A quick look at my new -mostly- Italian 7.62mm NATO Garand

Master-G

Master-G

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I found myself earlier this year somewhat unexpectedly looking for a Garand. I’ve always been somewhat interested in them (although as rifles go I’m usually more of a 1980s and newer black/green rifle guy), but a couple of things sparked my interest—prices are really skyrocketing, even going up maybe a few hundred bucks since I started looking in September, and I didn’t want to be priced out of the market, and, since it was designed by a Canadian, I thought it was my patriotic duty to get one. :)

I would’ve liked one in the classic .30-06, but I’ve got maybe a thousand rounds or so of surplus Hirtenberger 7.62mm NATO on hand (and M2 Ball-style factory ammunition is going for around $3/round) so I decided on a 7.62mm conversion. I was looking for a shooter, not a collectible, so I was OK with getting a parts build, too. I found this one recently and picked it up last night from the Post Office. The high overcast at lunchtime in advance of our first wintry blast this evening gave excellent lighting for some back deck pictures.

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The crown and FKF stamps indicate that the receiver was made by Beretta for the Danish military, I believe in the 1950s or 1960s. The serial number has not been photoshopped—it really is PB1234!

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The op rod has been marked 7.62mm—I believe that they are a bit shorter than the .30-06 versions.

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The stock is marked “MT” which indicates that it is a Tipo 2 Italian stock—it’s in very nice shape!

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The bolt is maybe a bit unusual—the “SuS” marking and eagle proof marks show that it was made in West Germany by Sauer un Sohn. From what I’ve read these seem to be fairly uncommon.

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The SIAU-marked barrel (which apparently stands for “Società Italiana Acciai Ugine”) was made by Beretta in 1967.

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And, finally, the sights are also Beretta.

So—the initial look is very pleasing. The rifle is in great shape for one whose parts have been around about as long as I have (and maybe more!). I’m really looking forward to getting it out.
 
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I stumbled into a Springfield Danish one night. Always thought of buying one but never purposely went looking. I don’t regret buying it. And a second Springfield a year later. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do mine. She definitely looks nice.
 
Great looking rifle MasterG.

They digest Hirtenberger ammo quite well. At least mine does.

Hirtenberger used a couple of different powders. One was extruded and mostly used in Berdan primed cases in 75-78 and again in 80.

Supposedly the extruded powder gives the right amount of gas through the port to cycle the action in a manner that won't bend or break the op rod.

There is some controversy as to whether the cartridges loaded with Ball powder over gasses the gas system and lead to op rod damage.

For informational purposes only, I recently picked up an M1 Garand with a Beretta reciever and some mixed parts, with a Criterion full length barrel and op rod. Whoever did the work, did one hell of a job. The chamber is so tight I can barely measure any expansion, it shoots very well and is immaculate overall. It was done in a very similar manner to those from the CMP.

I shoot both Berdan and Boxer primed Hirtenberger from my M1.

The Boxer primed ammo shoots about an inch higher than the Berdan primed ammo, both chrony appx 2750fps

No real noticeable felt recoil difference.

I've shot some IVI 74, 76, 77 through it and it's all over the target, no discernable group.

This ammo uses an unknown extruded powder

The IVI had noticeably less recoil and I had one stovepipe out of 40 rounds of each.

I also shot 40 rounds of FNM M1A2 84 Ball, which also has Ball powder. I averaged 4 inch groups with it.

Most of the ammunition types I shot, had appx 147 grain bullets and all gave appx 2750fps, other than the IVI, which was appx 100fps slower at 2650 fps.

I decided to break the neck/bullet welds, if there was any on 8 of each type/date of ammo.

I set the seating stem to just set back the shortest OAL by .003in and set back all of the bullets to the same OAL.

All of them shot tighter groups, including the IVI.

The IVI was still the worst grouping ammo of the different lots. Six inch groups were the norm.

The Hirtenbergers shot just around or just under 2 inches and the FNM just slightly larger groups at 100 yds.

I was very careful to make sure the rifles moving parts were properly lubed and even removed the gas plug to make sure carbon fouling wasn't building up.

Proper lubrication for M1 Garands is a must. Some very knowledgeable people believe poor lubrication habits are responsible for most parts breakage on M1 rifles. IMHO, they're likely correct.

My rifle is going to get a bit of tweaking.

Not a lot, just the forward handguard is IMHO to tightly fitted and may be effecting accuracy. We shall see, when the weather becomes suitable again, after I make the very small fitting changes.
 
I believe that they are a bit shorter than the .30-06 version.

I got one from Sarco, stamped 7.62, but converted back to full length, it works fine. Good to identify the caliber though


Grizz
 
If John built your rifle, it will be as close to spec as it would be coming from the factory.

He does excellent work and is meticulously fussy about everything to do with the build.
 
sledge said:
These Italian Garands in 7.62 are great rifles. Mine shoots tighter groups than my US 30-06 all day long.
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That seems to be the general consensus.

From what I've read, most of the CMP matches don't allow the 7.62x51 versions to be used, because they generally shoot better than the 7.62x63 (30-06).

This is likely because the CMP does their conversions with full length barrels, chambered for the tighter commercial 308Win specs and marked accordingly.
 
I've built a number of 7.62 Garands using the Italian Tipo 2 components and they've all been good shooters. All of the barrels that I've used gauged like new, which is a real bonus. The stocks were new too, which allows for a tight lock-up.

To bring out the best in a Garand, parts have to be selected and fitted for best accuracy. This involves proper fit of stock, handguards, op rod, rear sights and gas cylinder. The lower band is critical because it holds everything together. It has to be rock solid on the barrel. Quality handloads are a big help.

Is the 7.62 more accurate than the .30-06? In theory, short, stubby cartridges normally are. The US military invested a huge R&D effort to produce accurate Garands and match ammo in both calibers. There's not much to choose from between properly set up rifles in 7.62 and .30-06.

It pays to use match quality bullets in 150, 155, and 168gr when handloading. Years ago I bought a bunch of military surplus .30-06 match bullets and found enough variation in them that I sorted them into 3 lots by weight for reloading. I also like to use the Nosler and Hornady 150 and 165 gr hunting bullets with the polycarbonate tip to avoid any deformation when feeding. You can never go wrong using IMR4064 or IMR4895 in handloads for a Garand.
 
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