Editing Semi-automatic rifle (section)

===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 In 1936, the Model 81 superseded the Model 8 and was offered in [[.300 Savage]] as well as the original Remington calibers.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.