A Canadian-born inventor, John C. Garand is passionate from his youth about the mechanism of firearms. He works from 1919 to 1953 in the research and development laboratories of the US armory at Springfield, in compliance with the standards required by the US Army and also the US Navy.
After several patents concerning the automatic loading, Garand designs the M1 rifle in 1931. One of the twenty test units was sold for $ 173K including premium by RIA on April 30, 2016.
The M1 is a semi-automatic rifle with two superimposed chambers. The expulsion of the bullet from the main chamber sends gas into the lower chamber, actuating the ejection of the empty shell and positioning the next cartridge and the reset lever. Just keep pulling the trigger to continue shooting.
The staff is convinced to have the best war rifle in the world, cheap to manufacture and easy to use. The M1 becomes the official service rifle of the US Army. Production in Springfield begins in 1937. It will exceed 5 million copies.
Garand did not seek honors but his engineering merits were acknowledged. When he retired in 1953 the Secretary of the Army offered him the M1 serial number 1000000 which had been kept intact at the armory since its manufacture in 1942. This rifle in perfect condition in its presentation case is estimated $ 225K for sale by RIA at Rock Island on September 8, lot 1362. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
SOLD for $ 250K before fees