Okay for all the Garand, M14, and BAR fans out there I’m going to bring you painfully into the 21st Century.
Before I go on I want to let you know that I have a CMP Danish VAR barreled Garand that I cherish and love to pull out of the safe to just lust over how sexy she is. I take her out and shoot around 40 rounds a year before I lovingly clean and re-grease her before putting her back to bed in the humidity controlled safe.
The Garand and M14 are incredibly reliable, durable, and idiot proof. That being said.... they have a couple flaws in their design. They have (very expensive) receivers that are complicated, expensive, time consuming to machine, and quite frankly outdated to produce.
The gas system with the intricate op-rod and integrated long stroke piston inherently becomes more inaccurate with every single shot. It takes an artist with years of experience to put a new piston tip on, bore out install and/or lap a gas tube, or hand fit a stock so it’s tight enough to be accurate.
Meanwhile, my .308 SCAR-17 is just ridiculously accurate with only a 16 inch barrel. Need a new barrel? Undo a few hex head screws and pull the old barrel off. Install the new one with a new bolt and you’re good to go. The gas system is a fully chromed short stroke piston design. It doesn’t shit where it eats and piston or gas tube wear doesn’t affect accuracy. Oh, and it weighs about 8 lbs loaded.
Make a SCAR for the .264 USA cartridge and with an optic you can now easily engage out to 1000 yards.
HEY, are you calling me a Neanderthal just cause I made a comment on FR (like you I like a M14 to shoot on occasion) ?
I'll have you know I own the best battle rifle EVER produced....HK91! I'll be shooting aliens from space looooonnng after the barrel of your Scar17 has reverted to the periodic elements it originated from!
Will it shoot after its dragged through the dirt?
Tell you what. I knew a colonel in the Brit army that fought in WW2 in the India theater of operations. Know what they wanted more than anything? A 30 carbine or a Tommy gun along with a SW revolver. He told me it was about being reliable. The Tommy guns were for the armored guys and the 30 carbine for the front line troops-if there was a front line. Couldnt see the enemy over half the time so they cover shot the whole place.
I told him that if he liked the 30 carbine, what the hell would he have done if he got the 30-06? Said they had the 303 for the sniper stuff. So, they carried three types of ammo. Must have been a real bugger for supply.
It wasnt about accuracy in the Jungles like in Europe.
That guy had stories to tell. And they werent nice. The BAR? I havent talked to anyone who was a WW2 Vet that liked it. Matter of fact, one said they had the Garand and why in the hell did they need the BAR anyways.