[Biggunslitlegun]

.338 Lapua, whatever others may say about it, has proven to be a ballistically viable cartridge. Today, as I was trawling the internet I came across what must simply be termed the "God Gun" for big game hunters. A M1 Garand chambered in .458 Win Mag. Further research revealed to me a .338 Win. Mag. Model. This set me to wondering. Could a company produce a M1 Garand, or better yet, a M1A, in .338 Lapua? Yes, I recognize that recoil would be stout, mobility reduced, weight increased, etcetera, but I'm a firm believer that sometimes things should be done just because it's possible. So, is it possible to do with, say, less than $10,000 of modifications?

 

[MontyF]

Welcome to the shooters forum.
Anything is possible if the pocket is deep enough. Modifying a Garand to function with a .338 Lapua would require building the whole rifle piece by piece. I can't think of a single part that could be used as is.

 

[rojkoh]

.338 Lapua, whatever others may say about it, has proven to be a ballistically viable cartridge. Today, as I was trawling the internet I came across what must simply be termed the "God Gun" for big game hunters. A M1 Garand chambered in .458 Win Mag. Further research revealed to me a .338 Win. Mag. Model. This set me to wondering. Could a company produce a M1 Garand, or better yet, a M1A, in .338 Lapua? Yes, I recognize that recoil would be stout, mobility reduced, weight increased, etcetera, but I'm a firm believer that sometimes things should be done just because it's possible. So, is it possible to do with, say, less than $10,000 of modifications?

No. Have to completely redesign either rifle.

 

[HarrySS]

The initial deterient would be the longer case overall length. But a 338/'06 in the M1 or a 338 Federa; in an M1a would be more doable.

 

[Kosh75287]

I'm no Gunsmith, nor machinist, but I'd WAGER that the only way to get a semi-auto in .338 Lapua would be to find an existing automatic action that handles higher pressure rounds and scale one of those up, based on cartridge dimensions. My FIRST inclination would be to find a BAR sporting rifle chambered for .338 Winchester and scale the new rifle's dimensions up, based on the ratio of case dimensions (.338 Lapua:.338 Winchester). Even if the first build ended up costing under $100,000, the resulting firearm would likely be quite heavy, perhaps even impractically so.

I personally LOVE my M1 Garand and my NM M1A, but their design is dated and, to be honest, a little on the dainty side, in that they are designed to work with ammunition loaded to develop port pressures within a fairly narrow range. Even with an after-market gas regulator, I would not be optimistic about the old warhorse's design standing up to the pounding.

As mentioned, the Browning (FN) BAR sporting rifle might be up to the task, or perhaps one of the Remington 74__ series rifles could be up-scaled and made to work. No matter what direction you go, it'll translate to lots of money expended, very fast.

 

[JBelk]

Nothing is impossible....but maybe paying the bill.

You CAN make a dump truck from a sports car, but its not affordable or practical.