is in the white or black on the target, the appropriate side of the spotter is stuck into place so as to contrast with the background.

Also, a bright orange spotter disc is stuck into a standard place on the perimeter of the target indicating the value of the hit. When the target is raised again, the location and value of the hit can be easily seen from the firing line without the need for binoculars or spotting scopes. Sight adjustments are made by the shooter when the target is dropped for pasting, then the frames are raised again for the next shot. At the end of a multi-shot rapid fire stage, all hits are indicated at one time by placing smaller spotters in each hole. Scoring is done in the pits by each target puller and recorded on the scorecard seen in the accompanying illustration.

This procedure is simpler than the old way that is spelled out in the 1943 version of Army Field Manual 23-5, the “bible” of M1 shooting. Gone is the need for a confusing set of different paddles to indicate hits and their values and the embarrassing waving of the red “Maggie’s drawers” flag when missing entirely.

A nice touch of authenticity was also provided in the pits by installing a functioning WWII model EE-8 field telephone. This battery-operated phone was connected to another on the 200 yard firing line by genuine two strand GI “commo wire, rolled out from a big reel mounted in the back of Shupe’s weapons carrier. A hand-cranked ringer on the side of the phone signals the other end to pick up the handset for necessary consultation.

“Ready On The Firing Line”

The first five shooters gathered up their gear and marched uprange to the 200 yard line, taking note of the furiously snapping red flags at the left and right range limits. Wind velocity was fierce at this time of the morning and alternated from coming directly cross range at the 9 o’clock direction to a slightly less objectionable 7 o’clock. This would definitely give them problems with bullet drift so some calculated sight adjustments would be in order.

Each individual supplied his own ammunition and these boxes, previously loaded onto the weapons carrier, were retrieved and taken to numbered firing points on the line. Following last minute function checks and spot lubrication, a cleaning rod was run through every rifle barrel as a final safety check to ensure no obstructions were present.

After another brief review of rules and procedures by Higgins, individual shooters went about the process of preparing for zeroing. Rifles, ammo and miscellaneous gear were laid out on tent shelter half sections or ponchos. Initial sight adjustments were made and recorded and loop slings were snugged up per Army regulations. It was time to start shooting.

As previously mentioned, the OHA has slightly modified the Course B Match for this instructional firing. First, keeping in mind that this is a training exercise and not a sanctioned match, each shooter can fire up to ten rounds to obtain or confirm a proper zero – five more rounds than Course B rules. This very important preliminary is usually limited to ten minutes, but more time can be taken if individual shooters are having problems. Then, the first record stage, Slow Prone, is fired with twenty rounds in twenty minutes. This is five minutes less than standard because zeroing/practices shots have already been taken care of.

Seventy seconds for ten rounds of rapid fire from standing to prone is the second stage, starting with two rounds locked and loaded then requiring a quick reload with a fresh eight round clip. Third stage is also ten shots rapid fire in sixty seconds. CMP rules have this done from standing to sitting, but OHA training weekend shooters can substitute the kneeling position if desired. Finally, standing position slow fire gives ten minutes to get off ten shots; the same under both sets of rules.

Higgins points out that these small departures are considered by OHA to be a good balance between preparation for sanctioned matches under strict Course A or B rules, and the group’s desire to conduct effective marksmanship training. “The basic structure of the Garand Match is maintained,” he says,” but the way it’s done at this event gives us flexibility along with some real WWII flavor.”

This observation is echoed by member Francis “FJ” Hale, both a High Power competition and Three Gun Tactical Match shooter. “Those old Army positions and techniques from WWII adapt very well to modern competitive shooting,” Hale says, “you don’t need to change them to be good.”

After completion of the course of fire, the shooters policed up brass, secured all their gear, and marched off to swap positions with target pullers in the pits, giving their buddies a turn topside. This was also a time for some good-natured ribbing as shooters compared their scores and contemplated the settlement of friendly wagers.

First My Rifle, Then Me…

The Old Hickory shooters marched back to camp where they found that the day’s measure of authentic military activities was not over yet. Cleaning gear was broken out and rifles stripped, scrubbed and oiled on handy concrete benches. Then, as they awaited arrival of their “hobo pack” suppers (burgers, taters and carrots baked in foil) a series of short lectures were given on the history of the 30th Division in WWII. Are we having fun yet?

Oh, by the way, the author’s M1 rifle marksmanship skills have decidedly deteriorated after decades of neglect. While not revealing the full extent of this ruination, suffice to say much practice will be needed before he enters a sanctioned Garand Match. On a more positive note, his beautiful old Springfield-made M1, born in March of 1944 and still sporting the WWII style locking bar rear sight, performed flawlessly “right out of the box” as received from the CMP.

Find Out More

* Although the WWII M1 Rifle Marksmanship training weekend is a recent development, the OHA has conducted an official CMP-sanctioned John C. Garand Match each October since 1995. Interested shooters or potential recruits should contact the Old Hickory Association c/o Don Shupe, 414 Cary Pines Dr., Cary, NC 27513

* Camp Butner Training Site, North Carolina National Guard at www.ncguard.com/butner/butner/oldhickoryassociation.html

* For information on M1 rifle sales and high power competition shooting contact the Civilian Marksmanship Program, PO Box 576, Port Clinton, OH 43452 or www.odcmp.com

About the Author

Robert Bruce, An SAR “Usual Suspect,” is an internationally published writer and photographer who specializes in modern military small arms subjects for magazines and books. He is perhaps best known as compiler and publisher of The M1 does MY talking!, a pictorial history of the incomparable Garand rifle.

Even the casual student of military weaponry should be greatly impressed by the sheer magnitude of documentary evidence to the unsurpassed combat efficiency of the Garand rifle in WWII. Alone among combatants on both sides of history’s most monumental war, America’s infantrymen carried as standard issue a most extraordinary semiautomatic rifle. Its accuracy, reliability, and high volume of effective fire often gave our soldiers and marines the decisive edge against Hirohito’s forces from the frozen misery of the Aleutians through steaming South Pacific jungles, and into Japan herself. On the other side of the world, from blowing sands of North Africa through Hitler’s “Fortress Europe,” the M1 steadily and unfailingly gained the respect and admiration of friend and foe alike.

Between the World Wars

Although miserly appropriations stifled American small arms development in the years of peace following the Great War, a quiet and modest mechanical genius named John C. Garand was steadily working on a semiautomatic rifle at the Army’s historic Springfield Armory. When the smoke of testing finally cleared, Garand’s gas operated, clip fed rifle was judged superior to all comers and officially adopted in 1936 as the “US Semiautomatic Rifle, Caliber .30 M1.”

A glowing account of the superiority of the new M1 rifle over the old M1903 was published in the Sep-Oct 1938 issue of the influential magazine INFANTRY JOURNAL. The following excerpt captures the flavor of the feature:

“The new weapon has received a thorough workout. Results indicate that men armed with it not only fire much more rapidly than with the 1903 rifle, but more accurately and with less fatigue, and that they can maintain accuracy during a far longer period. The tests have shown, too, that the new weapon is staunch mechanically, and that malfunctions can be expected to be few.

The M1’s semiautomatic action deserves the credit for the significantly higher rate of accurate fire with less fatigue than that of the bolt-action Springfield. With a bolt-action rifle, each aimed shot must be followed by a brief period where the infantryman pulls and pushes the bolt by hand to extract the empty then feed and lock a fresh cartridge. He must also resume a steady shooting position and reacquire the target in his sights. Finally, all of the recoil forces of the powerful .30 caliber service cartridge are pounded directly into his shoulder.

This isn’t such a big deal when the shooting is being done on the range and the soldiers aren’t overly tired. However, in combat, when the exhausted infantryman is likely to be presented with multiple targets, a semiautomatic rifle offers distinct advantages.

First, the gas operating system of the M1 absorbs about twenty percent of the recoil forces. Less “kick” means less flinching and greater accuracy. Then, automatic cycling of the bolt with each shot allows the rifleman to keep his target in sight at all times. This gives him the tremendous advantage of being able to squeeze off an immediate second or third shot if the first one doesn’t do the job. All of this contributes not only to higher volume of firepower, but also higher volume with higher accuracy. In a timed combat style test recounted in the previously cited article, troops armed with the M1903 were able to fire fewer rounds and scored less than half the hits that a comparable group got with the new M1.”

World War Two

When America entered the war against the Axis Powers in December, 1941, there were less than 100,000 M1 rifles in service — all with the US Army. But production accelerated steadily and by January 1944, some 4,400 were leaving Springfield and Winchester each day! The Marines, stubbornly hanging on to their beloved M1903 rifles, finally got the message during the battle for Guadalcanal in late 1942. Fighting side-by-side with soldiers, Leathernecks clearly saw how the firepower, accuracy and reliability of the Garand put their old bolt-action rifles to shame. This was soon corrected and the M1 distinguished itself in Corps service throughout the rest of the Pacific war.

Hip Pocket Artillery

One of the best aspects of the Garand rifle is its adaptability to a variety of tactical situations. Along with its predecessor, it could fire a full range of specialized ammunition including standard ball, tracer, armor piercing and incendiary cartridges. It was also well suited to bayonet fighting and sturdy and strong enough for launching heavy grenades.

It was this capability for firing grenades that really gave the American infantry squad a power punch. The M7 launcher, a spigot style device that fitted the end of the muzzle and secured to the bayonet lug, was standardized in March 1943. This allowed the M1 to fire all of the existing signal and offensive grenades previously used only by the M1903. Now, any riflemen in the squad could be immediately pressed into duty in the nasty job of blasting the Japanese out of their bunkers and caves with high explosive and fragmentation grenades.

Sniper Rifle

The Emperor’s army extensively employed snipers to harass and impede American forces both in the assault and in the relative safety of camps and bases during the consolidation phase of island-hopping. Most of these weren’t the type of highly trained marksmen with specially accurized rifles that we usually associate with the term “sniper.” Rather, they were most often ordinary soldiers with standard bolt-action Arisaka rifles, hiding in trees in the thick jungle foliage or in well-camouflaged one-man dugouts nicknamed “spider holes.”

But on the GI side, another handy use for the M1 was as a precision sniper rifle, fitted with an optical sight, flash hider and leather cheek pad. The first model fielded was designated M1C, with a special offset mount for the scope fabricated so that clips of cartridges could still be loaded through the top.

A semiauto sniper rifle offers a couple of theoretical advantages over its bolt action counterpart. First, the bolt does not need to by cycled by hand so there is less movement that may give away the sniper’s position. Then, if the first shot doesn’t do the job, a second is immediately available. Although the M1C and subsequent M1D sniper versions were said to be acceptably accurate, it is generally conceded that they never were able to equal the precision of the M1903 in its own sniper configuration.

Gimmicks

The urge to tinker with their weapons in order to “improve” them is a universal trait of soldiers. Despite the near-perfection of the M1, there were calls during WWII for a shorter and lighter version (the M1 Carbine had proven woefully inadequate in penetration and stopping power).

This resulted in the M1E5 with its 18 in. barrel and folding pantograph style buttstock. Despite blinding muzzle flash and much heavier recoil, it was intended for issue to paratroopers operating in the pacific. The war ended before it could be put into production. It is the inspiration for the so-called “Tanker Garand.” Several thousand of these postwar counterfeits were manufactured from surplus parts in the 1960’s.

Copies

In Japan near the end of the war, some captured Garands were modified to fire the 7.7mm rifle cartridge and issued to naval infantry troops. The Type 5, a last-ditch copy of the M1, also used the Type 99 7.7mm cartridge. Instead of the characteristic 8 round “en bloc” clip, this rifle loaded from two 5 round stripper clips through the top.

Despite being relatively heavy and a bit long and awkward for moving through jungle growth, the M1 made up for all this with legendary reliability and undeniable effectiveness. In the rain and mud of Guadalcanal, the volcanic ash of Iwo Jima, and the caves and bunkers of Okinawa, John Garand’s “clip-fed, gas-operated, air-cooled, semiautomatic shoulder weapon” arguably proved the most valuable tool carried by any infantryman in WWII.

Its powerful .30-06 cartridge would plow right through thick vegetation with impressive terminal effects against enemy soldiers, and its capability to launch grenades greatly extended the range and punch of the Army and Marine rifle squad.

Primary Reference Sources: Hatcher’s Book of the Garand, MG Julian Hatcher, NRA Books, 1948 (Reprinted by Gun Room Press) and US Army Field Manual 23-5.