The Winchester Model 30 was an experimental

self-loading A semi-automatic firearm, also called a self-loading or autoloading firearm (fully automatic and selective fire firearms are also variations on self-loading firearms), is a repeating firearm whose action mechanism ''automatically'' loads a follo ...

rifle offered to the

United States War Department The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

as an alternative to the

M1 Garand The M1 Garand or M1 rifleOfficially designated as U.S. rifle, caliber .30, M1, later simply called Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, also called US Rifle, Cal. .30, M1 is a semi-automatic rifle that was the service rifle of the U.S Army during World War ...

Winchester Repeating Arms The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm went into receivership ...

modified the design to a selective fire Winchester Automatic Rifle after military field trials favored the Garand. Development had not progressed beyond limited-production prototypes when official interest faded at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

History

Soon after adoption of the Garand, the

Ordnance Department The United States Army Ordnance Corps, formerly the United States Army Ordnance Department, is a sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia. The broad mission of the Ordnance Corps is to supply Army comb ...

hired Winchester to evaluate the new M1 rifle. Winchester engineers believed the Garand required unnecessarily expensive manufacturing procedures which would make it impractical for mass production in times of emergency. Winchester then acquired production rights to a self-loading

.30-06 Springfield The .30-06 Springfield cartridge (pronounced "thirty- aught-six" ), 7.62×63mm in metric notation, and called the .30 Gov't '06 by Winchester, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in military use ...

rifle designed by John Browning's half-brother Jonathan E. Browning. Following the designer's death in 1939, Winchester modified the design to use David Marshall Williams' short-stroke piston later successful in the

M1 carbine The M1 carbine (formally the United States Carbine, Caliber .30, M1) is a lightweight semi-automatic carbine that was a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1 carbine was produced ...

. The Ordnance Department tested the initial model G30 prototype at

Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving ''Grounds'') is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work a ...

in September 1940.

G30M

The

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

tested an improved prototype model G30M in comparison to the Garand and the M1941 Johnson rifle using the

M1903 Springfield The M1903 Springfield, officially the United States Rifle, Caliber .30-06, Model 1903, is an American five-round magazine-fed, bolt-action service repeating rifle, used primarily during the first half of the 20th century. The M1903 was first ...

rifle as a control. The Marines evaluated the Winchester model G30M as the least satisfactory of the four rifles tested.

G30R

As the M1 carbine was entering production, Winchester provided Aberdeen Proving Grounds with an improved prototype model G30R reflecting short-stroke piston knowledge gained from the successful M1 carbine program. The model G30R was provided with detachable box magazines with capacities of 5, 10, 20 or 30 cartridges. The Ordnance Department designated the model G30R as the T10E1; but found it less satisfactory than the Garand.

Winchester Automatic Rifle

Since the Garand had demonstrated effectiveness as an infantry rifle in combat, the Ordnance Department suggested Winchester revise the design again to include a

bipod A bipod is a V-shaped portable attachment that helps support and steady a device, usually a weapon such as a long gun or a mortar. The term comes from the Latin prefix ''bi-'' and Greek root ''pod'', meaning "two" and "foot" respectively. Bip ...

and selective fire capability as a possible alternative to the

M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle The Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) is a family of American automatic rifles and machine guns used by the United States and numerous other countries during the 20th century. The primary variant of the BAR series was the M1918, chambered for the ...

(BAR). The Winchester Automatic Rifle (WAR) tested by the Ordnance Department in December 1944 was several pounds lighter than the BAR. Ten more WARs were tested during the summer of 1945 by the Army Infantry Board and by the Marine Corps Equipment Board; but interest in the project ended upon conclusion of Second World War hostilities.

References

{{Winchester Cartridges Firearms .30-06 Springfield semi-automatic rifles Automatic rifles Semi-automatic rifles of the United States Winchester Repeating Arms Company firearms