Experimental semi-automatic rifles, 1919-1931- excluding Garand's and Pedersen's rifles
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Attempts at producing semi-automatic rifles that could fire the full-power military rifle cartridge continued with increasing intensity following the First World War. Many private designers and manufacturers submitted their weapons to the testing trials at Springfield Armory where any weakness or strength became immediately apparent. 
Springfield Armory NHS archives, US NPS The Model 1922 Bang rifle using the sliding muzzle-cap system. The Model 1922 Bang rifle was a modification of the earlier Models of 1909 and U.S. .30" caliber Model 1911 Bang rifles. Produced in .256" caliber (6.5mm Krag), the rifle was handled by the inventor Soren Bang at the U.S. Ordnance Department trials in 1927 and 1919. "CLICK" here for Close-up view. "CLICK" here for Disassembled view. ___________________
Springfield Armory NHS archives, US NPS The first of several rifles submitted to test trials by Capt. James Hatcher, the 1920 rifle was not robust enough for military service. U.S. RIFLE HATCHER-BANG .30 SPAR5960 __________________
Springfield Armory NHS, US NPS This rifle used the Bang rifle muzzle sleeve system as had his earlier 1920 rifle, but it was a more robust design. U.S. RIFLE MODEL 1921 HATCHER-BANG .30 SPAR6250 About September, 1920, Captain James L. Hatcher, then on duty in the Experimental Department at Springfield Armory, was directed to supervise the design of a semi-automatic rifle. This rifle was to have the principle and main mechanical features of the Bang Gun, which gave considerable promise in tests of a few years earlier, but to be better balanced, easier to handle, and have its parts so designed as to offer no special difficulty in manufacture. Development of the Bang system, as displayed in this rifle, was discontinued after the 1922 tests of this weapon ". . . by reason that while the design was not considered to be impractical, the tappet actuator system of Mr. Garand appeared to offer greater promise."(from History of Army Ordnance and Experimental Projects) "CLICK" here for left side view. "CLICK" here for view of the rifle's major components. "CLICK" here for disassembled view. "CLICK" here for close-up of the working parts. _________________
Springfield Armory NHS archives, US NPS The Blish system was designed so that opposed inclined steel surfaces are locked together by friction under high pressure and that the friction between the locking surfaces decreases as the pressure in the gun decreses finally becoming small enough to permit the residual pressure in the barrel to force open the bolt. Thompson Autorifle Model 1921 [top], submitted by Colt's Patent Fire Arms Manufacturing, Inc., for the 1921 trials used the Blish principle of metal adhesion, used in the famous Thompson submachine gun ("Tommy Gun"), as developed by Gen. John T. Thompson. This weapon was preceded by a similar model the year before. In trials in 1921 against the Garand Model 1921 [bottom], the Thompson rifle performed poorly. Later efforts by Colt with rifles using the Blish system were similarly disappointing. __________________
Springfield Armory NHS archives, US NPS Weapons submitted for the Nov-Dec 1921 tests: U.S. RIFLE MODEL 1923 THOMPSON .30 SN# 9 SPAR3655 (not pictured) U.S. RIFLE MODEL 1923 THOMPSON .30 SN# 13 SPAR3656 (not pictured) Berthier system semi-auto rifle submitted by the U.S. Machine Gun Co. "CLICK" here to see left side view of these weapons. ___________________
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Did You Know?
Springfield Arsenal, a military supply depot, was sited by General Henry Knox, and approved by General George Washington in 1777. The arsenal became known as Springfield Armory in 1794 when on-site small arms manufacturing was approved by President Washington. More...