any advantage of garand 30-06 over 308?

[memphisjim]

ok looking at garands and ive noticed you cant use the modern full power 30-06 loads
im wondering if with this situation a full power .308 in an m14 can equal or surpass the ballistics of the garand round?

 

[jasonfb123]

One big advantage right now. . .you can actually get ammo for your M1.

 

[memphisjim]

lets keep to ballistics fellows

 

[Hk91-762mm]

Your ammo is limited to medium burning powders in the M1-That does not equil low power loads .
The 30.06 in My opinion can excede the power of the 308.
I have a Garand in 7.62 and also in 30M1 Ill take the 06 thank you.

 

[JWF III]

When you can't find a bullet to exit the barrel, that is very bad ballistically.

So you want "hunting" type loads for your Garand? Buy a adjustable Gas Block. Problem solved.

No. The .308 cannot match the .30-06 in ballistics. Come close, but not a match.

Wyman

 

[saltydog452]

Dumb me, but...

if the .308 isn't at least a little bit better than the 30.06, why would anyone go to the trouble to re-chamber 30.06 Garands to .308?

salty

 

[Uncle Mike]

At the time, it was an availability issue. 308 was pletiful while Garand pressure 30-06 was not.

 

[dmazur]

It was also a NATO "we're going to the M14" issue, if I remember correctly. The Navy wanted something to have in the small arms locker that could detonate mines, and the .308 would work for that. They had Garands and were too cheap to replace them. Or, perhaps, didn't see the need to replace them if rechambering would suffice.

7.62 (aka .308) ammo was available, as the military was converting to 7.62 NATO, so all the Navy had to do was come up with some chamber inserts and they were in business. Or they thought they were.

It turned out the chamber inserts had a nasty habit of ejecting with the round, and so quite a few Garands were rebarreled.

I trained with a Navy 7.62 Garand, in 1970. I don't know if this was a new barrel or a chamber insert.

 

[Trebor]

It doesn't matter if the Garand is in .30 - '06 or .308, you still are restricted to loads with a certain powder burn rate and bullet weight.

Switching from '06 to .308 doesn't help you any there. You'd still have to make sure the .308 loads were appropriate for the Garand. It's a matter of powder burn rate and bullet weight, not just what chambering the rifle is in.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The great advantage of .30-06 in the Garand is that it comes in .30-06. If you want it in .308, you have to shell out $$$ to have it rebarreled. I'd rather spend that money on ammo.

And as pointed out earlier, in .308, you still have the same muzzle pressure issues you have with .30-06.

 

[benzy2]

An adjustable gas block was the first thing I bought for mine. Not legal in some competitions but it lets me use any '06 I come by. The pressure curve is an issue with the design, not the chambering. You don't avoid it by switching to .308. Either way I suggest an adjustable plug as you are never limited to the ammo you can or can't shoot and it also can turn the rifle into a single shot which is fun to play with as well.

As for why they put the .308 in the M1. Ballistically the .308 doesn't match the '06. They are close to each other, especially with lighter bullets, and the .308 is a smaller cartridge. The shorter case design tends to be slightly more accurate with a more consistent powder burn. A lot of target guys like .308 over the '06 for this reason. The slight drop in velocity isn't much for the increased accuracy potential. The problem with that increased potential is that without using top of the line components and being a top of the line shooter you really won't notice it. The guys shooting 1000 yards that know their stuff may care but for the rest of us using even decent rebarreled rifles it just doesn't matter. From there its just a matter of the US switching from '06 to .308. Switch the round, keep the rifle. No need to start over when you have such a great design. Its kinda one of those things where the real question is "Why not?" People have converted weirder rifles to weirder chamberings. This is pretty simple and didn't need a ton of work to function right, at least compared to starting a rifle design from scratch.

 

[30Cal]

The accuracy question is N/A since we're talking about an M1 with handguards and all sorts of other junk hanging off the barrel.

Ballistically, neither rifle (or chambering) can do much that the other can't, even after messing with their gas systems to exceed 175gr bullets.

 

[Ned Kelly]

If you arent military and you see no reason to be finessed into a short action the 30-06 is better by far.

 

[Ian]

The only real reason I went for .308 in my M1 was that the ammo was a lot cheaper at the time.

 

[memphisjim]

wow much does the adjustable gas system cost? with it you can shoot an 30-06 round?

 

[PCGS65]

Memphisjim all you need is the adjustable gas plug and you can get it from midway usa here
http://www.midwayusa.com/BROWSE/Bro...ategoryString=10636***10560***9260***12508***

 

[benzy2]

I picked up mine at a local shop for I think around $35. It lets you bleed off pressure that goes to the piston. You start with the value open and adjust shut until the rifle cycles consistently. You have to readjust for each load of ammo but you can shoot anything you like.

 

[Lovesbeer99]

The 308 can match the 30-06 in 150 grain bullets or less, and in a shorter more efficient case. The 308 will not match the 30-06 in 180, or 200 grain bullets.