Built by archive

International Harvester Weapon Systems

International Harvester was a Chicago-based American industrial manufacturer best known for agricultural and truck production, and in this catalog it matters as a wartime and postwar U.S. rifle contractor behind the M1 Garand.

1 weapon systems

International Harvester was incorporated in 1902 through the merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Company with four smaller machinery makers. It grew into a major Chicago industrial concern with deep roots in farm machinery, trucks, and construction equipment before the remaining business was renamed Navistar International Corporation in 1986.

For this archive, International Harvester matters because its name appears on cataloged M1 Garand production history and because the company helps explain how a broad industrial manufacturer also became a defense supplier.

Agricultural machineryTruck manufacturingConstruction equipmentIndustrial manufacturingMilitary rifle production

Notable Systems

M1 Garand

The U.S. National Park Service lists International Harvester among the companies that produced M1 rifles and provides the serial-number blocks assigned to the firm.

Sources: NPS M1 Garand production, Britannica company history

Builder History

  1. International Harvester is formed

    Britannica says International Harvester was incorporated in 1902 through a merger of McCormick Harvesting Machine Company with four smaller machinery makers.

    Sources: Britannica company history

  2. Army contracts IH for M1 rifle production

    The U.S. National Park Service notes that International Harvester was one of the later M1 contractors and assigns the company its production serial-number ranges.

    Sources: NPS M1 Garand production

  3. Company renamed Navistar

    Britannica says the remaining truck and engine business changed its name to Navistar International Corporation in 1986 after the farm-equipment sale.

    Sources: Britannica company history

Predecessors
McCormick Harvesting Machine CompanyDeering Harvester CompanyMilwaukee Harvesting Machine CompanyPlano Manufacturing CompanyWarder, Bushnell and Glessner Company
Successors
Navistar International Corporation
Website links
Encyclopedia of ChicagoBritannica company historyNPS M1 Garand production

International Harvester is a defunct historical manufacturer, so this profile normalizes legacy name variants and leans on successor-company and historical reference sources for continuity.

Builder Sources

  • Britannica company historyPublisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica | Note: Supports International Harvester's 1902 incorporation, Chicago headquarters, major truck and construction-equipment background, and the 1986 rename to Navistar International Corporation. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • NPS M1 Garand productionPublisher: U.S. National Park Service | Note: Supports International Harvester as one of the companies that produced M1 rifles and documents the serial-number ranges assigned to the firm. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
  • International Harvester logo.png on Wikimedia CommonsPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports the reusable builder logo image; the file page identifies the logo as a public-domain text logo and provides the image provenance context. | Accessed: 2026-06-21

Category

Infantry Weapons

Portable weapons used by soldiers and small units.

1