mini M1 Garand

B

bkb

Inactive
Ruger made a mini 14 , how about a mini M1 Garand?
small en block for .222 rem or .223, in either 8 or 10 rd???// it wouold be a sleek and graceful as well as tough. about an 18" barrel. full wood set same as big M1 . not 1/2 stocked like the mini14. don't get me wrong I have and love my mini 14! full length gas tube . blue and ss.

what do you think??
 
XGI

Ruger had finished development of the XGI (overgrown Mini-14 in 7.62 mm Nato). Bill Ruger was told it would cost $1 million to set up a production line and reasoned that since he sells enough Mini14s anyway, why bother. The MiniGarand would be in direct competition with the Mini14 and would fight it for production time.
 
The company line echoed at least once in the book, "Ruger and His Guns," was that there were accuracy problems with the larger caliber Mini-14. It was not a production issue, it was an accuracy issue. In addition to the tooling costs, Springfield Armory made a much more accurate rifle that was essentially mil-spec. H&K was also doing quite well, thank you, with the HK-91 which had more accuracy potential as well.

I tend to believe both theories. I don't think that Ruger could have fielded an inherintly INACCURATE rifle (as the XGI would have been in Ruger production) for about the same retail price of the already entrenched HK and Spr. Armory products. Certainly to make it profitable would be difficult.
 
no no no no no

not a large cal. mini !!! a small cal. M1 Garand !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
.222, .223, .221fb, .222mag
 
The XGI had a problem with the 5th round being thrown off. They solved the problem (was told that the engineers added more weight to the slide and that Bill was unhappy with their engineering).

As to the eight clip Mini-Garand, don't think it will be done for the same reasons as the XGI. Too much tooling up for a gun of the same calibre as the Mini-14.

What I'd like to see is a conversion kit for the Garand to take the BAR magazine.
 
4V50 Gary, I'm with you on that wish. Wowsers, be still my beating heart, golly gee.

I have two Garands and can get a supply of BAR magazines. Oh, please, somebody design and market the conversion. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!
 
I remember that, years ago when I was broke, an outfit that I think went by the name of "Bland Firearms" or something like that offered such a conversion. I'd convert one just for saying I did. I think they were out of Richmond, VA.
 
Box magazine conversion for Garand

A few years ago I saw a box magazine conversion for the Garand at the (now defunct) Great Western gunshow, at the fairgrounds in Pomona. It was exhibited by a Japanese gunsmith, and I believe he was making the conversions. The gun may have been rechambered for .308, and the magazine may have been an M14 magazine.

The good news: I picked up his business card.

The bad news: I have no idea where it is, but I suspect it's in some Southern California landfill.

More bad news: I didn't inquire about price - but the workmanship was VERY good, and worthy of top dollar.

I hope this story will trigger someone's recollection in more detail; it's likely that tens of thousands of show attendees have seen the gun I described.
 
Last time I talked to the folks at Bland...

They were building BM-59's (What the M14 had been intended to be, a cheap conversion of the M1 Garand to a mag-fed 7.62x51) from the kits that were floating around and M1 Garand receivers. They weren't using BAR magazines, but either M14 or BM-59 magazines. The Garand receiver doesn't have a whole lot of metal left in the right places if you mill it out for a .30-06 BAR magazine, unfortunately. The .308-length mags like the M14 and BM-59 work a lot better for those conversions.

I haven't seen Bland's ad in Shotgun News or The Gun List for quite some time. The ban on importation of M1 Garand barrels and receivers, as well as the onerous laws like the Clinton '94 Crime Bill and Kalifornia's SB-23 may have had a big impact on their business.:(

Problem with building a mini-Garand is economic feasability, nobody will want to tool up and sell them unless they know there's a market that would support it.
 
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