M1 Garand barrel swap question?
- Thread starter Mr. Buttons
- Start date
"...can a Chinese M305 (M14s) barrel be used or does the Garand require a specific .308 M1 barrel?..." No and yes. Totally different gas system. If you're contemplating this, use a rifle with a good receiver and a bad barrel. Won't be a cheap conversion either.
Usually the .308 barrel is a duplicate of the original M-1 barrel, and apart from an insert in the magazine no other changes are made. I have heard of a 305 barrel being installed, with op. rod, etc changes, but know nothing about what is involved, or whether it is a practical conversion.
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Garand barrels
Well, the receiver threads match but nothing else would. There are enough clearance cuts and parts hanging off the Garand barrel to make the job troublesome.
I have a leftover .30-06 Garand barrel from my .308 conversion, and Jason at Gunco in Ottawa had another 30-06 barrel three-four years ago. If you desperately want to shoot .308, there would be less work to reline the chamber than exactly match all those outside contours.
DaveGP said:
Well, the receiver threads match but nothing else would. There are enough clearance cuts and parts hanging off the Garand barrel to make the job troublesome.
I have a leftover .30-06 Garand barrel from my .308 conversion, and Jason at Gunco in Ottawa had another 30-06 barrel three-four years ago. If you desperately want to shoot .308, there would be less work to reline the chamber than exactly match all those outside contours.
Sgt Striker
CGN Regular
- Location
- Great White North, Eh!
Just take the time, and get an import licence from Ottawa, and buy a 308 M1 Garand barrel from Gun Parts in the States. If you lived in South Eastern Ontario, I would change if for you.
Cheers
Dean
Cheers
Dean
MasterGunner
Member
- Location
- Machesney Park, IL USA
There are two parts required for conversion of a .30 caliber M1 to .308 (7.62 NATO): a .308 barrel and the spacer block for the bullet guide. The spacer block acts as a feed ramp for the shorter .308 round and prevents a clip of .30 from being inserted into the rifle.
There are several commercial barrel makers that make standard and heavy match barrels in .308 for the M1 Garand. All commercial barrels must be finished reamed by a competent gunsmith to assure correct head space. That is, they are made with short chambers to allow for the finish reaming.
Springfield Armory, Springfield, Mass. in the U.S. made 7.62 NATO barrels for the U.S. Navy during the mid and late 1960's. These barrels are quite rare and command premium prices if you can find them.
M14S barrels made by Norinco in China will not fit U.S. M14/M1A rifles because their threads are different; I will take it on faith that the M305 barrels have corrected this problem. The Norinco M14S was actually a reverse-engineered version of the American rifle but its threaded parts are different from their American counterpart.
The M14S barrel by Norinco was not designed for the M1 Garand and the thread difference problem still applies.
Save a lot of grief; get a good commercial .308 Garand barrel and a spacer block, then send your rifle to a good gunsmith had understands the Garand. You will be pleased with the result.
MG
There are several commercial barrel makers that make standard and heavy match barrels in .308 for the M1 Garand. All commercial barrels must be finished reamed by a competent gunsmith to assure correct head space. That is, they are made with short chambers to allow for the finish reaming.
Springfield Armory, Springfield, Mass. in the U.S. made 7.62 NATO barrels for the U.S. Navy during the mid and late 1960's. These barrels are quite rare and command premium prices if you can find them.
M14S barrels made by Norinco in China will not fit U.S. M14/M1A rifles because their threads are different; I will take it on faith that the M305 barrels have corrected this problem. The Norinco M14S was actually a reverse-engineered version of the American rifle but its threaded parts are different from their American counterpart.
The M14S barrel by Norinco was not designed for the M1 Garand and the thread difference problem still applies.
Save a lot of grief; get a good commercial .308 Garand barrel and a spacer block, then send your rifle to a good gunsmith had understands the Garand. You will be pleased with the result.
MG
MasterGunner
Member
- Location
- Machesney Park, IL USA
The main thing about a .308 conversion of the M1 is its barrel and the spacer block. M14 barrel countours are different than that of the M1 the parts that attach to the barrel are not in the same locations, including the gas port. Therefore, I would say an M14 barrel is not suitable unless you are going to do some major modifications to the M1 to make everything work.
You could do it the Vietnamese VC way. Cut the barrel of the M1 off where the barrel starts to narrow. Use a 7.62 NATO Mini-gun barrel and modify it to attach the gas cylinder and front band. Grind the back of the Mini-gun barrel and thread it. Bore out the barrel stub of the Garand and screw the two barrels together. Shorten the front handguard and operating rod and op rod spring as required. Bingo! You have a .308 Garand. (Their's actually worked. I was amazed; we captured three of them.)
M recommendation still stands: buy a good .308 Garand barrel, buy the spacer block, and take it to a good gunsmith that understands Garands. You will be pleased when you get the rifle back.
You could do it the Vietnamese VC way. Cut the barrel of the M1 off where the barrel starts to narrow. Use a 7.62 NATO Mini-gun barrel and modify it to attach the gas cylinder and front band. Grind the back of the Mini-gun barrel and thread it. Bore out the barrel stub of the Garand and screw the two barrels together. Shorten the front handguard and operating rod and op rod spring as required. Bingo! You have a .308 Garand. (Their's actually worked. I was amazed; we captured three of them.)
M recommendation still stands: buy a good .308 Garand barrel, buy the spacer block, and take it to a good gunsmith that understands Garands. You will be pleased when you get the rifle back.
Airborne44
New member
- Location
- Clark's Harbour, Nova Scotia
No offence to anybody on here, but why would you want to take an original M1 Garand rifle and convert it over to .308. Whats wrong with .306. 20 years down the road, I bet you wont be able to find an original M1 in the .306 calibre. I think I'll leave mine the way it is.
Sgt Striker
CGN Regular
- Location
- Great White North, Eh!
Airborne44 said:
There are alot of Garand recievers on the market, that have no barrels at all (I have 4 right now) also, the vast majority of WWII SA and WRA Garands got rebarrel in the 50's and 60's, so I don't really see a problem rebarreling them. Now if you're lucky enough to have a WWII or Korean period Garand with it's original barrel, yea, it would be a bit of a "crime" to rebarrel them.
