U.S. M1 Rifle
The M1 “Garand” Rifle. The M1 Garand rifle was the best semi
auto rifle of World War II. It
completely outclassed the rifles of the Axis. The magnificent performance of
the M1 rifle on the battlefield must have pleasingly surprised the rifle’s
enthusiastic supporters. It fulfilled
every expectation of the Army and Marine Corps.
Powerful, accurate, robust, durable, and was available in vast
quantities. The M1 would soldier on through Korea and into the early phases of
Vietnam. In the hands of the National
Guard, The M1 served until the early 1970s. A few M1D sniper rifles even
deployed to Desert Storm in 1991. As a match rifle, the M1 ruled the ranges
until the middle 1990s.
The positive attributes which made the M1 successful,
hindered the U.S. Military’s understanding of the assault rifle. The U.S. Military thought the answer in
future rifle development would follow the path of the successful M1, which
would lead to an improved M1 style rifle with a new more efficient 30 caliber
cartridge, familiar ergonomics, and with the addition of a 20 round magazine
and an improved gas system.
German STG 44
The first assault rifles. The U.S. Army faced a true assault
rifle in battle during 1944-45 in Europe. The German STG 44 was a truly
revolutionary weapon. It fired the first true intermediate cartridge the 7.92 x
33 and used 30 round magazines, which could be quickly changed. The Army did not fully grasp the impact of
this weapon for a number of reasons. First, the M1 rifle performed so well in
combat it had the complete confidence of Army leaders. Second, the STG 44 was
seen as a carbine, something in the class of the Army’s M1 Carbine, and not a
universal or standard rifle. Third, the STG 44 was not encountered in large
numbers, where its advantages would be seen and understood. Thus the STG 44 was
dismissed as a major advancement in small arms until it was almost too
late.
Soviet AK-47
The Soviet Army experienced the effectiveness of the STG 44
where it was used against them in large numbers. They quickly started developing
their own version of this rifle and its intermediate cartridge. Many believe the Soviets were on a parallel
development course with the Germans, other opinions are the design of the STG44
and the 7.92x33 cartridge were essentially copied by the Soviets.
The U.S. M14 Rifle
The M14. The U.S. Army knew of the STG 44 and captured
numerous examples. This weapon was largely
ignored by the Army and Marine Corps. Instead the next rifle for the U.S.
Military would be an improved magazine fed M1 Garand type of weapon, chambered
for a new cartridge, shorter than the 30-06 but comparable in performance.
After 0ver a decade of development, the M14 emerged. I may be the finest battle rifle ever
produced, powerful, accurate, robust, and reliable. Unfortunately it is not an
assault rifle, or even close. The M14 did have a provision for fully automatic
fire, which was impossible for the average soldier to control. The heavy barrel
squad automatic M14, known as an M15, was an abject failure. Heavy recoil and
overheating were problems which could not be solved. In addition, the M14 was
supposed to replace the M3 Grease gun, and M1 Carbine, the M14 was not able to
do so, as it could not perform in these roles as well as the weapons it was
supposed to replace.
The M14 was the embodiment of the virtues the U.S. Military
wanted in a rifle. It graced the
National Matches at Camp Perry and was lauded by military target shooters. The U.S. Marines, with a long tradition of
marksmanship excellence enthusiastically embraced the new rifle, unlike the M1
20 years earlier. One consequence of the
development and adoption of the M14, was the T65 cartridge, later known as the
7.62x51 NATO. As the designation infers, the cartridge was adopted by NATO, at
the insistence of the United States. This caused the western Europeans to
redesign or abandon their post war weapons designs. The power of the 7.62x51
NATO prevented the Belgian FN FAL, or the German G-3 from attaining assault
rifle performance in fully automatic fire.
Those rifles were as uncontrollable as the M14 for the individual
soldier. In a quick turn of fate, even the Europeans who created the original
assault rifle, would not have one for over three decades.
German G-3 Rifle
The M14 remains an excellent weapon and many uses today as
sniper weapons in U.S. service in the War on terror.
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