Firearms Expert Breaks Down The M1 Garand - Loadout Extended Chat

The M1 Garand has made a huge impact in the real world, and in the world of our pop culture, movies and games, and is famous for making a ringing PING sound when fired until empty. But where does this sound come from, and how does it factor into the M1 Garand’s revolutionary design?
In this episode of Loadout, Dave Jewitt visits the Royal Armouries to talk to Keeper of Firearms & Artillery Jonathan Ferguson about the mechanical and design idiosyncrasies of one of WW2’s most iconic weapons, the M1 Garand.
You can check out more episodes of Loadout right here. - • How Games Are Lying To...
You can check out our Firearms Expert Reacts series here. - • Firearms Expert Reacts...
If you're interested in seeing more of Jonathan's work, you can check out more from the Royal Armouries right here. - / royalarmouries
If you would like to support the Royal Armouries, you can make a charitable donation to the museum here. - royalarmouries...

[@keiming2277]

"I can hear John Garand revolving is his grave probably more efficiently than this drum mag revolves."

[@Archivist42]

I could totally picture an in-game cameo of Jonathan in the tutorial for modern warfare 2022. Probably won't happen, but I can dream!

[@taxevasion4870]

I was thinking of the exact same the thing. Imagine if they brought back customisable announcers for that

[@raka1996]

Bit of a stretch but I wanna see Jonathan as an arms-dealer in John Wick

[@ruffethereal1904]

I always had this image of him being a guest historian at a scripted section of an FPS, discussing the real world inspirations for your arsenal and the fantastic upgrades that they have been given. "Picatinny rails used to be the standard for attachments to most firearms, before the new 'polymorph' composites made it easy to modify and add features to your gun as your supply of raw materials would allow."

[@JoshuaC923]

Him and Ian

[@superheavyxd2684]

Honestly, Activision should hire Jonathan as a tutorial guide! That would be *AWESOME!!!!*

[@floydnimrod1826]

This show is a great idea. A lot of people are becoming interested in firearms through media like videogames and it's good to educate them on the realities of what they see so commonly in games.

[@hendriktonisson2915]

I think learning about the history and mechanics of firearms makes playing games centered around firearms action more enjoyable and helps gamers to more appreciate the efforts game developers put in small details.

[@xpendabull]

Vanguard threw all that right out the window with the kitchen sink.

[@ryth-2401]

@@xpendabull I'm a gun guy and I like vanguard gunsmith for purposely going unrealistic, a videogame is a videogame, and cod doesn't need to be realistic at the first place, every cod has unrealistic parts about guns. I can tell Sledgehammer did their research and decided to go unrealistic. A lot of the accessories in the game were actually from prototype or post ww2 variants of known guns. The real problem of vanguard is the game itself (Visibility, dog hitbox error, filter for pacing doesn't work......)

[@kyIethefish]

or when they overlook those details that you know

[@xpendabull]

@@ryth-2401 I’m a gun guy too and a history buff so in my mind it just seem ridiculous. I know it’s just a game and if other people like it then all the power to them. For me personally it actually makes me not want to play the game. I can deal with reflex optics, etc. but I draw the line at adding an external box magazine to a Mosin Nagant with .50 BMG rounds. That’s just idiotic to me.

[@TheSundayShooter]

@@ryth-2401 We've addressed that sort of argument before, call your game *Dieselpunk 1944* if there's gonna be such a disregard for historical facts

[@zepher_blackstoc2366]

Perfect way to describe how it works "Bullets forward, shove in hole." So easy a child could do it. And probably has.

[@user-mi1nw5wi1z]

Ahoy?

[@wazkangz955]

"What does a battle rifle and a microwave have in common?" They both go *ping* when they're done -Ahoy

[@taxevasion4870]

- Coolest Guy ever

[@trashcompactorYT]

XboxAhoy is one of the greatest content creators who ever lived

[@kennyobrienaiti]

Jonathan has incredible knowledge and is very entertaining. We love this content.

[@edwardvincentbriones5062]

The FAL is a relatively rare gun in games despite the fact that it was a widely adopted and mass produced rifle during the Cold War. I think you will be deserving a subscribe if you pull it out.

[@LIGHTNING278TH]

6:00 Primary reason as I understand it was that using clips (en-bloc & stripper clips) was due to cost and difficulty of producing reliable magazines particularly the feed lips. This applies to the Lee Enfield as well as covered by C&Rsenal on their series. The original design of the Garand during US Trials featured a 10 round clip when they were testing it in .276. When the decision was made to retain the 30-06 the capacity was reduced by 2 due to the dimensions of the cartridge. This is also what led to the "dog-leg" bend in the Op-Rod due to the increase in circumference of the chamber section of the barrel(from Forgotten Weapons).

[@michaelw2263]

Flannel Daddy said Garand Thumb isn't that bad, I'll take his word for it

[@GaryHamad]

try Hakim Thumb

[@wadezombie]

Love the M1 Garand what an iconic tool.

[@Rrgr5]

Garand actually did a 10 round clips, but... For the .275 (7x51mm), which was the original caliber of the first concept, which also was way less bulkier than the M1, the M1 that we know was actually a compromise with McArthur (I think it was him), which by that time wanted to cut cost and simplify logistics using the readily available .30-06 (7.62x63mm), Garand indeed thought about using a 10 round clip, but would be even more bulkier and increase cost, so he'd scraped the idea and the US got their M1, funny how they went backwards with the M14... P.S the original concept also had a top barrel shroud made of steel, which made it even lighter, it was scrapped but it came back in the M14, also there was some critics about the open slots in the back and Garand was studying a fix, which his competitor (Pedersen, the guy whom made the .275) actually did in his GY and GX models, which got a reciprocating dust cover over the bolt.

[@oldesertguy9616]

.276 Pedersen was the cartridge.

[@Autonate_42]

That ping is so satisfying. I see why players in video games like it so much.

[@kommanderketamine8172]

CoD Vanguard is teaching teens that their great grandfather put an EOTech on his M1 Garand. Tell me I’m wrong

[@repletereplete8002]

"Dad can we see Great Grandpa's service rifle?". Hands kid the rifle. "Where's the animated neon paintjob, snakeskin grips and anime girl token?".

[@Name1person]

Naw it teaches them to but a red dot sight 30 years before it was made on a gun with no rail for it 400000 round mag no stock extended barrel suppressor and laser pointer on a musket

[@DissedRedEngie]

If call of duty taught you anything. Then blame the education system or yourself for believing a video game. This is literally the same argument that video games make people more violent.

[@mj4wd]

to be honest , battlefield started this trend back when they released BF1 with ww1 weapons equipped with holo optics

[@johnpurdy3336]

@@DissedRedEngie Facts. No one should use COD or other video games to learn about history 🙄 Interestingly enough tho, a college teacher actually used RDR2 to help his students learn about American history at the turn of the century. Pretty cool imo. If anyone's gonna use a game to learn something, I feel like that's a decent choice. Of course, it doesn't have actual events that happened back then but it at least gives u a sense of what the country was like back then

[@Th3BU1LD3Rs]

We need another Hunt Showdown video with Jonathan! There are a lot more interesting guns that he hasn't seen yet, like the Officer Carbine Deadeye, the Berthier, the crossbow and maybe show him the custom ammo? I'd like to see his reaction to Dragon Breath or learn about FMJ and Spitzer ammo.

[@jakedill1304]

I love how this completely answers my question on the last one about ejecting a partial clip being quieter somehow.. oh well LOL.

[@michaelcarey2614]

It would probably be quieter because if there are rounds in the clip still, the metal sheeting can't vibrate to the same extent, and the frequency change could translate to a more 'muted' ping. Kind of a resonance phenomenon.

[@jakedill1304]

@@michaelcarey2614 He does it at the end of the video... it's not lol... that was why I posted that.

[@michaelcarey2614]

@@jakedill1304 Ohhhhh my bad. I thought you were saying that they didn't answer that question! So I guess a partial clip isn't quieter huh? Idk now that I see that part it does seem to be a bit less "ringy" if that makes sense.

[@xaviro758]

unironically, one of the main reasons why I love guns and support gun rights so much is because of this sort of content, the fun stuff you can do (when youre safe) with guns, and the sheer power to the civilians that firearms provide. We need to show more guns in a positive light to show just how great guns are, and the series with Firearm Expert Reacts and Loadout are absolutely awesome! Thanks for making this series awesome GameSpot, and thank you Jonathan Ferguson for being just as much of a sigma male as them!

[@LockGamer_]

I am i simple man, i see Jhonathan and a just like the video. Always a great content!

[@Verbose_Mode]

"Bullets forward, shove in hole" is pretty elegantly simple design.

[@chris.3711]

I have a 1943 and I love that gun. I will never sell it, it's just to good.

[@ShiningEyeBrigade]

Dig the extended clip, thanks for sharing it! Can see more of the connection between hosts, which is nice.

[@user-xyuser1488]

Can you do the Mosin Nagant next? The gun that won WW2 for the Soviets.

[@chooseyouhandle]

what about the PPSh?

[@gbuist1008]

2:12, confirmation that Jonathan watches THE Garand thumb

[@busboy262]

Another great vid. I don't know if anyone outside of the US knows the love for this rifle by Americans. Not quite 1911 status, but it's right up there. It's really all about the history. Thanks, guys. BTW: Please lose the fake sun in the background. It's just the worst IMO.

[@May-gr8bp]

Agreed with the statement about the sun

[@Stevarooni]

Thank God for the CMP!

[@LateNightHalo]

*M1911

[@May-gr8bp]

@@LateNightHalo the M1911 handgun is sometime referred to as simply '1911'

[@Ethan-oq2ds]

As a Garand owner myself, I love seeing this content

[@liberaceboiithe3rd5]

Awesome videos but quick question! Can we get some background on how Johnathan got into being the keeper at the royal armory? With UK gun laws being what they are, I’m just curious how he was able to make the transition into a job like that. Thank you

[@chris.3711]

Regulations revolve around individual ownership. Because they are a museum, it's probably much less regulated. He probably applied to it like any orher job.

[@Awoken_Remmuz]

If his wiki article is to go by he pretty much came in from a historical interest, with a university degree in archaeology and a career of working at multiple different museums in England, including two war museums.

[@ftg_vader8690]

"the rifle that won WW2?" that's a spicy take. that would be the mosin nagant imo

[@todorikowo]

When i get nervous or just sad i go to gamespot and just hear Jonathan voice... Always get me chilled.

[@booqrdoit9138]

The ping is no fun unless you're saving the world from evil

[@zim3900]

Two points on the clip, another way to help avoid garand thumb is to load your top round on the right side rather than the left as in this video. This way as you're pressing the clip in you keep pressure on the top round, which will slow the bolt slamming forward. Also, for higher capacity clips, I believe the original prototypes of the garand did have 10 round clips for the .276 Pederson cartridge, US military wanted .30-06, so it went down to 8 rounds.

[@q-man762]

As long as pressure is kept on the clip with the thumb it won't slam shut. One then rocks his hand off and if needed bumps the op rod to chamber a round.

[@John-ro3vu]

These videos are great! Keep up the good work. Jonathan is really knowledgeable and his sense of humor makes him fun to watch.

[@haroldellis9721]

When the M-14 was developed, the anticipated method for reloading it was to keep the detachable 20 magazine on the rifle, and to recharge the magazine with charger clips. Why? Money mostly, as well as some weight savings.

[@michaelspears294]

6:02 it is worth noting that with the original trials for the M1 Garand in the 20’s and early 30’s John Garand was in competition with John Pedersen because the development of the smaller, lighter .276 Pedersen cartridge allowed for 10 round en block style clips. This theoretically allowed soldiers to carry more ammunition at the expense of a slighter less powerful payload. I’m fairly certain the prototypes even before the model shop Garands featured use of the .276 cartridge.

[@robertschumacher2707]

They did. At times the .276 round was well ahead in the competition at least until one General Douglas Macarthur came down firmly on the side of maintaining the .30-06

[@harrypeterson9287]

The difference in weight or ammo capacity wasn't considered to be significant enough to change calibers from a logistical sense. People think it's as simple as some big wig in the military wanting a .30 caliber round out of sheer ignorance or pride, but they never stop to think why that was the most reasonable choice at the time. We already had billions of dollars invested in the cartridge, equipment and tooling for the guns, a huge surplus of ammo. Think about it like switching every vehicle in the US Army from diesel to gasoline when you have a huge stockpile of diesel fuel and the vehicle is still adequate.

[@sonofbbzz4]

The government stayed with 30 06 due to the large inventory of ammo left over from WWI.

[@ElitePraetorianGuard]

@@harrypeterson9287 This is correct. Not only do you make a good point about tooling but also about ammunition commonality with other service weapons at the time. The M1919A4 belt-fed Browning machine gun, the M1918 BAR, and the numerous M1917 Enfields and M1903A3 Springfield rifles that were left over in storage and in arsenals. Producing .276 Pedersen for your new self loading rifle while simultaneously producing .30-06 Springfield for all your other major service weapons makes little sense logistically speaking. I'm not surprised at all the ordnance department said .30-06 or nothing at the time. Now the US push back against .280 British in NATO service in favor of the 7.62x51mm NATO is another story since the US armed forces were already replacing their main rifle and main machine gun at the time. Hindsight being 20/20, the British were right with the .280 cartridge as the Americans not only ditched the 7.62 NATO round for 5.56 NATO but the newer round like the 6.8 SPC, 6.5 Grendal, and the newer .277 Fury are going right back to where the British were thinking after WW2. Some old habits about .30 caliber or nothing, die hard.

[@FisicoNuclearCuantico]

Thank you Jonathan. Always remember to stay positive. And please don't get a heart attack. :p

[@SenorGato237]

Early on in the design phases the rifle was intended to have 10 rounds of .270. The 8 round limit is due to the size of the 30-06 rounds and the space available for an internal magazine.

[@Shakshuka69]

There better be a plaid daddy reference in here 😤

[@TheFirstCurse1]

I love how Dave's first thing is "Where does the *ping* come from?".

[@PitFriend1]

One advantage to the en bloc style clips as opposed to magazines is the cost. It’s just a piece of sheet metal that can be quickly and easily turned out in the millions. A removable magazine does require more parts and assembly. That was probably a factor back then first with the low military budgets during the Great Depression and then during the war.

[@europa873]

I love you Jonathan Ferguson.

[@dukezap1]

Shout out to the Canadian father of the M1 Garand, John Garand

[@turturek69]

That is Johnathan Ferguson,the reason our channel is still alive and i am Dave Jewiit the one that is milking this series dry

[@Lamaldo78]

At first I thought I was watching an episode of Firefly!!

[@tylerpatterson3857]

Can y’all do one the AK/AKM/AK-74U like gaming/movie history and the impact?

[@TimmiiGamingChannel]

I used the Garand as part of the ROTC in my high school.

[@maxwelljacobs2715]

I would like to see you in the Airforce Museum in Dayton Ohio.

[@pho3nix-]

Jonathan is the savior we always needed

[@albertthesecond210]

Loading the enbloc "right high" is another way to keep your thumb out of the way of the bolt. Garand thumb is most often associated with a rifle needing repairs

[@MrStonesoul81]

When I was a kid (about 30years ago) I was with my scouts group playing in the woods here in Germany (Bavaria, Augsburg area to be exact) and found a old and rusty Ammo Clip. Ofc back then I didn't know much about it but thought it's cool and interesting so I took it with me. Later when my group leaders found out about it they freaked out and took it from me. Never heard about it again or what happened to it. (If they called the Police or whatever) Long story short: from what I remember it probably was a Clip for a Garand. Even stil now this here is a rural area and it's a 'crazy' thought that almost 80 years ago there might have been a battle in this peaceful little forrest...

[@Lecrie]

Gotta love Johnathan

[@fredriddles1763]

I love these collabs! They're well edited, super fun, and educational! Great people involved all around, keep the series going! Also can we do a video on Overwatch's guns? :)

[@ebreshea]

I'll always hit the like button for more jonathan ferguson

[@cocod7272]

these videos are fantastic

[@charlie2616]

gamespot please please please if you are filming or have filmed it, please release a vid on an AK or an AR platform rifle, i need this for my EPQ!!! live for these vids and love jonathan’s work

[@simplydave9649]

The Garand PING will always be the best satisfying sound.

[@neilholmes8200]

Did someone develop this video series to give Johnathan a chance to recover his sanity?

[@tutudanny]

Jonathan is so cool

[@StryderK]

Well, I just bought an M-1 a day ago and ordered two en blocks and 20rds of 30-06 specifically made for the Garand. Can’t wait to do the iconic “piiiinnnnnnng”! P.S. I’m super careful so yeah, hope I don’t get the less than iconic Garand Thumb”.

[@rodolfohernandez3303]

The best rifle ever the M1 Garand

[@YnnekStoner]

I have a m1 garand model D service grade with the side scope

[@make.one.studio]

The best video series Gamespot puts out.

[@WayStedYou]

3:40 Why would he have garand thumb? He literally only uses the Springfield.

[@pho3nix-]

Where can I get the dinosaur fossil shirt Jonathan is wearing?

[@coolstuffproductionsoffici5562]

The grand only bites when it's scared

[@grantfitz2047]

The original chambering of the garand was a 10 round though.

[@cjpayne2385]

Best gun ever made

[@luissantiago5163]

Oh fun

[@theblindsniper9130]

Ah yes, my Garand videos do very well, too. Good choice, good rifle.

[@HappyMan0203]

I've always wondered where the quirk in a lot of WWII games came from where you couldn't unload it until the full eight rounds were shot came from. Even when I was younger I thought it was weird, like why would design a gun that you couldn't reload until it was empty, especially when every other gun could? I can only assume it was a matter of simply game devs following what one game had already done and assuming that that was how the rifle worked.

[@LtLukoziuz]

Someone didn't watch the original video

[@kebotrans]

Such an advantage for our soldiers.

[@Cheshire9k]

What happened to the Silver Sword episode?

[@joaquinvelasquez6252]

Why does it feel like this is real journalism?

[@Sam-Fisher]

Hi guys

[@rwhite8075]

0:19 0:41

[@TheLehi5]

you know that guntuber garand thumb, garand thumbet himself...

[@Coolidiot123]

I would love for jonothan to react to payday 2s guns

[@ianhowick]

Ah extended. so once again i must note that the M1 is not the first US service weapon to go "Ping!", but it is the best.

[@KneeStrikes]

Why are the aperture sights on M1 Garands in video games, are always so wide like ghost rings on the sights. The only game that has the M1 close to the real sights is Post Scriptum, and Darkest Hour updated their M1 Garands. I think devs found the ghost rings easier to hit targets that are closer in range. And besides alot of FPS are shootouts at 150m or less.

[@randomfaca]

because with the way aiming down sights works in games your screen would be 80% steel and 10% aperture hole. Thus making open sights like the AK ones overpowered. Aperture sights are awesome IRL. But they are awful on a 24 inch monitor in a game where your field of view is about 80 degrees on average. In many FPS games today you can easily run guns with mid mounted open sights without any optics or scopes and play just as good, whereas any player that uses AR variant will almost always pick a different sight, even ones without magnification

[@adiamond563]

unfortunately i cant own one bc in from Cyprus but i want one

[@legocy-is-lazy]

I would love to see him react to the krm in cod mobile

[@classified9583]

Wonder how many of those m1 garand bent sheet metal bits r lying around france

[@jackwardley3626]

If it held 10 rounds it would nearly be as good as a SMLE

[@vhborges]

this dude is awesome, he explaines so well

[@ikematthews6866]

G36 Stg44 M4/ar15

[@Spartans5499]

Do want to see that M61

[@kidtruck9157]

Looking in the comments for @GarandThumb.

[@zekken1723]

i thought i watched this video yesterday

[@GiakomoDell]

4:31 oogga booga BULLETS GO FORWARD SHOVE IN HOLE

[@ravennexusmh]

the question is has he seen the moderised BAR theyre doing in the usa

[@HaroldTheWizardCat]

I feel like these are the only videos Gamespot makes now

[@tonygunk1886]

Dead giveaway to your enemy that you are empty.. lol

[@leoncolwin8645]

Nonsense. In a real battle the "ping" would not be noticeable. On a firing line at Camp Perry, I did not notice the "pings" of all the other M1s. You can only notice it if you are shooting the rifle. But if you are more than ten yards away, you will not know.

[@RipChordProductions]

*Johnathan please react to Wolfenstein or Homefront: The Revolution.*

[@leoncolwin8645]

Garand thumb can only occur when someone monkeys around with an unloaded rifle. When you actually load a Garand, the bolt face presses up against the top cartridge and there is no room for one's thumb to get trapped. Jonathan is an Englishman and he has never actually fired a Garand. I have many Garands and believe me, Garand thumb cannot occur when loading a clip of ammo into the gun. It's simply impossible. But if someone pulls the bolt rearward in a half hearted way, the bolt can balance precariously on top of the follower. And if you put your fingers or thumb inside the receiver, the slightest touch can cause the bolt to slam forward on one's unsuspecting thumb or fingers. When handling an unloaded Garand pull the bolt back all the way. Pull the bolt back vigorously!!

[@thelemonman420]

my dad had garand thumb

[@TheMystikzShow]

Liked 👍

[@jamiemcdonald1904]

Game spot Alka the Ferguson show 😅

[@Danegerous_Au]

Got to give Post Scriptum ago champ, would love to hear a professional's opinion.

[@Brian-rj1un]

Guns in the UK😲 lol I’m kidding love y’all over there

[@panzerdragoonss4021]

If I'm not mistaken the m1 originally did have a 10 round magazine

[@khemib]

An experimental version?

[@K-Nyne]

True, but that wouldn't be in the .306 calibre so they changed it

[@DAN_0000_]

That's the prototype version of the rifle chambered in 276 pederson in fact if the U.S did not make them to changed the caliber to 30-06 garand would probably lose the contract to other rifle in the trial

[@AllThatJazOfficial]

We want more Tarkov react videos from Johnathon

[@Sam-Fisher]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻