[M16A4marine]

I've been told repeatedly it cannot be done, but then I stumbled upon this mystery YouTube video from a decade ago:

I have no idea what modifications were made to the receiver. The trigger housing/bottom metal appears to be cut to allow for the magazine to pass through, and the magazines appear to be (modified?) .30-06 BAR magazines.

I know there are conversations to allow the Garand to accept .308 M14 magazines, but something to me just seems more faithful about keeping it the original .30-06 Springfield. I've heard Army Ordnance experimented with this conversion back in the 1950s, but ultimately abandoned it due to problems when fired full auto. Since I'd obviously only be running things in semi auto, I have to wonder if it isn't a viable option.

Anyone here in-the-know care to take a stab at how this gentleman accomplished the conversion?

 

[M16A4marine]

Ah. Thank you for the detailed look.
So close, and yet so far!

 

[M16A4marine]

John Garand designed this basic rifle in 1945 and it was select-fire too, but WWII ended, and the T20E2 was not put into mass production. I think the biggest problem was persistent muzzle rise in select-fire, and a bunch of different (large) muzzle brakes were designed. FYI on its history:

Light Rifle, Part IV: The M1 Garand Learns To Rock And Roll -

This is the fourth part of a series of posts seeking to describe and analyze the 7.62mm Lightweight Rifle concept promoted by the Americans, and subsequently adopted by NATO in various forms. This series will cover development from before World War II to the present day, but will focus primarily...

www.thefirearmblog.com

"At Ft. Benning, both the U.S Army Infantry Board and the U.S. Marine Corps Equipment Board tested the eight T20E1 rifles sent to them by the Model Shop. According to Studler’s Record cited above, testers found the weapons to be simple and gave them overall favorable marks. The Benning tests did, however, outline some changes that would be made to the next iteration of the design:


With these changes incorporated, the order for production of 100 new rifles was given to Springfield Armory in late April/early May of 1945, and on May 17, 1945, nine days after the capitulation of Germany, the Ordnance Technical committee recommended limited production and procurement of 100,000 of the finalized T20 variant, now designated T20E2, to be used against the Empire of Japan. While there is no known evidence of this being formalized, it is very likely that had the war continued, the T20E2 would have been procured (and standardized) as the U.S. Rifle, Cal. .30, M2."

View attachment 505147

Holy moley, that's just beautiful.

Soo... if I'm reading that correctly... an unmodified BAR mag would work, it would just require some mods to the receiver and the bolt?

EDIT: Never mind. I see the T20 receiver was lengthened .3125 inches. Bummer...