November 17, 2009 06:19

Post #1

SARCO BM59 Type E Garand kit comes to life

I bought this from KOAM who had commissioned this build from James at http://www.cmparmory.com/ and was looking to sell. It was built with one of the Kits Sarco is advertising as a BM 59 kit. Their ad states that it is complete minus receiver and they offer "drawings" to describe the receiver modifications. The Sarco kits have all the indications of being BM 59 E (or BM 59 SL). That is to say they were surplus USGI Garands modified to select fire and to use BM 59 magazines. The gas system is unchanged from the Garand. The Overall length is 1/2" shorter owing to the caliber conversion to 7.62 NATO by chopping off the breach and reaming a new chamber. Consequently the stock, rear handguard, barrel and op rod have to be a 1/2" shorter too.



I have seen this ad in there for years and had never seen or heard of anyone who had done the conversion until now. James at CMP Armory said he has done a few. I remember reading here and there that some of these parts may be left over from old projects by Fed Ord/Sante Fe and Golden State. Other posters mentioned that these kits come from Type E conversions done by Beretta for the Argentine navy. I'm not sure what parts of that jazz are true or not. What is true is that these are very cool rifles.
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I have had a chance to run about 200 rounds through this rifle it and I have to say it runs great and is my current favorite to shoot. The barrel that came with this kit gauges 1 at the muzzle 3 at the throat. It shoots 1 MOA with no problem. The BM59 bolt that came with it did not headspace so this is running with a PB Garand bolt. It takes a little nudge to drop the bolt on the first round but feeds and cycles fine under power. This is probably due to the Garand bolt running in it instead of a BM59 modd'ed one.


Here you can see the biggest changes in the modifications to the Garand receiver. In this case the receiver legs have to be drastically reshaped not only on the inside to allow the mag to pass but too lock into the stock as that relationship is changed from the Garands.

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Here are some shots showing the differences in the inside of the stock.
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Here compared to a USGI postwar birch
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The receiver has been modified to have the BM59 bolt catch hold the bolt back after the last round is fired.

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The barrels are similar to but not identical to the Italian 7.62 conversions that Sarco also sells in that they are 1/2" shorter that a 30-06 barrel. The difference is that the Type E/BM 59 barrels have some contour added in the form of a ramp to ease the op rod along the barrel shoulder. The op rod in the type E kit is the same length as the Italian 7.62 conversion op rod. I tested and they are in fact interchangeable.
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Anyone know what make of barrel this is??
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The brake has 8 ports on the left and 16 ports on the right. I presume this was to control muzzle rise to the right in auto fire. The stubby little break works very well in semi auto and there is very little muzzle rise at all.
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Thanks KOAM. I love this thing.

JR

Last edited by Rotor on November 22, 2009 at 15:51

FALaholic # 10282

November 18, 2009 02:40

Post #6

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November 20, 2009 16:35

Post #10

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Regards, Warbird

November 21, 2009 02:48

Post #11

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"Qui desiderat pacem, bellum praeparat; nemo provocare ne offendere audet quem intelliget superiorem esse pugnaturem."(Whosoever desires peace prepares for war; no one provokes, nor dares to offend, those who they know to be superior in battle.) - De re militari (390 B.C.) by Flavius Vegetius Renatus

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November 21, 2009 05:11

Post #12

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November 22, 2009 01:24

Post #17

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Regards, Warbird

November 23, 2009 19:53

Post #19

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Next Military rifle steel plate match is September 11th 2010

Ammo... don't buy it and it will come down!

November 23, 2009 23:26

Post #20

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"If a man speaks in the forest, and there's no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?" -- John Green

A smart man learns from his own mistakes,
a wise man learns from your mistakes.

FALaholic # 1367

November 25, 2009 15:28

Post #22

Last edited by Womper on November 25, 2009 at 15:36

FALaholic # 5777

November 30, 2009 04:45

Post #23

Several years ago I bought a bunch of B.A.R. mags with the intent to convert a Garand receiver to accept them. I abandoned the project and sold the mags. I see now that I made the right choice.

Whomever did the machine work on that rifle did a fine job. Congrats on your rifle.


BTW

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THANK YOU JESUS

FALaholic # 1367

November 30, 2009 23:37

Post #24

Last edited by Womper on November 30, 2009 at 23:44

FALaholic # 1367

FALaholic # 14581

April 10, 2010 05:04

Post #32

The BM59 is a nice rifle. Mine isn't a SARCO kit, but a reweld. Here it is next to a Garand.


Davesrb

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In memory of my friend Roger Dunkelbarger. 05-09-2010