Microsoft Close Combat manual Gewehr, Semiautomatic Rifle Garand Rifle

Chapter 5 Weapons 91

Gewehr 43

Semiautomatic Rifle

Garand Rifle

Operation Semiautomatic

Caliber .30 (7.62 mm)

Muzzle velocity 853 mps (2,800 fps)

Capacity 8-shot clip

Weight 4.3 kg (9.5 lbs)

Overall length 110.7 cm (43.6 in.)

Effective range 550 m (600 yds)

The U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1—or Garand—was the standard issue rifle for American infantry. Named after its inventor, John C. Garand, it was the first semiautomatic rifle widely used in combat. Although it was adopted by the Army in 1936, the Garand was in short supply until 1943, but by the end of the war over four million had been produced. The Garand was easy to disassemble and clean, and its combina- tion of caliber, muzzle velocity, and semiautomatic operation provided superior firepower over bolt- action rifles. Its only weakness was that partially fired clips were so difficult to reload that GIs tended to simply fire off the remaining rounds and insert a new clip.

Operation Semiautomatic

Caliber 7.92 mm (.31 in.)

Muzzle velocity 745 mps (2,445 fps)

Capacity two 5-round magazines

Weight 4.55 kg (10 lbs)

Overall length 114.3 cm (45 in.)

Effective range 550 m (600 yds)

The Germans produced many superb weapons of almost every type, but their efforts to produce a semiautomatic rifle to match the performance of the American M1 Garand fell short. The semiautomatic Gewehr 43 (rifle, model 1943) improved upon the gas-operated, self-cocking mechanism of Carl Walther’s G41 semiautomatic rifle, but both models were heavier, more complex, and less well-balanced or reliable than the Garand; neither supplanted the venerable bolt-action Mauser Kar 98 as the primary German infantry weapon.