[archy]

I understand that Gen MacArthur nixed the .276 caliber because the US had mountains of US .30 Caliber ammo. “Army Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur personally disapproved any caliber change, in part because there were extensive existing stocks of .30 M1 ball ammunition”.

And after Pearl Harbor, they found that the necks of the WWI brass were brittle and had cracked or were about to, preventing chambering of a cartridge from a Garand without shoving the bullet deep into the cartridge case, jamming the rifle.

Solution: pull the bullets, and load them in new cases. But only after new factories and contractors could be brought up to speed. It was a close thing.

[Doc91678]

I fully agree with you there. My cousin 1st MarDiv at Guadalcanal wasn’t issued a Garand until he returned to Wellington for R&R. He then fought in Cape Gloucester with the Garand and then was reissued an M-1 Carbine.

[Doc91678]

I fully agree with you there. My cousin 1st MarDiv at Guadalcanal wasn’t issued a Garand until he returned to Wellington for R&R. He then fought in Cape Gloucester with the Garand and then was reissued an M-1 Carbine.