M1 Garand Magazine Conversion
- Thread starter 18z
- Start date
George Stringer
Staff Alumnus
18z, the following is an interesting idea. I haven't tried it myself yet so I can't attest to whether or not it will actually work.
A single stack magazine is pretty easy to design for the Garand without altering the receiver. Use a BAR magazine for 30-06 rifles and a M-14 or FAL magazine for the 308. Cut them in half, remove enough metal from each side to make it a single stack magazine. Use flat stockor a strip of light gauge sheet metal to join the 2 halves, by tack welding. The springs is a problem. The best I've found is from an 1891 Argentine Mauser, which is sold by Gun Parts. You have to use 2 springs attached to each other. You will have to rework the feed lips, and fabricate a catch/release, eliminate some parts and fabricate a few parts, but now you have the idea of how to convert the Garand to magazine fed, without modifying the receiver.
If you try it, let me know how it turns out. George
A single stack magazine is pretty easy to design for the Garand without altering the receiver. Use a BAR magazine for 30-06 rifles and a M-14 or FAL magazine for the 308. Cut them in half, remove enough metal from each side to make it a single stack magazine. Use flat stockor a strip of light gauge sheet metal to join the 2 halves, by tack welding. The springs is a problem. The best I've found is from an 1891 Argentine Mauser, which is sold by Gun Parts. You have to use 2 springs attached to each other. You will have to rework the feed lips, and fabricate a catch/release, eliminate some parts and fabricate a few parts, but now you have the idea of how to convert the Garand to magazine fed, without modifying the receiver.
If you try it, let me know how it turns out. George
A fellow named Bland advertises in Shotgun News fairly often. He does the conversion. I know that he mills the receiver to BM-59 or M-14 configuration on the bottom as well as some other mods (mag catch, etc). If you want to have it done, call him. To do it yourself, get hold of someones M-1A for ideas. Most are done in .308 or .243 but it would be possible to use BAR mags to do it in 30-06 or 25-06. You should be able to use some M-1A/M-14/BM-59 parts to make the process a little easier. FAL mags could be used with a little work. They are MUCH less expensive than M-14 mags. $7~10 vs $35~40.
HTH
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HTH
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