[eclancy]

Hi all
Was Ordnance looking for to build the first semiautomatic "Garand" in?
Have fun
Thanks again
Clancy

[enichols]

Three calibers? I thought that they were originally chambered in .276 cal, and then reworked to .30-06.

[seeker_two]

...and then converted to .308 for training purposes.

[Mike Irwin]

Well, seeing that the Garand predated the .308 round by nearly 30 years, I don't think that would have been the case the way the question is worded.

I've only ever heard about the .276 and the .30-06.

Come on, Clancy, spring with the answer!

[seeker_two]

Oh, you mean when INITIALLY designed...:scrutiny:

Then I'd guess one of the Mauser calibers (7mm or 7.92mm) for export purposes...

[eclancy]

Hi all,
The answer is:
.30.06
276
256
Thanks again
Clancy

[Mike Irwin]

.256?

Huh?

Do tell?

I don't think I've EVER heard anything about this cartridge. I don't think I've seen any incation of its existence in Hatcher's Notebook, either.

Not in Cartridge of the World, which includes the .276, and not in my copy of Military Rifle and Machine Gun Cartridges by Jean Huon.

[eclancy]

Hi all,
The Ordnance file is dated Dec. 1, 1927. This file talks about what Ordnance wants in a .256 cal. If you can read a .jpg I can send you the one page on the report talking about the .256 and bullet grs., etc.
It's 179kb for download. Just let me know. The funny part about Ordnance and the M1 Garand gets better. When Ordnance orders that NO M1 Ball ammo is to be used in the M1 Garand Rifle in .30.06, and that's in the late 1930's and early 1940's!! I call that part of the book ammo-gate
Thanks again
I have just updated my sites.
Clancy

[Mike Irwin]

I DEFINITELY want that!

I'll PM you my "real" e-mail address...

[Jim Watson]

This is only the second mention of the .256 that I have ever seen, and I would certainly like to see more. PM with e-dress on the way.

The first I know is in Ackley's Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders, Vol II, pg 48, "Gunshot Wounds" by Col Frank T. Chamberlin. On pages 52 and 53 of the article he says:

"The three cartridges that were given the first and most complete tests were the .30-06, 150 grain flat base (later National Match ammo), a .276 experimenatal cartridge (later adopted and used for a short time), and a little .256 caliber, 125 grain flat base baby at 2700 fps that was a real honey. Two of these complete cartridges had the same weight as one .30-06 and, brother, what destruction they could cause to animal tissue and bone, and still stay within the Geneva Convention rules. More on this later."

"Later I testified before this "board" several times, showed a hundred or more large photos of wounds and did my darndest to get the little .256 with 125 grain flat base adopted. I think most of these old boys had lived in the days of the .45-70. I know they expected, and I'm not joking, a bullet to knock down a plane, stop a tank, set fire to a friend's house, and kill an enemy at five miles plus. They voted for the .276, a no good bastard that was discarded after a few hundred barrels or more had been turned out."

[Cosmoline]

All the reading I've done, from safari tales to military ones, suggests that the golden mean of bullets is the .256" / 6.5mm. The big 165 grainers will take out elephants. I can only guess what a high-velocity 125 grain spitzer would do in combat!

There's so much potential versatility to the round--much more than the .223. Want an uber AP round? Just load with a 160 grain solid!

[eclancy]

Hi all,
To the guys who asked and received the file, what do you think. Ordnance kept canx the 30.06 to the .276 then .256 then back to the .276 then to the 30.06 after they canx it. I think Springfield Armory at that time frame was ready to attack Ordnance in the War Dept.
Thanks again
Clancy