BR25191 U.S. Infantryman Kneeling Firing M1 Garand, 1943-45

Approximately 5.4 million M1 Garands were made during World War II, and it was the first standard-issue semiautomatic rifle in U.S. service. Its gas-operated, closed rotating bolt allowed the Garand to fire at a rate of 40–50 rounds per minute at a muzzle velocity of 2,800 ft/s. It performed well – especially when compared to the slower-firing bolt-action rifle typically used by the enemy. The M1 was issued to every branch of the U.S. military. General Eisenhower praised the Garand, when he said it was the weapon that won the war while General Patton emphatically proclaimed the rifle as, “the greatest battle implement ever devised.”