M1C Garand Sniper

About the M1C Garand Sniper

The M1C Garand Sniper is the first official sniper variant of the iconic M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle, adopted by the U.S. Army in June 1944 as a standard sniper rifle to supplement the bolt-action M1903A4. The M1C featured a Griffin & Howe side-mounted scope base that was drilled and tapped into the hardened receiver, accommodating the M73, M81, M82, or M84 telescopic sights. Selected from standard M1 production rifles for superior accuracy, the M1C gave American snipers a significant advantage in semi-automatic firepower compared to the bolt-action rifles used by most other nations' snipers during WWII and Korea.

The M1C represented a revolutionary concept in military sniping: a semi-automatic sniper rifle in an era dominated by bolt-action precision weapons. While most WWII snipers had to manually cycle their bolts between shots, M1C-equipped American snipers could deliver rapid follow-up shots on target. During the Korean War, the M1C proved especially valuable in the mountainous terrain where Chinese and North Korean forces used human wave tactics that demanded fast, accurate fire from snipers.

M1C Garand Sniper specifications

The M1C designation was originally known as the M1E7. The Griffin & Howe mounting system required drilling and tapping the hardened M1 receiver, which was a difficult and time-consuming process that limited production. Only 7,971 M1C rifles were produced during WWII, and few saw combat before the war's end. The M1C saw more extensive use during the Korean War, where its semi-automatic action proved invaluable. The side-mounted scope did not interfere with the standard en-bloc clip loading system, allowing the rifle to be loaded identically to a standard M1 Garand.