I really like the look of this gun and have for some time so I'm considering buying it online. I assume that's legal because it's a bolt action, but I don't know much about the gun itself. I'm thinking of getting the .308 which may be less recoil than the 30-06 - I'm assuming that the weight of the gun will go a low way to reducing felt recoil. Am I right on that? Does anyone own this gun and tell me about the advantages and what it's like to shoot? Thank you.
Laura
I am not familiar with the Springfield Armory M1 Garand, but I do have an actual M1 Garand from the CMP.
A quick look at the Springfield Armory site shows their M1A series which is a descendent of the M1 Garand.
The M1 Garand is a gas operated semiautomatic rifle with an internal 8 round magazine.
The M1A is the descendent of the M1 with a removable magazine.
The Springfield Armory rifles that I saw were M1A pattern models with modern stocks.
Originally the M1 Garand was chambered in 30-06 Springfield (7.62x63mm). Some were later modified or chambered in .308 NATO (7.62x51mm) which is very similar to the .308 Winchester. They are considered interchangeable in practice (308 NATO and 308 Winchester, not 30-06. 308 and 30-06 are clearly not interchangeable).
To answer your questions as best as I can...
1) Neither the M1 Garand or the M1A are bolt action. Both are gas operated semiautomatic.
2) I don't think there is going to be much difference in recoil between the 30-06 and the 308 version. The 30-06 has a little more energy in it but not by that much. There are many things that go into perceived recoil. The M1 Garand weighs about 10 pounds or so. The Springfield Armory M1A weighs about 9 pounds. My guess is that the Springfield M1A in 308 will feel about like an M1 Garand in 30-06.
3) The design of the M1, M1A, and eventually the M14 tends to soften the perceived recoil. Between the mass of the gun, the mass of the bolt, etc. the recoil is more of a shove than a sharp punch. That said, this is a 30-06 or 308, not .223. There will be recoil.
4) If we are talking about an older Springfield Armory M1 Garand... meaning that it is really an M1 Garand, then it isn't magazine fed. This brings up some peculiarities of the M1 Garand.
The M1 Garand is fed with clips. Eight rounds go into a clip, the clip goes into the rifle and stays there until it is empty. When empty the clip is ejected and goes "ping". The clips can be a little tricky to load. Loading less than 8 is even more tricky.
The M1 was a battle rifle. There were no provisions for easily unloading it. There is a procedure that will clear a partial clip, but it isn't quite like ejecting a magazine and cycling the bolt (well it is close, but you have to pull the bolt back first, then eject the clip and since you have less than 8 rounds in the clip they tend to not stay in the clip as it pops out of the rifle).
You will have to learn the correct way to load it or risk "M1 thumb". What happens is that once the clip reaches the bottom of the magazine, the bolt releases and tries to load the first round into the chamber. If you don't have control of the bolt, then it tries to stuff your thumb into the chamber. Not fun.
All that said, I love the M1 Garand. It shoots great, the recoil isn't bad at all, it is well balanced, and I always have people wanting to see it and shoot it.
