Lend-Lease M1 Garand Tested in the Soviet Union, circa 1943

[Christopher Wang]

According to a translated article by firearms enthusiast and historian Andrey Ulanov, the Soviet Union acquired a single M1 Garand rifle through Lend-Lease and tested it in 1943. Lend-Lease shipment records showed that the United States did send a single M1 Garand rifle to the USSR (below, marked in red).


According to Ulanov, Soviet testers were impressed with the M1 Garand’s accuracy and reliability, but they considered it too complicated and heavy for the average Red Army soldier. Nevertheless, design elements of the M1 Garand such as its gas system were adapted by Mikhail Kalashnikov in designing the AK-47.

References:

Ulanov, Andrey. (2020, September 1). History of automatic weapons: Test automatic rifle garand (Trans.). https://soldat.pro/en/2020/09/01/istoriia-oryjiia-ispytaniia-samozariadnoi-vintovki-garanda-2/

War Department. (1946, December 31). Quantities of lend-lease shipments: A Summary of important items furnished foreign governments by the war department during World War II. https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/LL-Ship/LL-Ship-3A.html

 

[Christopher Wang]

It is interesting to note that Lend-Lease shipment records also showed that the United States sent a single M1905 bayonet ("ML905") to the USSR (below, marked in red).

War Department. (1946, December 31). Quantities of lend-lease shipments: A Summary of important items furnished foreign governments by the war department during World War II. https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/LL-Ship/LL-Ship-3A.html

The M1905 bayonet could be used on both the M1903 and the M1 Garand rifles. It is unknown if the M1905 bayonet sent to the USSR is the original 16-inch blade sword bayonet or the cut-down 10-inch blade knife bayonet. Nor is it known if the M1905 bayonet was sent to the USSR as part of a package alongside the M1 Garand or if it was a separate unrelated shipment.