Springfield Garands in 308...hmmm?

michael minarik

What are your thoughts on the new Springfield Garands in 308?

One class 3-dealer told me they are okay, metal might be a bit soft and thinks the quality is not on par with the price?

If I were to spend the same money on an Armalite I suspect quality is on par with the cost.

I am perplexed about the new Garand...

Can you help...

thanks for taking time to respond.

kingjoey

For a .308 I'd go with the M1A[;)] Same action, no mods to accept a .308 instead of the '06

Love them Beavers

temblor

I think it would be reasonable to assume that the metal used in the 308 Garands is of the same quality as used in the M1A 308s that Springfield manufactures if that is good enough for your purposes. People seem to have good luck with them. -- I personally would not want a Garand in anything but an .06 and would buy the M1A if I wanted a 308. I also think the Armalite would outshoot the 308 Garand if it's worth the money to you.....[8D]

nmyers

The receivers for the M1's are not made as well as USGI receivers, or, for that matter, SA Inc's M1A receivers. They contracted for these to be made by Lithgow, not known for quality products; even these were plagued with production problems, so SA Inc bought several hundred receivers from another contractor. What you get on any given SA Inc M1 is anyone's guess.

SA Inc's M1 is really expensive; the stock is made by Boyd, &, for some perverse reason, they are not made to USGI specs. Metal parts are new & used USGI, all refinished; the .308 has a commercial barrel. So, these guns should look good & perform well, but will never be "collectible".

I agree with Tremblor. But, if you really want an M1 in .308, you should consider buying a rack grade M1 from CMP (the barrel will be shot out) & having it rebarrelled to .308. It won't be collectible either, but you'll save a lot of money & you will know that your receiver is genuine USGI.

Neal

stalion10

another posibality would be to check into an insert that i saw in shotgunnews a few yrs. ago. it just slips in the chamber of any 30-06 and reduces it to a 308. after if you want to use it as a 06 you just remove it with a broken shell extractor and off you go. never seen it in use, dont know if its any good, know that it was under $20.00, and have no idea if it work. but before i did use it, i'd put a post up on this forum and discuss it with your gunsmith inquiring as to the quality, ballistics, posible feeding problems, and if there is a chance of damaging affects on a gun.in any case if you do go that way i, among others would app. a review on it. hope this helps and not confused you.
good luck
ed
p.s. dont know exactly who makes it or the real name of it, but like i said, i saw it in shotgunnews a while back. sure its still in there though

speed is what kills

bobski

the M-1A was an improvement over the garand. the long op-rods were a key problem with 308 garands. it always amazes me how people go backwards in technology and expect old guns to work flawlessly expecting none of the old problems to appear. be warned, if you get an old gun, study up on it. in the meantime, serious...go with a M1A before the 308 grand. i gave all mine away when i won them in matches.

former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction.

boeboe

I am always amazes that people ask so many questions about the new Springfield Armory Inc. .308 Garand when they could buy something very much more collectable, very much a better rifle, in the Beretta Garands in 7.62X51 Nato (308, no big discussions about the difference necessary here). The Beretta M1 garands are much scarcer than the Springfield Armory stuff, have forged receivers, were built to all mil-spec requirements (including metallurgey) are much nicer in finish, and sell for about $100-$200 more, brand new (but they are definately limited in available qualtity).

The current Springfield Armory has absolutley no relationship to the real Springfield Armory, which is now a national historic site. The current Springfield Armory has never made US military grade weapons, and is living off the name of the national armory.

The reason Springfield Armory Inc got into the M1 Garand market in the first place was, back in the 1980's, they imported some true Beretta M1 Garands from surplus houses in Italy. Not many, but a few.

Springfield Armory, Inc went bankrupt back back in the early 1990's (some would say they ripped off a bunch of investors in the process). A few of the imported Beretta M1 Garands found their way into the hands of Bob Reese, formerly of Springfield Armory, Inc. You can guess how those things happen.

Still, the genuine Beretta M1 Garands in .308 are far superior to the current production stuff. Much more desireable. You should look at them at:

http://reesesurplus.com/

before ever buying the current POS.

To err is human, to moo is bovine.

beachmaster73

Not all M1's in .308 have lost their collector value. The current M1 MK2 Mod0's being sold by the CMP are a case in point. As bobski pointed out the Navy Trophy rifles earned in matches also command a premium. And finally the full A or B match Navy Garands with the "Navy Special" barrels(made in 65 and 66) command what the owner wants for them. I've seen just the "Navy Special" barrel for sale for $450. So okay bobski how many of those barrels do you have stashed away waiting for a rainy day? Beach

bobski

[8D],[8D],[8D],[8D], 3 french hens, 2 turtle doves, and an M1 in a pear tree.....