M1 Garand.

What does a battle rifle have in common with a microwave? They both go 'ping!' when they're done. The M1 Garand is a battle-proven American weapon that was ahead of its time. So what set this weapon apart? What are the advantages of a semi-automatic rifle? and is it pronounced Guh-rand or Ger-und? The M1 Garand is named after its Canadian-American designer, John Garand.

His interest in machinery and target shooting led to his position as a consulting engineer at the Springfield Armory. After the First World War, the US Army expressed an interest in developing a self-loading rifle for military use, to replace the earlier bolt-action M1903 Springfield rifle then currently in service.

The Garand's major rival was the .276 Pedersen rifle, which used an experimental intermediate cartridge. This would permit a lighter self-loading weapon than would otherwise be possible with existing rifle calibres. However, later Garand prototypes were made to reliably function with the powerful .30-06 Springfield cartridge - and given the US military's existing stocks, and unwillingness to switch calibre - this proved a decisive factor in the rifle's selection as the M1 in 1936.

One of the most notable features of the M1 Garand is its method of loading: instead of a removable box magazine, cartridges are inserted as an 8-round en-bloc clip. This is retained within the non-removable internal magazine - and automatically ejected once all rounds are expended, launching skyward with a distinctive metallic 'ping!'.

This quirk is well-remembered and is a symptom of a transitional design: the M1 Garand was ahead of its time. Its adoption just before the outbreak of World War 2 meant that there were enough rifles to arm the entire US military by the time they had entered the war.

As the first ever successful semi-automatic rifle used in active military service, it gave a rifleman that wielded it a distinct advantage over an enemy equipped with bolt-action weapons. Faster follow-up shots meant a better ability to hit the enemy first, and a healthy supply chain meant that any wasted ammo was readily restocked.

General George S. Patton described the M1 Garand as "The greatest implement of battle ever devised". Within the context of World War 2, he may have been right. After the war, self loading rifles would become commonplace, with weapons like the AK-47, G3 and FAL replacing earlier bolt-action designs.

The M1 Garand would be replaced by the M14 rifle - with the M14's removable 20-round magazine and select fire ability making it more suitable for the second half of the 20th century. For a time, video games set during World War 2 were very, very popular.

1998 film Saving Private Ryan can shoulder much of the blame - its gritty first-person perspective made for the perfect marriage with the emergent FPS genre. The Medal of Honor series marks a watershed in the history of cinematic games: a blend of classic FPS with a wartime setting, and a story provided by Stephen Spielberg.

The grand drama of conflict fits well with an immersive setting, allowing events of global impact to unfold before the player's eyes. In games, your gun is player agency made manifest: and for the duration of World War 2, the M1 Garand was the American's weapon of choice.

It was commonly seen throughout the surge of interest in historical military shooters: and it's also here that we see the birth of the blockbuster Call of Duty franchise. While COD made an effort to show other aspects of the war - with interwoven stories from 3 separate fronts - the Americans and their rifle still had prominent placement.

As the popularity of wartime FPS subsided, and modern military games took hold - the weapon has become a rarer sight. The M1 Garand's time in service was relatively short, so it's not often seen outside of a World War 2 setting. Alternate theatres were explored during the tail end of wartime shooters, with the Pacific War providing a refreshing angle away from the overdone European fronts.

Banzai charges, traps and ambush tactics were amongst the new threats you'd encounter - but the M1 Garand remained a constant. The campaigns in North Africa sometimes make an appearance, too - with sandy environments and dust storms thrown into the mix amongst ferocious combat.

Less common is the weapon's appearance in Vietnam: while there were still a few Garands in service, by this time frontline use was entirely replaced with the M14 - and later, the M16. In the few depictions within Vietnam, the M1 is either used in a specialist role - or included as a throwback to an earlier era.

Typically, though, the M1 is a rifleman's weapon: an evolution of a long line of light infantry roles, steeped in tradition. Standard issue for the majority, the Garand was by far the most common weapon fielded by the US during World War 2. This is reflected in games, and the M1 is usually the default weapon for players assuming the role of an American soldier.

Sometimes, the variety of weapons on offer is exaggerated: and dropping your rifle for a more exotic choice, or an enemy weapon, is encouraged more often than not. The M1 occupies a space in game balance between the faster-firing SMGs and slower bolt action weapons: normally with the power to despatch a foe with a single well-aimed bullet, but less reliably than with a slower-firing weapon.

One universal trait of the Garand in games is its reload - few depictions omit the real rifle's most distinctive characteristic. The iconic 'ping' is a memorable and charming aspect of the weapon: a melodic tone in contrast to the cacophony of rifle fire.

It might seem like a bad idea to have an empty weapon emit an audible cue - giving an enemy a chance to exploit your inability to fire - but in practical terms, it's never an issue. With cover fire from your squad, and reloads taking just a couple of seconds - downtime is minimal.

Besides, the battlefield is a noisy place - you'd struggle to hear the ping over any sort of distance over the deafening peal of gunshots. Another quirk in some games is the inability to reload a partly-depleted magazine: the only way of restoring your full 8 rounds is to expend them, either towards the enemy or at nothing in particular.

While it's true the clip won't eject until all rounds are expended - it is nonetheless possible to extract and refill the weapon, through manual operation of the bolt. Some games do show this - but it does require a different animation, and is a lengthier procedure, so it's easy to understand why it's sometimes omitted.

Besides, by reloading early you miss out on the ping - an unmistakeable quirk of an extraordinary rifle. The M1 Garand is an important historical weapon, and one that helped shape the battles of World War 2. Although its time in service was short, during its reign it was state-of-the-art - and gave those who wielded it a distinct advantage through superior firepower.