Recoil-operated rifles In 1883,
Hiram Maxim patented a recoil-operated conversion of a
Winchester rifle. Another early design for a recoil-operated semi-automatic rifle was by
Ferdinand Mannlicher, who unveiled his design in 1885, building on earlier work from 1883. Several of his early models, including the Mannlicher Model 85, the 91, the 93, and the 95, used non-gas-operated mechanisms. However, the designs remained prototypes because of challenges associated with the
black powder used in their cartridges (based around the
Austrian
11×58 mm R M/77), such as low
velocity and excessive
fouling. The adoption of
smokeless powder later facilitated the practical development of
fully-automatic and
semi-automatic firearms. Mannlicher's designs contributed to the evolution of later
firearms, including the
Browning M1917,
M1919, and
M2 Browning machine guns. In the early 1880s,
Mannlicher began producing versions of his rifles designed for smokeless powder, continuing his work until his death on January 20 1904. In 1883, Artillery Officer Wilhelm H. O. Madsen and Julius A. N. Rasmussen, the attendant of the
Copenhagen arms factory, initiated the development of recoil-operated self-loading firearm designs. By 1887, they had produced a functional prototype, later designated the
M1888 Forsøgsrekylgevær. The Danish military tested this rifle but ultimately didn't adopt it. Subsequently, the pair developed a new design known as the
M1896 Flaadens Rekylgevær. This model underwent testing by the Danish military and was deemed reliable. Consequently, 60 units were procured for the
Danish Navy, making it one of the earliest semi-automatic rifles officially adopted by a military force. In 1906,
Remington Arms introduced the
Remington Auto-loading Repeating Rifle which was renamed the Model 8 in 1911 and marketed as a sporting rifle. It was sold in Europe by
FN Herstal as the FN Browning 1900. The rifle is a
locked breech,
long recoil action designed by
John Browning, and had
.25,
.30, .32, and
.35 caliber variants. In 1936, the Model 81 superseded the Model 8 and was offered in
.300 Savage as well as the original Remington calibers.
Blowback-operated rifles In 1903 and 1905, the
Winchester Repeating Arms Company introduced the first low-power
blowback (shell-operated) semi-automatic rifles firing
Rimfire and
center fire ammunition. The
Winchester Model 1903 and the
Winchester Model 1905 both operated on the blowback principle to function. Designed by
Thomas C. Johnson, the Model 1903 was commercially successful and remained in production until 1932 – when it was succeeded by the
Winchester Model 63. By the early 20th century, several manufacturers began producing semi-automatic
.22 caliber rifles, including
Winchester,
Fabrique Nationale, and
Savage Arms, all using the direct blowback system of operation. Winchester later introduced a
.351 Winchester Self-Loading semi-automatic rifle, the
Model 1907, as an upgraded version of the Model 1905 offering greater power than its .
22 caliber predecessor and utilizing a blowback system. Both the Model 1905 and Model 1907 saw limited
military and
police use. was an early
French semi-automatic rifle issued in limited numbers to the French Armed Forces during
World War I.
Gas-operated rifles Semi-Automatic Rifle with original spike bayonet and leather sheath. The 10-round rotary magazine could be quickly reloaded using two clips of .30 Caliber M2 Ball ammunition. In the final years of the 19th century and the early 20th century, experiments and patents with
gas-operated reloading systems were developed by
Hiram Maxim and Richard Paulson as well as a gas-operated conversion system from an American inventor named Henry Pitcher. Other designs were also developed, such as the
Cei-Rigotti in 1900. In 1908, General
Manuel Mondragón patented the
Mondragón rifle, designated the M1908. The rifle was used by Mexican forces in the
Mexican Revolution, making
Mexico the first nation to use a semi-automatic rifle in battle, in 1911. was designed by
John Garand in 1936 and initially produced for the
United States military. Shortly after the Mondragón rifle was produced,
France introduced its semi-automatic rifle, the
Fusil Automatique Modele 1917, also known as the Repetier-Selbstlader-Gewehr M1917 (RSC M1917). The Modele 1917 had a locked breech, gas-operated action that was similar in its mechanical principles to the American
M1 Garand. However, the shortened and improved version, the Model 1918, saw more use during the
Moroccan Rif War from 1921 to 1926. The bolt-action
Lebel Model 1886 rifle remained the standard
French infantry rifle until it began to be replaced in 1936 by another bolt-action rifle, the
MAS-36. The
United Kingdom experimented with
self-loading rifles during the interwar period, intending to replace the bolt-action
Lee–Enfield with a self-loading rifle. This plan was discarded when the
Second World War became imminent and the United Kingdom hastily rearmed with more traditional weapons designs. In
Springfield, Massachusetts,
John Garand, a
Canadian-born
firearms designer, was tasked with designing a basic
gas-actuated self-loading infantry rifle and
carbine rifle that would eject the spent
cartridge and reload a new round using a gas-operated system. It took 15 years to perfect the M1 prototype model to meet all the
U.S. Army specifications. The resulting
Semi-Automatic, .30 caliber, M1 Rifle was patented by Garand in 1932, approved by the
U.S. Army on January 9, 1936, and underwent mass production in 1940.
General George S. Patton described the M1 Garand as "the greatest battle implement ever devised
." It replaced the
bolt action M1903 Springfield and was the first gas-operated semi-automatic rifle adopted as a national standard-issue service rifle, and was often referred to as the "Garand Rifle". During
World War II, over 4,000,000 M1 rifles were manufactured. The
Soviet AVS-36,
SVT-38, and SVT-40, as well as the German
Gewehr 41 and
Gewehr 43, were semi-automatic
gas-operated rifles issued during
World War II in relatively small numbers. In practice, they did not replace the bolt-action rifle as a standard infantry weapon of their respective nations—
Germany produced 402,000 Gewehr 43 rifles, and over 14,000,000 of the
Kar98k. Another gas-operated semi-automatic rifle developed toward the end of World War II was the
SKS. Designed by
Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in 1945, it came equipped with a
bayonet and could be loaded with ten rounds using a
stripper clip. It was the first widely issued rifle to use the
7.62×39mm cartridge. By the end of World War II, however, semi-automatic rifles had been largely superseded in military usage by their select-fire counterparts - weapons such as the
AK-47,
FN FAL, and
M16 limited the viability of widespread
deployment of semi-automatic rifles. with a
Barrett M82 Gradually,
military doctrine increasingly prioritised the volume of fire over individual marksmanship. During World War II, American ground forces fired approximately 25,000
rounds for each enemy killed. This number rose to 50,000 rounds in the
Korean War, and rose again, to 200,000, during the
Vietnam War. The first fully-automatic rifle to see widespread usage was the German
STG-44, which was reportedly well-liked by troops, as the 30-round select-fire rifle gave them much more flexibility than the bolt-action
Karabiner 98k. Ultimately,
fully-automatic rifles would become standard in military usage, as their
firepower was superior to that of a semi-automatic rifle. However, both semi-automatic and bolt-action rifles are still widely used today in military service in specific roles, such as
designated marksman rifles, which prioritize accuracy over volume of fire. Furthermore, to accommodate for this greater firepower,
battle rifles were mostly replaced by
assault rifles, whose lighter bullets allowed more
ammunition to be carried at once. Where semi-automatic rifles continue to be used, they are usually in higher calibers, such as the
.50 BMG Barrett M82. ==Operation==