M1 Garand Modified to Accept Magazines
Gentleman, Years ago there was someone modifing the standard clip fed M1 Garand to accept a twenty rd. box magazine and rebarreled to shoot .308 Winchester. Can anyone recall who, when and where this was done? And what would an unused piece be worth today? Any referrals and/or referrence material is appriciated.
Thank you,
Thank you,
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Yes. And they were professionally made. They were legitimate military weapons issued to foreign troops.
Go over to the auction side, and lookup 'Beretta BM-62'.
It's not an M14, it's essentially an M1* with a hole in the bottom! Check auction photos, and see for yourself. Good luck! Joe
*None of the features unique to the M14 exist on the BM-620 -
While Joe is correct about the Beretta's, these were originally manufactured to accept box magazines.
But, in the US, there were several gunsmiths who did the conversion on USGI issue M1 rifles. We've discussed this before, & no one can remember who did it. They worked, but failed to remedy most of the biggest problems of the M1 rifle.
My SWAG is that one would sell in the $600-800 range today. An "unused" one would bring less, because most folks would want a chance to fire one of these conversions before committing to the purchase.
Neal0 -
Thank you Gentlemen. You have both been very helpful. 0 -
Without actually meaning to be a wise@$$, my opinion of such a conversion is that it is simply an interesting oddity to be inspected, discussed and to understand the history of. I don't think I'd want one.
As most already know, essentially, an M1 modified to accept box magazines was a military design that became the M-14, although the military version could be full auto. It is awkward to fire the M-14 on full auto and to try to fire the thing from cover with the box magazine hanging down in the way. For those reasons, it is my personal preference to shoot the M1.
If I wanted such a "conversion" gun, I would buy one of those Springfield Armory "Scout Rifles", essentially a semi-auto M-14 in a carbine configuration. However, with such a short barrel, the muzzle blast from those things is problematic and their recoil can have a tendancy to cause the uninitated user to pop off 3 rounds virtually in full-auto before he can remove his finger far enough away from the trigger, leading him to believe that the weapon is slam-firing (until he gets the hang of it). They do seem to be accurate, however, like the M1 and the M-14 can be, and if the issues I've noted above are not issues to the user, then they can be fun to shoot. But, as I insinuated above, wear your ears.0 -
There is someone in North Carolina, sorry I don't have the name, just to let you know that there is someone out there doing this. If I were you I would try the CMP on the Garand forum, someone there may be able to send you in the right direction. The part I would consider for your Garand is the Holbrook device, it cost is about sixty dollars and converts your rifle to act almost like a magazine feed rifle. After the rifle fires a block the bolt stays back and you use the clip latch to eject the empty block, install another clip and release the bolt to load. To do the magazine thing is going to cost you over a Garand.
Edit: I know there was a member on the CMP that posted there that had done a 3006 conversion using a BAR magazine, he posted some pictures of the conversion great looking rig. You may be able to hook up with him with a visit to the CMP site.
rifle.http://www.m1thumbsaver.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94&Itemid=1770 -
I remember reading about a Cuban refugee gunsmith doing a box magazine, short gas system conversion to Garands in the 1960s. I think his name was Juan Erquiaga. 0 -
Bland Gunsmithing used to convert M1s to take M14 mags. I believe they were in the East; Maryland or New Jersey. They used to advertise the conversion in the Shotgun News. 0
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