the m1 rifle it was the infantry weapon for us forces during world war ii and Korea
on film there isn't an American world war ii movie without one the m1 was easily one of the best
rifles of world war ii and a massive leg up over the bolt action rifles that were standard issue
in every major army so let's take a look at this prolific game-changing rifle that
general george s Patton called the greatest battle implement ever devised now comes the american army
places please light the lights roll camera action the official designation of the m1 is us rifle
caliber 30 m1 and was often just called the m1 by soldiers caliber 30 m1 a clip fed shoulder-fired
semi-automatic weapon designed to bring depth it's rare to hear the title garand or garand on film
garand and garend was a moniker more popular with civilians
during and after the war this name was given to the rifle in honor of the french
canadian-born john garand the weapons designer the both pronunciations are common and accepted
garend is considered the correct way to pronounce the designer's name holder fire
however you pronounce the name the m1 was considered one of the most effective weapons of
world war ii and for anyone who thinks otherwise yeah we can pass is revoked before the m1
the main service rifle of the us army was the m1903 Springfield bolt action rifle and
though the 1903 would continue to see service by snipers throughout the war and marines during the
early years of the war the m1 would replace the majority of units equipped with 1903's
outside of specialty roles marines who saw some of the first fighting in the pacific with 1903 rifles
were annoyed when the army showed up with new m1s something hbo's the pacific pays tribute to
army gets the new stuff and we fight with [ __ ] my grandfather used
a 1903 in the right hands had an effective firing range of a thousand meters
compared to the m1's effective firing range of around 500.
however, the vast majority of combat for American troops was taking place well within the m1s range
and m1 held eight 30 ought six rounds and had a rate of fire between 40 and 50 rounds a minute
about double that of a well-trained soldier on the Springfield 1903
during world war ii 5.4 million m1s were made and used by every branch of
the united states military and they made up the bulk of rifle companies
in both the pacific and europe the m1 was well liked by virtually all who used it it weighed
about the same as the thompson submachine gun but hit as hard as this bolt action counterparts
the rate of fire for the m1 was effective against the Japanese as it gave squad's light and mobile
firepower in jungle terrain in Europe the m1 helped even the odds for American squads
opposing german machine guns with their extreme rates of fire name
in the rear sight aperture pass revoked there were some disadvantages to the m1
it was slightly bulky to house the semi-automatic operating system making it a little less ergonomic
for smaller hands it was difficult to load unless using a full clip there's also a myth that an
enemy soldier would wait to hear the distinct ping which telegraphed a soldier was reloading
but during any sort of squad-level combat there's no way an enemy soldier was listening for this
up sir am i hearing it's not so good comes and goes the german grenade went up right by my head
one of the more famous call it disadvantages if a user is not careful loading an m1 clip or
more commonly closing the bolt while unloaded the bolt can slip and slam forward on a user's thumb
the scene from 71 into the fire showcases a nice dramatization of how this might feel
though several variants of the m1 were produced during world war ii
they were a rare thing the most common variant you'll find on cinema
are the sniper variant the m1c and m1d you are them dogface i need practice
the m1 sniper rifles saw very limited use in world war ii and were only meant to supplement
the use of 1903 sniper rifles but in Korea these rifles would see more use m1cs were a rushed
engineering job that were quickly made inferior to m1ds which chose to mount the scope to the
barrel and not the receiver which weakened it significantly name but he's got joseph d
rusty bayonet leap guide you want to kill germans yes sure
not with this one popular use of the m1 on film is with bayonets or m7 grenade launchers
though bayonet charges were becoming less common by world war ii
they still occurred the crossroads battle is one excellent example of a bayonet charge
as an effective tool against an unknown or concealed enemy position
we'll be able to shoot it straight with that thing on one interesting scene from band of brothers
is where sergeant bull randleman advises a new replacement soldier
not to fix his bayonet there is truth to these words particularly firing at long range
as it's basically a weight at the very end of the rifle and can throw off the balance of the weapon
and if you are really proficient you might notice the harmonics or vibration of the barrel change
the m7 grenade launcher was a device also designed by john garand and adopted by the
us military in 1943 it's not so much a grenade launcher but a grenade adapter as it doesn't
launch anything itself rather harnesses the pressure of firing a blank cartridge from the m1
the m7 grenade launcher could fire up to 200 meters
these were actually fairly common one to three were issued per rifle squad
and they could fire a number of different types of grenades however in battle of the bulge almost
going out of their way to be anachronistic shows an m1 firing an m61 heat round from the 1960s
ultimately the m1 was one of the most successful firearms of world war ii
it had the ideal range stopping power and rate of fire for the majority of engagements
it was cost-effective reliable highly accurate significantly it had inner
workings that share much in common with modern assault rifles even the ak-47
so influential was the m1 the japanese even tried copying it with the type 4 rifle
in korea the m1 proved its qualities all over again and did well in the cold and
mountainous conditions where its accuracy and effective firing range was ideal
eventually the m14 would replace the m1 which offers select fire
and a 20 round magazine the m14 incorporated features of both the m1 rifle and m1 carbine
why did you put that weapon together so quickly go
today the m1 continues to be an icon within the american military with every branch and many
paramilitary organizations using the rifle for ceremonial purposes alright i'm johnny
thanks for watching this brief overview on the m1 as always i'm just an amateur war movie fan
so feel free to add any info in the comment section below and we'll see in the next video