The M1 Garand is a semi-automatic rifle that was adopted in 1936 as the standard-issue weapon of the United States military. Replacing the bolt-action M1903 Springfield and M1917 Enfield rifles, the Garand was the first semi-automatic weapon to be designated as the primary weapon of any army, and saw service with American troops on all fronts of World War II and the Korean War.
The weapon is loaded via an eight-round en-bloc clip inserted from the top, and makes a distinctive and famous "ping" sound when ejecting the clip after the last round has been fired. The Garand can also be reloaded mid-clip, either by opening the action and inserting loose rounds or by manually ejecting the partially-spent clip and loading a fresh one.
Though the M1 was officially replaced by the M14 rifle in 1958, which married the action of the M1 with the magazine capacity of the Browning Automatic Rifle, the Garand was not fully replaced in active-duty service until 1965, and remained in specialist sniper or reserve roles into the 1970s. The Garand also saw extensive action during the Vietnam War as the primary weapon of both the Republic of Korea Army and the Army of the Republic of Vietnam until the late 60s. It continues to be used by drill and ceremonial teams today, and have even been found in modern-day conflicts such as the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War. It is also widely seen in media, movies, and video games, particularly any depiction of America's involvement in the Second World War.
