Editing Semi-automatic rifle (section)

==History==
In 1883, [[Hiram Maxim]] patented a recoil-operated conversion of a [[Winchester rifle]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hiram Maxim |url=https://www.dulwichsociety.com/people/hiram-maxim |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=www.dulwichsociety.com|date=7 March 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite patent|number=US319595A|title=maxim|gdate=1885-06-09|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US319595A/en}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Jewison2010>{{cite web |last1=Jewison |first1=Glenn |last2=Steiner |first2=Jörg C. |year=2010 |title=Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher |url=http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/biog/mannlicher.htm |website=austro-hungarian-army.co.uk |publisher=Glenn Jewison }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The 1885 Assault Rifle {{!}} WeaponsMan |url=https://billstclair.com/weaponsman.com/index.html?p=37471 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117005411/https://billstclair.com/weaponsman.com/index.html?p=37471 |archive-date=2022-01-17 |access-date=2021-03-27 |website=billstclair.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite patent|number=US639421A|title=Recoil-operated firearm|gdate=1899-12-19|invent1=Mauser|inventor1-first=Paul|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US639421A/en}}</ref> Several of his early models, including the Mannlicher Model 85, the 91, the 93, and the 95, used non-gas-operated mechanisms.<ref name=Smith1947>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Walter H.B. |year=1947 |title=Mannlicher Rifles and Pistols: Famous Sporting and Military Weapons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AfqingEACAAJ |publisher=Military Service Publishing |isbn=9781258889470 }}</ref> However, the designs remained prototypes because of challenges associated with the [[black powder]] used in their cartridges (based around the [[Austria]]n [[11×58mmR|11×58 mm R M/77]]), such as low [[muzzle velocity|velocity]] and excessive [[fouling]]. The adoption of [[smokeless powder]] later facilitated the practical development of [[Automatic firearm|fully-automatic]] and [[Semi-automatic firearm|semi-automatic firearms]].

Mannlicher's designs contributed to the evolution of later [[firearm]]s, including the [[John Moses Browning|Browning]] [[M1917 Browning machine gun|M1917]], [[M1919 Browning machine gun|M1919]], and [[M2 Browning]] machine guns.<ref>{{Cite web
  |last=McCollum|first=Ian|date=2015-05-06|title=Mannlicher 1885 Semiauto Rifle|url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/mannlicher-1885-semiauto-rifle/|access-date=2020-10-21|website=Forgotten Weapons
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
  |last1=Smith|first1=Walter Harold Black|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NiK7nEZkf0IC&q=FG+42+Mannlicher|title=Small Arms of the World: The Basic Manual of Military Small Arms, American, Soviet, British, Czech, German, French, Belgian, Italian, Swiss, Japanese, and All Other Important Nations|last2=Smith|first2=Joseph Edward|date=1960|publisher=Stackpole Company|language=en}}</ref> In the early 1880s, [[Mannlicher–Schönauer|Mannlicher]] began producing versions of his rifles designed for smokeless powder, continuing his work until his death on January 20 1904.<ref>{{Cite book
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJaPbfRhdfoC&q=Mannlicher+Smokeless+Automatic+1891&pg=PA7-IA7|title=The Engineer|date=1893|publisher=Morgan-Grampian (Publishers)|pages=14|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:FSA-1917-detoured.jpg|thumb|The [[Fusil Automatique Modele 1917]] was an early [[France|French]] semi-automatic rifle issued in limited numbers to the French Armed Forces during [[World War I]].]]

===Blowback semi-automatic===
In 1903 and 1905, the [[Winchester Repeating Arms Company]] introduced the first low-power [[Blowback (firearms)|blow back]] (shell-operated) semi-automatic rifles firing [[rimfire ammunition|Rimfire]] and [[centerfire ammunition|center fire ammunition]]. The [[Winchester Model 1903]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |title=Historical Firearms - Winchester Model 1903 / Model 63 The Winchester... |url=https://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/168059981329/winchester-model-1903-model-63-the-winchester |access-date=2024-10-16 |newspaper=Historical Firearms |last1=Firearms |first1=Historical }}</ref> and the [[Winchester Model 1905]]<ref>{{Cite book |title=Winchester Repeating Arms Company 1905 Guns Catalog |publisher=Reproduction by Cornell Military Publications. Brighton, MI 48114}}</ref> both operated on the blow back principle to function. Designed by [[T.C. Johnson|Thomas C. Johnson]], the Model 1903 was commercially successful and remained in production until 1932 – when it was succeeded by the [[Winchester Model 63]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=National Rifle |title=An Official Journal Of The NRA {{!}} Snapshot: Winchester's Rimfire Rout |url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/snapshot-winchester-s-rimfire-rout/ |access-date=2022-05-23 |website=An Official Journal Of The NRA |language=en}}</ref>

By the early 20th century, several manufacturers began producing semi-automatic [[.22 caliber]] rifles, including [[Winchester Repeating Arms Company|Winchester]],<ref name=":0" /> [[Remington Arms|Remington]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Firearms |first=Historical |title=Historical Firearms - Remington Model 16 The Remington Model 16 is a... |url=https://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/172943501644/remington-model-16-the-remington-model-16-is-a |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20190415234615/http://www.historicalfirearms.info:80/post/172943501644/remington-model-16-the-remington-model-16-is-a |archive-date=2019-04-15 |access-date=2024-12-13 |work=Historical Firearms |language=en}}</ref> [[Fabrique Nationale]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-06-03 |title=22 Semi-Auto Rifle |url=http://www.browning.com/customerservice/dategun/detail.asp?id=5 |access-date=2024-12-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603175817/http://www.browning.com/customerservice/dategun/detail.asp?id=5 |archive-date=3 June 2008 }}</ref> and [[Savage Arms]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=22 Long Rifle History: From Plinking to Precision |url=https://savagearms.com/blog/post/from-plinking-to-precision-the-evolution-of-the-22-long-rifle |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=savagearms.com |language=en}}</ref> all using the direct blow back system of operation. Winchester later introduced a [[.351 Winchester Self-Loading]] semi-automatic rifle, the [[Winchester Model 1907|Model 1907]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=National Rifle |title=An Official Journal Of The NRA {{!}} Early Semi-Automatics: Winchester's First Self-Loading Rifles |url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/early-semi-automatics-winchester-s-first-self-loading-rifles/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=An Official Journal Of The NRA |language=en}}</ref> as an upgraded version of the Model 1905 offering greater power than its .[[.22 caliber|22 caliber]] predecessor and utilizing a blow back system. Both the Model 1905 and Model 1907 saw limited [[military]] and [[police]] use.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Firearms |first=Historical |title=Historical Firearms - Winchester's Self Loading Rifles In the early... |url=https://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/181311063062/winchesters-self-loading-rifles-in-the-early |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230122073349/https://www.historicalfirearms.info/post/181311063062/winchesters-self-loading-rifles-in-the-early |archive-date=2023-01-22 |access-date=2024-12-13 |work=Historical Firearms |language=en}}</ref>

===Early semi-automatic rifles===
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|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 [[Royal Danish Navy|Danish Navy]], making it one of the earliest semi-automatic rifles officially adopted by a military force.<ref name="Madsen-Rasmussen">{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2015 |title=Madsen-Rasmussen |url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/early-semiauto-rifles/madsen-rasmussen-18881896/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-06-04 |title=Madsen-Rasmussen M1896 semi-automatic rifle (Denmark) |url=https://modernfirearms.net/en/military-rifles/self-loading-rifles/denmark-self-loading-rifles/madsen-m1896-eng/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=Modern Firearms |language=en}}</ref>

In the final years of the 19th century and the early 20th century, experiments and patents with [[gas-operated reloading|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.<ref name="Cei-Rigotti">{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2013 |title=Cei-Rigotti |url=https://www.forgottenweapons.com/early-semiauto-rifles/cei-rigotti/ }}</ref>

In 1906, [[Remington Arms]] introduced the [[Remington Model 8|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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Woodall |first1=Cameron |title="F.N. 1900" |url=http://thegreatmodel8.remingtonsociety.com/?page_id=1562 |access-date=9 August 2020}}</ref> The rifle is a [[locked breech]], [[long recoil]] action designed by [[John Browning]], and had [[.25 Remington|.25]], [[.30 Remington|.30]], .32, and [[.35 Remington|.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.

In 1908, General [[Manuel Mondragon|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.

[[File:M1 Garand rifle USA noBg.jpg|thumb|The [[M1 Garand]] was designed by [[John Garand]] in 1936 and initially produced for the [[United States Armed Forces|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 [[Rif War|Moroccan Rif War]] from 1921 to 1926.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rif War {{!}} Facts, History, & Outcome {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Rif-War |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-27 |title=The Rif War: A forgotten war? |url=https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/the-rif-war-a-forgotten-war-923 |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=International Review of the Red Cross |language=en}}</ref> The bolt-action [[Lebel Model 1886 rifle]] remained the standard [[France|French]] [[infantry rifle]] until it was replaced in 1936 by another bolt-action rifle, the [[MAS-36 rifle|MAS-36]].

The [[United Kingdom]] experimented with [[Self-loading rifle|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 [[World War II|Second World War]] became imminent and the United Kingdom hastily rearmed with more traditional weapons designs.

===Gas-operated rifles===
[[File:M1941.jpg|thumb|[[M1941 Johnson rifle]] 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.]] [[Springfield, Massachusetts]] – [[John Garand]], a [[Canada|Canadian]]-born [[Firearm|firearms]] designer, was tasked with designing a basic [[M1 Garand|gas-actuated self-loading infantry rifle]] and [[M1 carbine|carbine rifle]] that would eject the spent [[Cartridge (firearms)|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.<ref>Bruce N. Canfield. The Unknown M1 Garand, ''American Rifleman'', 142 (January 1994): 46–49.</ref><ref>[http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/12/14/hindsight-is-3006-critique-of-the-m1-garand/ Hindsight: A Critique Of The M1 Garand], December 14, 2014.</ref> 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.<ref>{{US Patent|1892141}}</ref>[[George S. Patton|General George S. Patton]] described the M1 Garand as "the greatest battle implement ever devised''.''"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Leroy |title=The M1 Garand |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2012 |pages=4}}</ref> It replaced the [[bolt-action|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".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=JScDAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+science+October+1940&pg=PA68 He Invented the World's Deadliest Rifle], ''Popular Science'', December 1940, page 68.</ref> During [[World War II]], over 4,000,000 M1 rifles were manufactured.<ref>Bruce N. Canfield. The Winchester Garand, ''American Rifleman'', Volume 153 (April 2005), pages 46–49.</ref>

The [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[AVS-36]], [[SVT-40|SVT-38, and SVT-40]], as well as the German [[Gewehr 43]], were semi-automatic [[Gas-operated reloading|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,<ref>{{cite book |last1=McNab |first1=Chris |title=German Automatic Rifles 1941-45: Gew 41, Gew 43, FG 42 and StG 44 |date=2013 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |page=19}}</ref> and over 14,000,000 of the [[Kar98k]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grant |first1=Niel |title=Mauser Military Rifles |date=2015 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |page=65}}</ref>

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.<ref name="hogg2002">Hogg, Ian (2002). ''Jane's Guns Recognition Guide''. Jane's Information Group. {{ISBN|0-00-712760-X}}.</ref> 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 rifle|M16]] limited the viability of widespread [[Military deployment|deployment]] of semi-automatic rifles.
[[File:Staff Sergeant Richard J Clark USMC 2013-07-09 16-55.jpg|thumb|U.S. [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] 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 [[Round (firearms)|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]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Arquilla|first=John|title=Information Strategy and Warfare: A Guide to Theory and Practice|publisher=Routledge|year=2007|pages=150}}</ref> The first fully-automatic rifle to see widespread usage was the German [[StG 44|STG-44]], which was reportedly well-liked by troops,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chen |first=Peter |date=2008 |title=Sturmgewehr 44 Rifle {{!}} World War II Database |url=https://m.ww2db.com/weapon.php?q=5 |access-date=18 October 2024 |website=World War II Database}}</ref> as the 30-round select-fire rifle gave them much more flexibility than the bolt-action [[Karabiner 98k]].

Ultimately, [[automatic rifle|fully-automatic rifle]]s 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 rifle]]s, 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]].