GARAND
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Okay, a smart-a$$ed answer could easily be put here, but the answer is 'No' And, it's always prudent to make sure of chambering before you shoot a gun.
The original Garand caliber was a .276 cartridge that the military abandoned because WWII was obviously on the horizon and a new cartridge looked like a bad idea.
The vast majority of Garands, and all those issued in WWII and Korea were chambered for .30-06 ball.
Since the war, many surplus Garands have been rechambered to a variety of cartridges including .270 and .308 among others.
There have also been commercially produced Garands in calibers other than .30-06; .308 is certainly the most common of these.
I'll bet this wasn't a lot of help, was it?
The Garand was never chambered for .308; however, it was chambered in 7.62 nato for the Navy, and by the Italians. The".308" kits that Sarco is selling right now use barrels that were rechambered for 7.62 nato and not .308.
Do NOT shoot commercial .308 out of a Garand chambered in 7.62, or you will end up buying a new op-rod.
Do NOT shoot commercial .308 out of a Garand chambered in 7.62, or you will end up buying a new op-rod.
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I have handled at least one Garand marked .308--most ordinary people use 7.62x51 and .308 interchangeably even though most of us know they really aren't. Many custom Garands have been produced over the years but they seem rather rare today; I suspect there is a tendency to restore the sporterized rifles to military spec.
There is also an adjustable gas block available that is supposed to cure the operating rod issues with hotter loads. Recall that the .276 Garand intended to use was a hotter round than .30-06. I have no knowledge about the efficacy of the adjustable gas block.
The gas adjustment on my FAL allows me to use any .308 without drama; I don't know why the Garand wouldn't work at least as well. The Garand is a stronger action than the FAL which was originally designed for a less powerful round than 7.62 NATO.
Custom 308, and produced for the military/public are different animals.
No doubt you could be chamber in, or run 308 with an adjustable gas nut... but like I said, and you mentioned, 7.62 and .308 are not interchangeable.
I just don't want to see someone hurt themselves or a rifle because they used the wrong round in it.
No doubt you could be chamber in, or run 308 with an adjustable gas nut... but like I said, and you mentioned, 7.62 and .308 are not interchangeable.
I just don't want to see someone hurt themselves or a rifle because they used the wrong round in it.
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Not quite. The original was really 30-06, but the military asked for a .276 when the Garand started competing with the Pedersen for adoption. So the .276 Garands were made for the trials, and the military had all but accepted the .276 Garand, when MacArthur vetoed it, because, as you say, the war was looming and there was still a LOT of 30-06 laying around.
Check the last issue of the NRA mag for more facts about this competition.
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I was working off my recollection of reading Hatcher's Notebook many years ago. But, I think you're right. Didn't Garand begin development in the '20s using the 30 ball that was at the armory, then changed his prototype to the .276 for the tests the army wanted? Only then, after the design was pretty well fixed, he rechambered for 30-06 because it was obvious Europe was going nuts again? I may have to dig the book out and read it again -- I know I've forgotten a lot of details.
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