M1 Garand

The M1 Garand is a semi-automatic, gas-operated service rifle that was used by the United States during World War II, Korea, and to limited extent, Vietnam.

History
In 1934, a Canadian born employee by the name John Garand of the United States Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, designed what would be the mainstay of the American military, and replacement of the Springfield M1903 rifle, the M1 Garand. It is known as one of the best combat infantry rifles of all time. It was gas operated, meaning the gas buildup behind an existing bullet was routed to a drive piston that put the next bullet into place-very quickly. Almost 4,000,000 M1 Garand rifles were made during the war, and Garand didn't make a cent off them - he worked for the Armory for 36 years and never received more than his standard pay. It officially replaced the Springfield as the main U.S. service rifle in 1936, and it is considered one the best rifles in any armed forces during the twentieth century and is perhaps the most iconic rifle of WWII. General George S. Patton called it "the greatest battle implement ever devised". It is still used today by the U.S. Marine Corps and NJROTC classes as a drill weapon, and is manufactured in parts of India, and Italy under license by the Beretta Company.

The M1 Garand was used by all branches of the United States Military in front-line service until 1957, when it was replaced with the M14 rifle, which is essentially a selective-fire Garand with a 20-round detachable box magazine and chambered for 7.62x51mm NATO. However, the M1 Garand was used by reserve and National Guard units well into the 1970s. Two sniper variants of the Garand were used by U.S. forces in Korea and Vietnam, the M1C and M1D.

The M1 Garand is loaded through the top of the receiver with an 8-round en-bloc clip that, once the last round has been fired, automatically ejects out of the rifle and makes a distinctive "pinging" sound due to the tin the clips were made of. This loading system allowed for efficient reloading, but carried two considerable disadvantages. The first was that German and Japanese forces quickly learned to recognize the "ping" sound as a prime opportunity to return fire (Japanese would often respond with banzai charges). But this was also used to the advantage of the Americans, for the US soldiers would pick up an empty clip while their rifles still had ammo, then simply drop the clip on the ground, making the same distinctive "ping" and deceiving the Axis soldiers and exposing them, believing the Americans were reloading. The exposed Germans or Japanese would then be gunned down as they stood up to take a shot at the "vulnerable" Americans. The second disadvantage was that it was only really practical to load the rifle with a full clip, a partial clip seated in the chamber could be topped off with single rounds, but by no means was this a practical way to reload the weapon. Instead, it was much easier and quicker to manually eject the partially fired clip and insert a new one, as opposed to topping off a clip with single rounds. The field manuals recommended soldiers to either fire all eight rounds before reloading, or, manually eject the clip, and quickly insert a new one,(as to keep a full clip at all times) topping off was taught to soldiers, but was not at all recommended. Ejecting partial clips to reload also benefits the soldier better because it saves ammo, and doesn't give your position away if you were to fire remaining rounds, and it decreases your chances of a malfunction.

The M1 Garand was very useful for engaging enemy forces at medium to long range. Its large .30.06 (thirty-aught-six, or .30 caliber Springfield, or .30 o' 6) rounds were capable of penetrating three men in one shot. The M1 is a common and distinctive weapon in the Call of Duty series.

With the exception of Call of Duty: World at War, the in-game version of the M1 can not be reloaded in mid-clip, the weapon can only be reloaded when empty. In reality, this is completely untrue, and soldiers were constantly urged to enter every combat situation with a full clip. The unfortunate myth that originally started among gamers with Medal of Honor: Allied Assault about the real life M1 rifle being "unreloadable" mid-clip has absolutely no historical or technical truth behind it. The M1 being unreloadable in games was done by video game developers purely and simply to balance out the weapons in the game.

Call of Duty and United Offensive
In Call of Duty, the M1 Garand is a solid rifle that can take out an enemy in 1-2 hits, depending on where you hit the enemy. A headshot will kill an enemy in one shot, so try to get one if you can. Unlike bolt action rifles, the M1 Garand can be used with some success in close quarters. It usually doesn't stand up to a submachine gun, but it can be deadly if you catch an enemy off guard. The recoil is manageable if you use it in close quarters, controlling it is not a problem.

If you're using it as a sharpshooting weapon, remember to compensate for recoil as the M1 Garand is very accurate, but recoil can throw you off.

Be careful, as the weapon in the game cannot be reloaded mid-clip. Unfortunately, the game forces you to fire off all eight shots before it allows you to reload, you are restricted from manually ejecting a partially spent clip in the game, and it detracts from the realism and authenticity of the weapon. If you feel you are entering a dangerous area and have low ammo, fire off the remaining rounds so you can reload, though it may give away your position. Make sure you don't fire it in an area where enemies can hear you, or you may blow your cover.

Call of Duty 2
In Call of Duty 2, the M1 Garand is exactly the same as it is in Call of Duty, right down to the historical inaccuracy of being unable to reload without finishing off the clip. Its firing sound gets more accurate now, as the rifle sound gets metallic when being fired. Its extra ammunition had been much less than the last series, as it appears with only 128 round for extra.

Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 3 ' s M1 Garand is similar to previous versions in some aspects and is Semi-Automatic. In some instances it is preferred in multiplayer due to its rate of fire. Treyarch reused the wire frame for the Call of Duty: World at War, but a different firing sound, as well as reloading. It was prize for it's firepower in here, it kills in two shots anywhere to the body in Multiplayer, except with a headshot.

Singleplayer
The M1 Garand is fairly common, being standard issue for Marine riflemen. It's ammo can be picked up from anywhere, but was disfavored for being too common, and for sometimes, it's firepower.

Multiplayer
The M1 Garand is unlocked at level 17. The weapon has significant recoil in comparison to other weapons, but sometimes this makes headshots easier. In Call of Duty: World at War, the M1 Garand can now be reloaded at any time, without having to empty the clip. Statistically speaking, the M1 Garand is more uncomfortable than other rifles due to its restricted rate of fire, high recoil, relatively low ammo capacity, slow reload and only slightly higher damage and accuracy. Also, three direct hits with the weapon will guarantee a kill, allowing for the use of a perk besides Stopping Power. This only applies to the M1 Garand without a scope. It is suggested that you avoid short range fights or switch to another weapon as this weapon is ideal for medium to long range.

The M1 Garand can be equipped with a sniper scope and can be used as a semi-automatic sniper rifle. When equipped with the Sniper Scope(Marksman IV), the damage is raised to 70 (same as all other guns with sniper scopes), but it has lower damage multipliers than the other snipers. As a bonus, the M1 Garand scoped moves idly the same amount as the PTRS-41 (4 degrees), while all other scoped bolt actions idle at 6 degrees, making the M1 Garand more accurate due to the lower sway. The M1 scoped has another bonus, which is that its sway drops to 3 degrees when crouched or prone, making it the most accurate sniper in the game. One flaw of the M1 scoped is that it is the only sniper whose recoil does not reset before the next shot. All other snipers reset perfectly before the next shot. However, for most players, the low visual recoil and high rate of fire more than make up for this. Another flaw is that it is only a one shot kill to the head, which is hard to get on moving targets. The M1 Garand scoped does the exact same damage as the M21 from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare because they have the same base damage and multipliers. It is a one-shot-one-kill with Stopping Power to the head, neck, and chest (the same as bolt actions without Stopping Power). Without Stopping Power, a headshot is required for a one shot kill. For close quarters, it is advised to use a scope and hip fire as the low RoF and high recoil mean you can get easy headshots from firing all 8 rounds.

An interesting fact is that the M1 Garand is the only weapon in Call of Duty: World at War that takes longer to reload when it still has rounds in its clip than when it is empty. Although some players believe that for this reason it should not be reloaded mid-clip if a decent number of shots remain, a player can never really know when extra bullets might come in handy, so it is generally advisable to reload when not in combat.

This rifle is one of the most overlooked guns in the game because of the reasons stated above, but it is easily the best scoped rifle in the hands of a skilled sniper due to its higher accuracy, rate of fire, ammo capacity, and a ridiculous amount of starting ammo.

If you plan on using the M1 Garand as a Sniper Rifle with the Sniper Scope, note that you DO NOT get a Ghillie suit like the bolt-action rifles.

As another note, the M1 Garand has the slowest rate of fire of any rifle in World at War. However, when Double Tap is put in as a Tier 2 perk, it erases that barrier and gives it the same rate of fire a Gewehr 43 or an M1 Carbine, but it is easily more deadly because of it's quick reload rate.

Because the player starts with a large amount of ammunition for the M1 Garand, Bandolier is of questionable value, as the player only needs to hit an enemy twice with stopping power at most distances, or three times without stopping power at any distance unless the player was shooting through cover, or if the player has Juggernaut or Second Chance perks equipped. Also If the player is a good shot they would not waste many rounds, meaning the player could get a very long killstreak before needing to swap out the gun or find some more ammo. Sleight Of Hand is rather ineffective as the player will only receive most of the benefits of Sleight Of Hand if reloading a partial clip, though that can be handy when the player is not in combat, as it reduces the chances of the player being killed mid-reload. Camoflague and a silencer can work very well with the M1 Garand, since the M1 Garand always requires three hits to kill any player who has not got the Juggernaut or Second Chance equipped (4 if they do have Juggernaut or Second Chance equipped).

Nazi Zombies
The Garand appears on all Nazi Zombie levels, being available from the Mystery Box and, on some levels, off the wall. It isn't the most reliable gun, as damage to the body is reduced, making headshots somewhat advised for the Garand, and, like all semi-automatics, it is good for the first several rounds, but then later it should be swapped out in favor of a fully automatic weapon like the M1 Thompson etc. When you put it in the Pack-a-Punch Machine in Der Riese, the gun is upgraded to the "M1000". The Grenade Launcher is upgraded to "The Imploder".

Call Of Duty World at War (DS)
The M1 is a mix of the one from Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3, and Call of Duty: World at War, as it can't be reloaded mid-clip and doesn't have a limited rate of fire, and can drop an opponent in 3-4 shots, just like in World at War. In Easy mode (The equivalent of Recruit) for Campaign, the M1 Garand kills in one shot, making it one of the best weapons for DS.

Trivia

 * Known as the "clip latch" this device is what holds the clip in the rifle's magazine, when the bolt is held back and this latch is depressed, the clip latch lets go of the clip, and with nothing holding the clip in the magazine anymore, the spring underneath the clip will eject it out of the rifle, allowing the shooter to insert a fresh clip. This detailed description is how clips are ejected from the magazine. Also this operation happens automatically when 8 shots have been fired, instead of the shooter pressing the clip latch to eject the clip, the rifle automatically engages the clip latch after the last shot has been fired, thus ejecting the empty clip from the magazine resulting in the pinging sound.
 * It was formerly thought that Flash Hider does not appear on the rifle, but it is easily seen by setting sensitivity to 10 and spinning.
 * Like the Mini-Uzi of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the Call of Duty: World at War Garand has a personal marking on the gun, a major scratch right below the clip latch.
 * There is a mix-up in the Barracks in which it says you unlock the sniper scope after getting only 100 kills instead of the 150 needed.
 * Due to the Japanese lack of a semi-automatic rifle, the Japanese developed the Type 5 rifle, a clone of the Garand. However, it never completed the testing phase due to problems with jamming and an unreliable feed system, and parts for only 250 were ever made, most of them never assembled, and none saw any service.


 * This is the predecessor to the M14 in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The M14 has similar ironsights and is based off the technology of the Garand, as they were both created by John C. Garand, and the M14 was only an updated version of the M1.
 * The M1 Garand places 4th on the Military Channel's Top Ten Rifles List, right just after the Lee-Enfield.
 * In WWII a special model of the M1 Garand was issued to some Marine Raider units and the O.S.S. (Office of Strategic Services) units, it was issued with an M84 telescope, which was mounted above and to the left of the receiver, additionally, a flash suppressor was mounted to the muzzle, this was designated the M1D, only a small amount were ever made during the war, however, they saw much more widespread use during Korea.
 * A model of the M1 Garand is the T20E2, which is an M1 Garand that takes BAR magazines, however, only 19 were ever produced. This led to the basis of the M14.
 * The M1 Garand fires the .30-06 M2 ball round, the same round as the M1903 rifle, the M1918 B.A.R. and the Browning .30 cal machinegun. However, in the game it has far less stopping power than the sniper rifle. This was probably done for balance, however in real life much of the Garand's success stemmed from the ability to fling 8 extremely powerful shots downrange as fast as you can pull the trigger. It is also worth noting that the .30-06 rounds in use at the time were more powerful than the 7.7x58mm rounds of the Arisaka and the .303 rounds of the Lee-Enfield. The 7.62x54mm cartridge of the Mosin-Nagant was almost identical ballistically, while the German Kar98k's 7.92x57mm is slightly more powerful as well as being more accurate at long range due to its use of heavier, boat-tailed bullet. A properly "real-world" balanced Garand would be just as powerful as the bolt-action rifles in-game, the only difference would be semi automatic capabilities 1 shot kills anywhere on the body, and 3 extra rounds instead of the 5 rounds in most bolt action rifles thus resulting in the M1 being the unmatched and dominant rifle in the game, as it was in real life combat.
 * The M1 makes a "ping" noise when reloading. In WW II, the Axis listened for this sound before attacking the Allied soldiers, as they would be vulnerable.  The Allies adapted to this strategy, and threw empty clips on the ground, or struck them with metal, creating the same "ping" sound, which fooled Axis soldiers.
 * The M1 Garand was able to kill three soldiers in a line with one shot.

Tips

 * The M1's reload time when it is empty is much shorter than mid-clip.


 * When sniping someone with this weapon and they begin to take cover, shoot 2-3 shots with a pause in between for about a second or two to make the enemy hiding think you have a bolt action. When they pop out of hiding, shoot your rounds somewhat fast to kill them off-guard. This won't work against people who are skilled and know what weapon you are shooting by its sound. This tactic is most effective in Hardcore, since the M1 kills in one shot regardless of range and/or perks.


 * If a person goes into cover while you snipe them with this, then shoot through the cover. The Garand will penetrate anything at least minimally if you have Deep Impact.


 * The M1 with a sniper scope should be the most effective sniper rifle in Hardcore due to it being semi-automatic and being able to kill in one shot.


 * When you reload the rifle, make sure you find a cover or ready on another weapon so you don't get killed during the time.