M1 Garand

 

 

Caliber 30-06

Weight 9.5 pounds

About 5.5 million produced

Effective 500 yards

Action gas operated

 

M1 Garand is a semi-automatic rifle. It was the first semi-automatic rifle to be issued on a large scale to the troops. It replaced the spring filled rifle. The M1 Garand would stay the main rife until 1953. It was proclaimed the main rifle in 1936. John Garand, a Canadian engineer, designed the rifle and was selected to start producing the rifle. He was able to put a bayonet on the rifle. The M1 Garand had a 8 round clip feed from the top. One drawback of it was when you shot the 8th round it made a loud ping which let you know, as well as the enemy, if close enough, that you needed to reload. It could be deadly. Some GI's fooled the enemy with the ping by making it sound like he was out.

Manufactures of the M-1 Springfield armory, Winchester, repeating arms company, Harrington & Richardson co, international harvester, berretta. (note not some produce M-1 after the war)

Muzzle velocity 2800 feet per second

M1 Carbine

 

Caliber .30 carbine round

Weight 5.2 pounds

Action Gas operated

Muzzle velocity 1970 ft/s

Used 1942-1960’s

Over 6.25milloin made over decades for military

 

The M1 carbine is a semiautomatic rifle. It was a lot lighter, smaller and compact then the M1 Grand. The carbine was primarily made as a rifle to be used in the motor pool and etcetera. The M1 Carbine in World War II had a folding stock version for the paratrooper. The M1 Carbine had a smaller caliber then the M1 Grand and in some cases it didn’t put down the enemy in one or two shots. But it was still liked by most the men that used it. It was issued to the troops in mid 1942. It was easier to carry then the M1Carbine. It had less recoil then the M1 Grand and new troops liked it when it was first shot. It saw service for about every role in the army to the GI fighting to the motor pool to the paratrooper and to the tank. Due to the light weight and compact of the rifle.

Magazine campsites 30 round stick magazine

Thompson (M1A1)

 

Caliber .45 ACP

Weight 10.8 pounds

Magazine capacity stick 20 to 30 rounds,

drums 50 or 100 rounds

Action blow back

Used by US military 1938 to 1971

 

The Thompson is submachine gun, what makes it a submachine gun is that it uses hand gun rounds. It used .45 rounds of the 1911 hand gun. This gun was made famous by the gangster era. During that time it would get several nick names. The designer of the Thompson was John H Thompson. He designed a model for World War I but it never saw combat. So when the second World War broke out a request for submachine guns came from France. France needed arms to defend the country. Nearly 4000 Thompson guns were sent as part of the lend lease. After seeing action in France they saw its capability and adopted the gun and put it in service. It was ordered and a new design was made to make it more economical. The Thompson was used in both theaters in the war.

 

Colt 45 (1911 Hand Gun)

 

Cartridge .45ACP

Action short recoil

Muzzle velocity 800 Feet per second

7 round magazine

Weight 3 pounds

 

The M1911 (Colt .45) was adopted by the US military in 1911. the designer of the pistol is John M Browning. It was the standard fire arm of the US military until 1985. Even today special forces use the M1911 with modifications to it. The GI loved his side arm and never doubted the guns stopping power. Its .45 slug could stop a person. About 3 million M1911 were produce by the US military. Throughout its service (about 2 milloin were produced for WWII). The M1911 is an icon gun of the US and it served in both World Wars, Korean and Vietnam wars. It is a legendary gun and was liked by all services of US forces.

B.A.R

 

Action gas operated

Muzzle velocity 2640feet per second

20 round magazines

18 pounds empty 20 pounds loaded

Designer John M Browning

 

The Browning Automatic rifle or BAR for short used the same caliber as the M1 Grand. The BAR was used as a light machine gun when it was first introduced to the US military. By second World War the BAR needed some changes. In the early part of the war the type of BAR was M1918M1 but by 1942 the BAR had some changes. The M1918M2 had a bipod in it to make it able to carry. The GI in the second world war discarded these two thing to make it lighter since it was one of heaviest guns carried by the GI into combat. It's caliber could stop the enemy in it tracks.

 

Bazooka

 

 

The Bazooka is an anti tank weapon for the infantry. The Bazooka is a nickname for the M1A1 Rocket launcher. Basically it shot rockets out of a metal tube. It was such a good idea that the German army copied the Bazooka by making its own version the Panzershreck. The rocket's charge is shaped to punch through tank armor. It took two men to operate the weapon. It took a gunner and someone to reload. It was used for taking out MG42 nests to tanks.

 

M3 “Grease Gun”

 

Caliber .45ACP

Action Blowback, open bolt

Muzzle velocity 930 feet per second

Weighs about 8 pounds

Rate of fire 350 to 450 rounds a min

Magazine campsites 30 round stick magazine

 

The M3 is a sub-machine gun that was supposed to replace the Thompson. It was first issued to men in 1942 and it used the same caliber as the Thompson. The M3 was 3 pounds lighter then the Thompson and was mostly metal. It was easier to produce then the Thompson. The person who designed it was G. Hyde. The M3's nick name is the Grease Gun because it looks like the tool. About 640,000 were made throughout it's service in military.