The International Harvester M1 Garand,After World War II it was believed that the United States had
The International Harvester M1 Garand,After World War II it was believed that the United States had enough M1 Garand rifles in armory to last several generations. During the Korean War, the government took many of those Garands out of storage and refurbished them for military issue. It was decided that new Garands needed to be produced to keep up with demand, as the United States not only needed them to arm the US military, but was arming various Cold War allies around the world. Thus in 1953 the government contracted Harrington & Richardson as well as International Harvester to produce new M1 Garands.The choice of International Harvester was unusual, as the company was known for producing tractors, construction equipment, agriculture equipment, and home consumer goods. The reason for contracting International Harvester was very specific. Most US arms production occurred on the East Coast. If the worst case Cold War scenario occurred, an armed nuclear conflict between the US and the Soviet Union, it was expected that urban and industrial centers would be heavily hit. International Harvester’s plant was located in Evansville, Indiana, and thus might be spared from destruction. Production of the International Harvester M1 Garand began in 1953 and lasted until 1956, when Whirlpool bought out their Evansville plant. 337,623 were produced. -- source link
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