[Firehand]

Has anyone ever- or ever heard of- an M1 being rebarreled to 8mm Mauser?

Comparable cartridges as far as pressure, velocity & bullet, seems like it would work.

[steveno]

the question is why would somebody do it? I don't have any idea why

[Trebor]

I've heard of it being done. I've never seen one so converted though and have no techical details or knowledge of how well it worked.

I have heard of guys converting M1919 MG's to 8mm to use the cheaper ammo in their machine guns. That kind of makes sense.

Personally, for a Garand, I don't see where a conversion to 8mm makes that much sense. The cheap 8mm is always corrosive and it's harder to clean a rifle with a gas system after using corrosive ammo than it is to clean a bolt gun. It's not like the Garand is full auto and your going to run through THAT much ammo.

I'd reccomend a .308 conversion myself. That ammo is cheaper than '06 and is plentiful. It works well in the rifles as well and is almost always non corrosive.

[DMiculek]

My brother started a 8mm garand conversion in the late 70's. IIRC he couldn't get it to go more than a couple of rounds without some sort of malf. (most likely due to gas port issues).He never had the time to devote to it and lost interest in it. He stil has it stashed somewhere.
I think it would still be a cool conversion as you can get some really cheap 8mm ammo. Maybe I can revive his interest in it.....if I can get him away from those damn S&W revolvers!

[gulogulo1970]

Sounds like a sin to me. ;)

[KriegHund]

Oh, the irony. 8mm in the gun that helped make its country of origin go bye bye.

[Firehand]

Thoughts were both a: had it ever been done successfully and b: if it had, cheap ammo!

And look at it this way: All your ammo are belong to us!

[Zundfolge]

Before I where to rebarrel a Garand in 8mm, I'd pick up an FN 49.

[Crosshair]

Zundfolge

Before I where to rebarrel a Garand in 8mm, I'd pick up an FN 49.

Where can you get an FN-49 for a reasonable price? :scrutiny:

[cracked butt]

Just buy a Hakim. There are about a 1/2 dozen of them on Auction Arms at any given time for about the same price as a CMP garand.

[Zundfolge]

Where can you get an FN-49 for a reasonable price? :scrutiny:

Define "reasonable" :scrutiny:

There's a couple 8mm ones on gunbroker right now in the $500-$800 range.
(couple of .308 ones at the lower end of that range)


Just buy a Hakim.
I completely forgot about the Hakim...not as nice as the FN, but still a semi auto 8mm :)

[50 Freak]

Honestly, I'd like to find someone that will make a Garand take a BAR mag.

Imagine a detachable mag 30.06..... :evil: :evil: :evil:

[Trebor]

Honestly, I'd like to find someone that will make a Garand take a BAR mag.

Imagine a detachable mag 30.06.....

It's been done. The problem is that you have to cut away so much of the receiver to make the mag work that is really weakens the receiver. It's also a PITA to get the rifle to run right with the BAR mag. They experimented with this during, or right after, WWII and one of the first things they did was ditch the idea of using a BAR mag and develop a purpose built mag.

I don't know of any smiths out there who do this now. I have heard of some guys converting Garands to use M-14 mags in .308. Some of the same problems pop up with that conversion though.

[AZ Jeff]

It's been done. The problem is that you have to cut away so much of the receiver to make the mag work that is really weakens the receiver
Not mention that the reciever of an M1 is harder than all get out, and is a total female dog to machine. This makes the modifications to take a BAR magazine something VERY few riflesmiths will be willing to take on.

[cracked butt]

Honestly, I'd like to find someone that will make a Garand take a BAR mag.

Imagine a detachable mag 30.06...

Another rifle that exists that would fill that niche- the BM-59.

[50 Freak]

If I wanted a detachable mag 308, I'd stick with my FAL.

Really want a detachable 30.06 battle rifle.

In the mean time, I bought a FN-49 and am going to do some mods to it so it takes a 20 round BAR mag. Found plans that show this mod. Very easy to do so.

[jobu07]

Another rifle that exists that would fill that niche- the BM-59.

I thought the BM-59 was .308 :confused:

[Gewehr98]

One that I kick myself for not buying was an Israeli-converted Springfield. It had Hebrew markings on the receiver, and the owner had the provenance paperwork that explained how it happened. Evidently, Israel, as a new country in 1948, was given a lot of leftover 98 Mausers, M1 Garands, and a large supply of 8x57JS ammo by contributing U.N. nations. One resourceful way to have one's cake and eat it too was to rebarrel the M1 Garands to 8x57JS, which is what happened to the example rifle I looked at.

Interestingly enough, those same leftover 98 Mausers were later rebarreled to 7.62mm NATO, and those were imported not too many years ago. Some are still floating around, with a big "7.62" engraved on the forward receiver ring.

The BM-59 could certainly be chambered in 8x57JS, since the gun is built around a surplus M1 Garand receiver. The problem would be the box magazines, which in true BM-59's are built for 7.62mm NATO/.308 Winchester. The 8x57JS would be too long.

In the mean time, I bought a FN-49 and am going to do some mods to it so it takes a 20 round BAR mag. Found plans that show this mod. Very easy to do so.

Easy to do, but dangerous in the amount of receiver metal removed, much like the M1 Garands sometimes converted to accept BAR magazines. There's a reason a M1918 BAR receiver is as long and hefty as it is...

[Quintin Likely]

I dunno about 8mm, but I've seen Garands in .243, .260, and 6XC before.

[oneshooter]

Springfield Armoury used to offer Mi conversions in 270Win. How about a WW2 Japanese Garand? :what: I believe that there are 3-4 surviving rifles. They were 10 shot in 7.7mm?

Oneshooter
Livin in Texas

[cracked butt]

I thought the BM-59 was .308

So are many garands. There isn't a lick of difference in performance between the two cartridges in a garand based rifle except for potential accuracy.

[cracked butt]

I know a guy who has a m1 in .270. Its neat and its different, but I fail to see the point of it.

[possum]

+1 for the fn-49 I have shot one in 8mm and in 7.62x 51 I liked both of them the latter shot better, as far as accuracy. I shot the 8mm in rapid fire mode and felt like i was being hit with a jack hammer. As for prices I really don't know what is good the shop up the road has two both in 8mm for $650 each. Alittle to much for me, maybe later when i have my collection built up there are to many others ahead of those.

[shermacman]

When I rebarrel my US Rifle, Caliber .30, M1

It will be in .30/06

Blam, Blam, Blam, Blam, Blam, Blam, Blam, Blam, PING!

[Cosmoline]

You'd have to revamp the gas system. I've fired 8x57JS out of SAFN's before and my sense is the pressure on those pups is a notch higher than .30'06 ball.

Oh, the irony. 8mm in the gun that helped make its country of origin go bye bye.

LOL. Actually, the all-American .30'06 used to speak German and go by 7x57 Mauser before applying for US citizenship.

[miragetex]

I'm with the others who don't see the point, but I'm pretty sure that WW2 (and probably for a long time afterwards) US 30-06 milspec ammo was also corrosive, so that particular issue becomes a wash. IIRC, only the 30 carbine ammo was always noncorrosive.

[possum]

Miragetex is right almost all ammo up until that point was corrosive. Not only forigen military ammo but our own. It is just so much easier and less expensive to make, allowing for mass quanities to be produced.