General Patton wrote, "In my opinion, the ___________ is the greatest battle implement ever devised." To which weapon was he referring?

Patton liked the M1 Garand Rifle because it fired eight bullets without cocking or reloading. This allowed an infantryman to "maintain a sight picture"; to keep shooting at the same spot without having to care for his weapon.

The M1 rifle is a .30 caliber, gas-operated, 8 shot clip-fed, semi-automatic rifle. It is 43.6 inches (1,107 mm) long and it weighs about 9.5 pounds (4.31 kg). It was the standard American infantry weapon from WWII to Korea. Approximately 5.5 million were built.

Marines currently in combat use Garands as sniper weapons. They are smaller and easier to maneuver than purpose-built sniper rifles, and just as accurate, in trained hands.

The rifle, named after its designer, Canadian-American John Garand (pronounced like "errand") finds drill teams thrilled with it's weight and balance.

It became standard issue after beating out competition from Berthier, Hatcher-Bang, Thompson, and Pedersen. The M1 Garand was designed for simple assembly and disassembly to make field maintenance easier. It can be field stripped (broken down) without tools in just a few seconds.