M1 Grand barrel change question?

Hi All,
My Brother inlaw is a retired US Army of 26 years of service. Back in Jan. he got one of those flyers that military people get to buy guns from and he bought a M1 Grand in 30-06, today he got another flyer and they have M1 Grand 308 barrels, since I tinker on guns he ask me what would have to be done to change it to 308, The only help I was, was to tell him that we would have to put the barrel on the recieve and check the head space, but I wasn't sure if the 30-06 bolt was the same as the 308????
If some one has the time and the knowledge, maybe that person will reply and advise me of what wil and won't work
Thanks for taking the time to read this post.
Later
Greg

The bolt is the same. The barrel will come short chambered if it's a Criterion so it has to be reamed and headspace checked. There are special wrenches and press setups required to do the job. A few special tools also. I made the wrench and vice jaws and did my own but I wouldn't think you would. There are others here that have done it too but your best bet is PM Chuckindenver here and get the gun shipped to him. He will accomplish it with little effort. There are other gunsmiths on this forum but I don't know them off hand.

Thanks Jim!
You are right I don't want to do it, what about those clips that hold the shells and when the last shot the clip fly's out, will the 06 clip work? and what might else have to be done?
Thanks
Greg

No, the 8 shot clip is special to the rifle. You can get ammo and clips all together from CMP which has two locations for you. Mail order is available. I'm in Canada so that's about all I know about that. The clips don't wear out for the most part so keep them. If you look further on this site you will find pics of ammo and clip. Or search the web for Garand 8 shot clips. You may find you can't get in ankle deep here. You will have a couple and all the accompanying gear before you can say Jack the Bear.

Greg;
What is the name of this company or organizaton that sends out these flyers. I'm in the military and have never received such a thing and am interested.
Thank you
P. Greaney

The 30-06 clips will work and are your only option. You may also want to get a magazine spacer for the 308 conversion Garand so that no one will unknowingly load a clip of 3-06. Israel and Korea made them of steel for their conversions, I have a Korean rifle with a steel spacer. They are available commercially Callahan Magazine Spacer M1 Garand 308 Winchester Aluminum - MidwayUSA

The 308 case is less taperd than 30-06 so 8 round clips of 308 may be hard to insert in some rifles. There is no need to file down the rails in the reciever though. Polishing the parkerizing off the clips where they rub usually allows them to slide in without force.
I do my own but I have a Garand/M-14/M1a reciever wrench, a special Garand/M1a barrel vise, headspace gauges, and reamers. If you aren't competent in rebarreling and cutting chambers and also have to buy the tools it's best to pay the experts. Theirs no savings buying the tools for doing one at home and headspacing is best left to the trained to cut chambers.
There really isn't anything else necessary to modify.

[QUOTE=Ordtech;183718]The 30-06 clips will work and are your only option. You may also want to get a magazine spacer for the 308 conversion Garand so that no one will unknowingly load a clip of 3-06.

I think you should go back and read the original post and then read what you answered. It now sounds like he can use the 5 round 1903 clips in his M1. He already said he doesn't want to do this himself.

Also the last time he was on here was the 15th of last month.

He asked about an "06 clip" whatever the Harold Heckuba that is. I presume he meant the "'06" clip, i.e. "30-06" rather than an "'03" charger for the Springfield Model of 1903 rifle.

Maybe y'all are more psychic than I, though, 'cuz I'm still not sure about quite a bit of that!