M1 Garand 308

[Lotahp1]

Hello,

I have a very nice M1 Garand I got from my Granddad when he passed. I actually gave it to him on his 79th Birthday but shorty after he got cancer. This was the last gun we shot together up at H&H. Anyway a very nice gun with alot of value to me. What I was wondering is what all has been done to make it a 308? I know about the block. But was the barrel changed? Can it be converted back to 30-06? Why do people do this in the first place? I picked this gun to give to him because it was in such great shape and has a awesome factory stock that is really good looking. Thanks for any info always wanting to know about guns in my collection.

Kris

 

[Fyrtwuck]

I'd keep it as it is. The few I've dealt with were called "Navy Garands".

 

[Jim Macklin]

.308 [7.62x51 ammo] may be more available as surplus than .30/06.
The NAVY developed the chamber bushing which is pressed into a .30/06 chamber so a .308 headspaces. That can be removed and teh gun will then shoot /06.

If the gun was re-barreled as a .308 then you'd need to get a new barrel to go back to /06.

Has the barrel been restamped for caliber? Have you had a gunsmith check it?

There is little reason to switch back to /06, te .308 is ballisticly identical to safe loads pf /06 in a Garand.

 

[shortgrass]

I see more Ball M2 through the CMP than I do Ball M80. Most of that surplus .308 (7.62x51) that was around was intended for the FAL series of rifles and wasn't accurate in my M1 and, sometimes, wouldn't cycle the action. There are not many of those "Navy" M1's out there, they have a pretty good collector value and have gone by 'Auction Only' on the CMP web site. Yours is probobly a newer one made by Springfield Armory, Inc. (same co. that makes 1911's & XD's). The Navy didn't do very many conversions because that 'sleeve' had a tendency to come flying out with a spent casing. Your rifle my have been converted by a gunsmith. Wilson Arms makes .308 short chambered barrels for Garands. All that's needed is to torque it on and head space it. Some consider the 7.62x51 to be more accurate for target shooting than .30 Cal. Ball M2. I'll only buy surplus ammo with a known pedigree, otherwise it's just 'luck of the draw' and usually crap. No sense in 'throwing' lead down range if it gives a 'shotgun pattern' instead of a group!

 

[henschman]

Some guys converted their M-1s to .308 back when .308 was cheaper to shoot than .30 '06. that's not true anymore, at least if you buy ammo from the CMP, so its not nearly as popular to do anymore.

You could convert it back to .30'06 by putting a .30'06 barrel on it, or you could just save the trouble and keep it in .308 in case it gets cheap again, and buy a whole new rifle from the CMP for $500 if you want to shoot '06. that's probably what I would do.

 

[AKguy1985]

field grade from the CMP right now is $495 plus shipping and a service grade is $595, just FYI

 

[SevenSixTwo]

I have looked into this myself. Some of those Navy Garands had trouble with the barrel bushing coming out the barrel briefly turning a battle rifle into a spear gun! The best solution would be to take care of the block and rebarrell with a kreiger, or some such, match barrel. I don't know much about smithing on a garand, but I don't imagine switching out the barrel would be that hard witht the right tools. You may find you can do the job yourself in the garage if you wanted to. The rifle may be a serious collectors item to your grandkids, but if you aren't concerned with that then get it converted and have fun.

 

[shortgrass]

I have looked into this myself. Some of those Navy Garands had trouble with the barrel bushing coming out the barrel briefly turning a battle rifle into a spear gun! The best solution would be to take care of the block and rebarrell with a kreiger, or some such, match barrel. I don't know much about smithing on a garand, but I don't imagine switching out the barrel would be that hard witht the right tools. You may find you can do the job yourself in the garage if you wanted to.

The right tools would include a lathe, most MODERN barrels for rebarreling M1's need to have the shoulder adjusted. They are made to work on any receiver in many degrees of wear. Barrel needs to be "indexed" so that the front sight & gas cylinder are in the right place and everything lines up (gas cylinder, operating rod & all the 'linkage'). You will ,also, need a barrel vice, action wrench, and reamer (armorers pull thru or regular & gauges) to set the head space as replacement barrels are 'short chambered' these days. These don't 'drop together' like an AR, they take a bit more work.