If you ask a dozen gun aficionados, “What is the quintessential American rifle?” you’ll likely get a number of answers, but amongst these will inevitably be the Long Rifle, the Sharps, the Henry, the 1903 Springfield (even though it’s a shameless 98 Mauser copy), or maybe even the M16/M4. And one other candidate will definitely make an appearance, the M1 Rifle or “Garand.”
The quest for an effective and reliable semi-automatic service rifle began during World War I. Defensive firepower in the form of the belt-fed machine gun, more commonly than not one derivative or another of the great American inventor Hiram Maxim, proved decisive. This increased demand for lightweight infantry firepower, not only for defensive
