Editing Semi-automatic firearm (section)

===Notable early semi-automatic rifles===

In 1906, [[Remington Arms]] introduced the [[Remington Model 8|Remington Auto-loading Repeating Rifle]]. Remington advertised this rifle, renamed the "Model 8" in 1911, as a sporting rifle. This is a locked-breech, [[long recoil]] action designed by [[John Browning]]. The rifle was offered in .25, .30, .32, and .35 caliber models, and gained popularity among civilians as well as some law enforcement officials who appreciated the combination of a semi-automatic action and relatively powerful rifle cartridges. The Model 81 superseded the Model 8 in 1936 and was offered in [[.300 Savage]] as well as the original Remington calibers.

The first semi-automatic rifle adopted and widely issued by a major military power ([[France]]) was the [[Fusil Automatique Modele 1917]]. This is a locked-breech, gas-operated action that is very similar in its mechanical principles to the future [[M1 Garand]] in the United States. The M1917 was fielded during the latter stages of [[World War I]] but it did not receive a favorable reception. However, its shortened and improved version, the Model 1918, was much more favourably received during the Moroccan [[Rif War (1920)|Rif War]] from 1920 to 1926. The [[Lebel Model 1886 rifle|Lebel]] bolt-action rifle remained the standard French infantry rifle until replaced in 1936 by the [[MAS-36 rifle|MAS-36]] despite the various semi-automatic rifles designed between 1918 and 1935.

Other nations experimented with self-loading rifles between the two World Wars, including the [[United Kingdom]], which had intended to replace the bolt-action [[Lee–Enfield]] with a self-loader, possibly chambered for sub-caliber ammunition, but discarded that plan as the imminence of the Second World War and the emphasis shifted from replacing every rifle with a new design to speeding-up re-armament with existing weapons. The [[Soviet Union]] and [[Nazi Germany]] would both issue successful self-loading and selective-fire rifles on a large scale during the course of the war, but not in sufficient numbers to replace their standard bolt-action rifles.