page_title: Semi-automatic rifle
section_title: Gas-operated rifles
hierarchical_section_title: Semi-automatic rifle / History / Gas-operated rifles
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: SKS Russisches Halbautomatisches Gewehr (1945). Kaliber 7.62x39mm. Aus der Sammlung des Schwedischen Armee Museums. Version mit weißem Hintergrund, entfernten Archivstickern und technischem Schatten. English: SKS Russian semi-automatic rifle (1945). Caliber 7.62x39mm. From the collections of Armémuseum (Swedish Army Museum), Stockholm, Sweden.
context_page_description: A semi-automatic rifle is a rifle that fires a single bullet with each pull of the trigger. For comparison, a bolt action rifle requires the user to cycle the bolt manually before they can fire a second time, and a fully automatic rifle, provided it has ammunition, will continue to fire until the trigger is released. Though fully automatic rifles are more common, most modern automatic rifles are selective fire, meaning the user can fire semi-automatically if desired.
context_section_description: In 1937, the American M1 Garand was historically significant as it was the first semi automatic service rifle. The gas-operated M1 Garand was developed by Canadian-born John Garand for the U.S. government at the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. After years of research and testing, the first production model of the M1 Garand was unveiled in 1937. During World War II, the M1 Garand gave American infantrymen an advantage over their opponents, most of whom were issued slower firing bolt-action rifles. General George S. Patton described the M1 Garand as "the greatest battle implement ever devised."
  The Soviet AVS-36, SVT-38, and SVT-40, as well as the German 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, and the SKS, along with its Chinese copy, the Type 56, is one of the most popular semi-automatic rifles. By the end of World War II, however, semi-automatic rifles had been largely superseded in military usage by their fully automatic counterparts - weapons such as the AK-47, FN FAL and M16 limited the viability of widespread deployment of semi-automatic rifles. 
  Gradually, military doctrine placed less emphasis on individual marksmanship, as a large volume of fire was deemed more important - during World War II, American ground forces fired approximately 25,000 rounds for each enemy killed. In the Korean War, this was raised to 50,000, and in the Vietnam War it was 200,000. The first fully automatic rifle to see widespread usage was the German StG 44, which was well liked by troops, as the 30-round, selective fire rifle gave them much more flexibility than their service rifle, the bolt action Karabiner 98k. Ultimately, automatic rifles would become standard in military usage, as their firepower was superior to that of a semi-automatic rifle, but both semi-automatics and even bolt actions are still used worldwide in military service in specific roles, such as designated marksman rifles where the greater accuracy compared to automatics is valued. Furthermore, to accommodate for this greater firepower, battle rifles were mostly replaced by assault rifles, whose lighter bullets allowed more to be carried at once, but where semi-automatic rifles continue to be used, they are usually in higher calibers, such as the .50 BMG Barrett M82.
caption: The SKS is a Russian semi-automatic rifle.
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