The barrel then stops against a shoulder allowing the bolt carrier to continue rearward under the momentum imparted by the initial recoil stage.

Regardless of any anecdotal beliefs, and despite the popularity of the story, there are no verified cases of an enemy using the "M1 ping" sound to their advantage up through the Korean War.

Additionally, the complex movements of the barrel required for proper operation would be subject to unacceptable stress upon a bayonet thrust into a target.

Partially because of lack of development, the M1941 was less rugged and reliable than the M1, though this was a matter of personal preference and was not universally opined among those that had used both weapons in combat.

Melvin Johnson, a lawyer by profession, a Marine officer and a gun hobbyist, was skeptical of the adopted design (for example, he doubted that wartime ammunition would be consistent enough for a gas-operated rifle to work reliably) and decided to develop his own.

[9] In February 1936, when the Garand had just been adopted, he had his first working model, which had an unprecedented 10 locking lugs in its rotating bolt, manufactured in a machine shop for $300.

By all accounts,[citation needed] the M1941 performed acceptably in combat with the Marines in the early days of the Pacific fighting.

Weapon serial number A0009 was issued to USMC Captain Robert Hugo Dunlap, of Monmouth, Illinois, and he carried it into combat in the battle for Iwo Jima, beginning 19 February 1945.

Captain Dunlap was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in that battle, and he retained and displayed the weapon until his death in 2000.

[19] Some rifles were reportedly sent to Nationalist China,[20][21] and a few were captured by the People's Liberation Army during the later stages of the Chinese Civil War.

[22] The .30-06 Springfield and Enfield M1917 rifles were supplied in large numbers to the KMT by the USA pre-1945, to arm Y and X Forces in Burma.

While specific details are sketchy, it apparently bore little resemblance, but shared some features with the Johnson M1941 light machine gun.