US M1 RIfle (Garand)
The first automatic rifle to acheive the status of being the regulation sidearm of a major army, the Garand served well and was popular for it's reliability and power. If it had a defect, it was the clip loading system which prevented "topping up" the magazine during a lull in the firing; it was a full clip or nothing. There was also the embarassment of the empty clip being ejected after the last round and adverising the fact if it fell on a hard surface. But these were minor defaults, and with over six million rifles made and distributed to many countries after 1945, they will continue to appear for many years to come.
M14 Rifle
When the US needed a new 7.62mm rifle to meet NATO requirements, it seemed a good sense to give the Garand a few tweaks; give it a detachable magazine instead of the clip feed and rebarrel. Job done. Or it would have been, somebody hadn't said "Let's make it automatic". Provision of automatic fire with a cartridge as heavy as 7.62 meant strengthening everything, and the result was a clumsy weapon. Most were converted by locking the system at semi-automatic, and with some modifications the weapon was reasonibly serviceable. Early models had wooden furniture, then with a glass-fibre handgaurd, finally with all synthetic furniture.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Cartridge:7.62x51mm NATO Magazine
Capacity:20 rounds.
In Production:1957-63
