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.458 Magnum Pricing
.458 Magnum Options In the 62 years since the M1 Garand gas operated rifles inception, many people have tried to substantially improve it's performance... most have failed. Jim Jones and Richard McCann of McCann Industries have successfully met this challenge. There are so many improvements to this rifle that it's hard to believe the fabled Garand could receive such a face lift. 
Click for larger view We will start with the major change of caliber and chambering. Initially the M1 Rifle was chambered for the 30.06 cartridge; not any longer. The McCann Industries team has turned the old war horse into a rifle very capable of taking every game animal on the North American continent. Plus most African plains animals. How, you ask? For those not familiar with the 06 and the .338 Winchester Magnum let's take a look at the ballistics of both. The 06 will propel a 180 grain bullet out of a standard length barrel at 2680 FPS. The .338 Winchester Magnum will push a 225 grain projectile to 2900 FPS. This is an increase of 1331 FT lbs. of energy or 32%. 
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The update also includes a heavy barrel to control recoil and improve accuracy. The tighter groups come from the better heat dissipation and the fact that standard tubes measure .510" at the muzzle, they now measure .660". Also the barrel is fully free-floated. The only stress applied to the barrel is from the operating rod. Also while we are in the OP Rod area. It has been shortened by approx. 9" and straightened. For the techie, material alloy being equal, there are only a few ways to make a rod more stiff. Make it bigger around. Turn it into a tube by drilling out the center, changing the heat treat or changing the ratio of diameter to length (that means) make it shorter or flute it. The alloy, outside and inside diameter, heat treat is already established. So shortening got the nod. This also made it lighter. Because of the reduced rod length the gas cylinder has been moved back from the muzzle the same distance the rod was amputated. This then effected the need for the forward hand guard, it doesn't need or have one. This change of removing the guard and changing the placement of the gas system to the rear, along with the shortening of the OP rod spring maintains the almost perfect weight bias. Because the front sight was also moved back this shortened the sight radius. Some will say this is a bad thing. Still look at it this way; a shorter sight radius is quicker to use and like my good friend Chuck Karwan says, "It only has to shoot a minute of grizzly bear." I am not at all saying this is an inaccurate rifle. This is hardly the case; I have shot many, many, sub minute groups. Besides McCann Industries makes a beautiful scope mount. Now add to this one of the many telescopic sights available today and you can see why change will not be an issue. I am sure that some will doubt the ability of the Garand to handle the increased pressure of the .338.
Click for larger view Well, for all those in doubt, here is a quote from Hatcher's notebook. "In trying to determine the ultimate strength of the gun, Mr. Garand built up progressively higher proof loads in increments of 5,000 lbs. pressure, from the regular proof load of 70,000 lbs. to the extreme figure of 120,000 lbs. per square inch. At this later figure, cracked left lugs on the bolt began to be encountered. A gun in which the bolt had the left lug cracked by one of these excessive high pressure overloads was then fired an endurance test of 5,000 rounds of service ammunition, using the cracked bolt, which showed no further deterioration. The US M1 rifle thus has perhaps the strongest action of any military shoulder rifle in existence at this time." Do you still doubt?
The way that McCann and Jones have manipulated the entire mechanism is simply genius. The exact dimensions of the adjustable gas system, gas cylinder, OP rod and feed mechanism are proprietary. The barrels used are Douglas premium. All rifles are glass bedded with new stocks and trigger jobs to N/M specs. If this does not answer all your questions, please ask. The fit, the finish, and machine work are all first class. This is truly a firearm that can be handed down through generations. I'd like to think, John Garand would be proud.
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Most recent update: 02/17/08 Site design by ACCESS Design, Inc.
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