Garand in .308 help needed and questions.

[chill45100]

Since the CMP is out of the special grade Garands in .30-06 (now that I have saved enough to buy one) my choices are either a service grade in .30-06 or a special grade in .308. So my questions are:
Will the Garand safely shoot 7.62 military ball ammo? I have a good supply of match .308 but am not sure about military ball 7.62.
Will the 7.62 ammo cause more wear or stress on the action than .30-06?
Is there any noticeable recoil difference? I am likely to have a shoulder joint replaced in the near future plus with luck my wife might like to shoot the Garand too. Really, I hope she will like the rifle.

Basically I am interested in your experience with a .308 Garand. Pros and cons please.

Thank you for your time.
Chill45100

[country gent]

I have my original NRA NM match service rifle here. Its a SA garand wearing a medium heavy Douglas 1-10 twist 4 groove 308 barrel. Its seen 6000 of the ld stand-by / duplication load of 42.5 grns IMR 4895 a fed GM primer and Sierra 168 grn match king in lake ciity nm cases. Also a bunch of Lake City M852 and M118 ammo back when ammo was issued for legs and rattle battle. The barrel pn it isn't the first 308 barrel.

This rifle has performed flawlessly since It was built and very accurate. I shot it over the coarse ( 200-600 yds ) and long range ( 600-1000 yds). I would definitely recommend the 308 version since 1) 30-06 ammo loaded for the garand is becoming scarce. 2) there is still mill surpluss 308 available in several grades. 3) the 308 is easy to load for and is very accurate

[lancem]

You can shoot it all out of a 308 M1. No more wear, probably less, less likely to damage the op rod. Recoil the same.

[chill45100]

Country gent- very informative answer and I thank you for the input

Lancem- good to know, in particular about the recoil and possibility of less wear.

I do load for both calibers but have no experience w a Garand in 308. For the relatively small price difference I guess I'll go with the special grade in .308.

[country gent]

In reality its like shooting 308 win from a long action bolt rifle. extra momentum and movement but that's it. I have a model 70 pre 64 thats chambered in 243, extra bolt throw but that's all. ( several different extractor collars were made to limit bolt throw also) one plus to the 308 garand is Throat wear can be chased longer with the extra room. Or possibly rechambered to 30-06 to remove burnt area.

[chill45100]

Update- The CMP is now sold out of all special grade Garands. To be continued.

[bob208]

I rebarreled my h&r to .308 it works good with all .308 loads. I use 147 grain bullets bought in balk. for powder I use bc2 or h335. you don't even need the spacer that goes in the mag. well.

[TenTea]

Schuster adjustable gas plug allows versatility to handle any ammo in an M1 (7.62 NATO or .30-06 GOVT).

http://www.schustermfg.com/m1-garand-adjustable-gas-plug/

http://cdn6.bigcommerce.com/s-yydyc/products/38/images/262/DSC00234__35380.1412270700.490.588.JPG?c=2

[starnbar]

The Garand I have in 308 shoots a 168 gr bthp federal match better than I can hold standing, off the bench it clovers them as long as you stay in the suggested powder type and velocity range it will perform most adequately and it will surprise you with the cast boolits too.

[Nick Adams]

Schuster adjustable gas plug allows versatility to handle any ammo in an M1 (7.62 NATO or .30-06 GOVT).

http://www.schustermfg.com/m1-garand-adjustable-gas-plug/

http://cdn6.bigcommerce.com/s-yydyc/products/38/images/262/DSC00234__35380.1412270700.490.588.JPG?c=2

In a .308 M1, the Schuster adj. plug is unnecessary. I have two 'standard' (full-size) CMP M1s in .308 and both use the G.I. plug. No problems whatsoever with any commercial .308/7.62 surplus ammo. In a 30-06 M1, the adj plug is needed only if you're going to shoot the really hot "hunting" '06 ammo that uses heavy bullets (180gns & up).

An adj. gas plug does become necessary when you 'chop' a Garand down. I run a Schuster adj. plug in each of my 16" Mini-Gs, essentially carbine-length M1s built by Shuff's Parkerizing off donor rifles. The purpose of the adj. plug is to 'tune' the M1 gas system to the particular ammo you're firing, so the energy output of the ammo doesn't damage the op rod, gas cylinder, bolt, or receiver.