Self Introducing

I am a licensed German gunsmith, who previously worked for the U.S. Army here in Germany, from 1977 until 1993. First as a quality control Armament specialist, foreman of a small arms repair unit, and finally as Chief of the Small Arms Repair Division. During my many years with the Army I gained a fairly deep insight, into the various weapons systems employed by the U.S. Forces.

In 1993, due to the drawdown, my position was eliminated, and I opened my own business. Doing routine gunsmith work, I would often go back to my roots, and make modifications to different weapons.

One of my favourites is the "Luger", using my own designs, to produce carbines, forearms, stocks, barrels and scope mounts with interchangeability. So I have a big collection of "Luger" models (see enclosed photos). As I was making the double barreled "Luger", I had the idea to work with U.S. weapons.

I decided to try to modify the U.S. Garand and attempt to adapt this weapon to a modern design. The question is, is it possible to install a magazine in the "Garand"? Also, make it more handy ? I found that both interior ribs of the receiver could be designed or modified to fit the "M-14" magazine, substituting .308 WIN for the 30-06 round. The operating rod with the rotating bolt was extracting the shell, but sometimes the hammer was not in a cocked position. A softer recoil spring and a bigger gasport-hole did not really solve the problem.

The idea to shorten the barrel and obtain more gas pressure was born and also this would make the "Garand" more handy. All the beautifull stocks were also easy to cut, and last but not least on such modified "Garand" a Springfield Armory scope mount is installed very quickly in the middle and not to the side.

Yours sincerely, Herbert Werle