308 in m1

[richard pries]

a friend of mine put in an m1 about 20 years ago a 308 spacer and fired factory ammo and bent the operating rod . I have repaired that but can not find powder loads for 308 in the m1. any help out there ? do not ask why he would do that but he did, and we can not get the spacer out he put it in with lock tite.

[Litt'le Lee]

Just get a adjustable gas

[IditarodJoe]

Here you go: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/777146/schuster-dcm-adjustable-gas-plug-with-wrench-m1-garand-steel-parkerized

Out of curiosity, what are the markings on the side of the barrel?

[Ted Brown]

Any suitable mid range burning powder will work in the M1. Try IMR4895, Varget or something similar. I use Ramshot TAC. Use loads that will have a velocity of around 2550 to 2650 FPS.

[PhillipM]

A 308 garand can handle any safe reload on the books for two reasons. Can't stuff enough slow powder in a 308 case to cause a problem and no one would load 308 with slow powder to begin with.

The military had gauges to straighten op rods and obviously the military used only garand spec ammo. Buyan adjustable lock cylinder screw if it warms your heart, but consider JCG's rifle came out before M2

[joem]

Might get the spacer out with a little heat, some Kroil with ATF fluid and a broken shell extractor. 1 hour in a sonic cleaner at 120 degrees with Ed's Red will help a bunch. Good luck with that.

[m1ashooter]

I use AA2520 in 308. Their book has loads for the M1.

[Sunray]

The .308 spacer will most likely come out by itself with a string or two of rapid fire to heat the thing up. Problem is that it will give no warning. Your buddy will just suddenly have odd looking cases. S'why the USN quit using chamber inserts.
As mentioned, a bit of propane torch heat will loosen Lock-Tite.
Highly unlikely the op rod was bent by the ammo alone. Mind you, op rods come with a clearance bend, so that may be what your buddy is seeing.
Same powders used for .30-06 will be fine with .308.

[jaie5070]

I used a method mentioned by "Chuck in Denver" to remove an adapter in a 1903 springfield. I put the barreled action in my freezer for a day and was able to use a broken shell extractor to pull it out with out any problems.
john

[PhillipM]

A 308 case is fatter at the shoulder than 3006. The chamber was reamed to fit the spacer, so removing it will not make it a 3006 again.

Buy another barrel.

[Griff Murphey]

Spoiler alert, the .308 case is fatter than an '06. I wonder if he was cramming those .308's into a too tight chamber and actually getting them to chamber, if so was that a major reason for excessive pressure...or if the chamber was reamed out to proper size and that has been forgotten?

If the chamber was finished properly to .308 specs, that's going to be problem if the spacer is taken out.

[Griff Murphey]

I installed a spacer in one of my M1's and I reamed the spacer , not the barrel, This rifle shoots and works fine., Your barrel may be ok if it was done that way.

I don't see how you could finish the chamber to .308 specs without widening the chamber significantly. This results in an overexpansion of the .30'06 case if one attempts to return the gun to .30'06. I tried it with an 03a3 that had the barrel set back to .308, and reaming it back to 06 dimensions resulted in slightly pregnant looking fired '06 cases, with problematic extraction. Definitely not a good idea. Problem is the .308 is fatter at the shoulder, although similar; it is definitely NOT a shortened '06 case as many seem to think.

There are numerous occasions reported of shooters mistakenly firing .308 or 7.62x51 in regular '06 M-1s, producing a rimless 45-70 lookalike, allegedly with no ill effects, I am confident an M-1 op spring might be able to force 7.62 NATO into an '06 chamber, but it's not a recommended practice. The other issue is if you decide to unload it it might require some force def. would want to avoid putting a boot on the op rid handle with a live one up the spout.