So, what's the deal on an M! in .308?

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CorpsVet

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Friend of mine brought over an M1 today for me to have a look at.

It's shorter than my M1 and it is chambered in .308 not 30-06. I thought all M1's were 30-06.

Anyone know about this?
 

CorpsVet

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Tried to search, but couldn't find the thread. Probably operator trouble here.

Since the 06 round is much longer than the .308 it appears that a device that keeps 06 rounds from being placed in the mag well has been installed.

Wonder if an 06 round was loaded directly in the chamber if it would work? Not that I intend to try it, just wondering if the chamber has been modified or just the mag well.

Thanks
 

Kid Glock

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Once upon a time there was a chamber conversion device that allowed 308 to be fired in an 06. I think it was initialy for the M1. IIRC, it was removed with a broken shell extractor.
Some commercial M1's are chambered in .308 but I'm not aware of any standard issue military ones. There may be though.
 

ldp4570

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Originally known as the XM-T26, the M1Garand was shortened to be utilized by tank crews during WWII. Never went into production. Several companies during the late 70's and 80's made up/cobbled together shortened M1Garands calling them tanker versions in .30-06 and .308. Most if not all have been clunkers. The US Military never produced or issued a short version of the M1 Garand.

After WWII the US Navy were the first to modify their stocks of Garands to fire the .308 cartridge with the chamber device.
 

SMS

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From what I've learned over the years, the only reliable .308 conversion involves a barrel replacement. IIRC, the chamber insert conversions had issues.
 

Spiff

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.308 Garands are great. The navy converted a bunch, first starting with chamber inserts then moving to rebarreling. The chamber inserts will occasionally come out with an ejected case, which is always fun.

What you've got is definitely a .308 tanker, which is my personal favorite of all the Garands. As long as it runs.
 

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