M1 Garand

The M1 Garand was a semiautomatic rifle besigned by canadian John Garand. George S. Patton called it "The greatest implement of battle ever devised".

Design
John Garand was fascinated by other repeating rifles, and set out to design one for himself. The "Garand" performed well against the older M1903, and was adopted by the Army in 1940. The weapon was a gas operated rifle, fed by an eight round en block clip. when the folower was depressed, the bolt would shoot forward, ocasionally catching the thumb of the loader, resulting in the painful "M1 thumb".