Tanker Garand

While I'm most certainly a convert to the appeal of the Tanker Enfield, I'm not so sure about this shorty version of another classic rifle- the Tanker Garand. Also known as the T26, this was originally a military conversion, rather than the idea of a gunsmith as is the case with the Enfield. When it comes to the Enfield Tankers, I'm all for it- but if I was to buy one I'd most certainly go for a 7.62 Russian conversion at the same time. If I wanted a .303, I'd stick with the full length No. 4 rifle. The Tanker Russian seems to be an eminently good idea- a short, handy light-recoiling rifle that's cheap to shoot. What's not to like about that?

The Tanker Garand is another kettle of fish altogether and I just can't seem to get behind the idea. It's not that I'm opposed to destroying a piece of history- you could "Tankerise" a brand new Garand from Springfield- and it's not that I can't see the benefit of a carbine sized Garand, it seems like a grand idea, but I'm just not sold on it- yet. Give me a day or two and I *might* be singing it's praises! For the time being though, I'd much rather have a Springfield SOCOM 16 rather than going to the trouble of getting a Garand modified so drastically. The advantage over the Garand is mainly in the detachable magazine- 20 is better than 8- but I'd be interested in seeing a head to head between the two to see how they shoot.