The Marines weren’t the only branch of service involved in an armament decision that reached the highest levels of government, as the competition between Marine Captain Melvin Johnson’s M1941 semiautomatic rifle and the M1 Garand was a major political issue in the late 1930’s (docs: NARA). It was hoped that under routine usage more knowledge on the new rifle could be attained. The first 400 Garands would be split up for issue, the majority going to the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, another portion to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and the rest to the Marine infantry and officer schools. The seemingly complex design and belief an autoloading rifle would have difficulties operating on sandy beaches heavily weighed upon the Marine brass. The venerable bolt action M1903 Springfield rifle was the darling of the Corps, much beloved for its accuracy and durability. The first test showed promise but the Corps brass would somewhat cool on the rifle until improvements could be made. The Marines were quick to pick up on several key flaws of the earliest version of the Garand, most notably a design deficiency that impeded the functioning of the 7th round loaded into each en bloc clip to be chambered, as well as issues with the gas trap system itself. With the majority in the 2,000 through 4,000 serial number range, the new “gas trap” Garands (called such due to their method of “trapping” the discharge of gas to cycle the action) would be put through rigorous field testing. The first batch to be received by the Marines were 400 M1s to come fresh off the line at Springfield Armory early in the first production run. 30, M1, and the first order of the rifle sent to the Marines for testing (photos & docs: NARA). Pictured is John C Garand, the inventor of the US Rifle, Cal.
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