Garand U.S. T26
A short Garand rifle was made for fighting in Pacific islands jungles in July 1945; first by unit armouries and second by Springfield Arsenal.
The war ended before trials results and so the project was put a part.
In 1950-55 about all modified Garand was dismounted for spare parts and barrels sold to civil market.
About 1960-70 the Springfield Armoury (not Arsenal) rebuilt theses rifles (about few thousands) for collectors market and named "Tanker".
The calibre remained the standard 30-06 so that the recoil increased for the 8 inch shorter barrel.
The photos show a standard M1 rifle front section for length comparison.
You can see also a winter trigger and the 3 main bayonets:
A standard WW II with a German belt loop adapter
A standard Korean War with chequered grips
An Italian made for the 308 version with good grips.
Some photos of disassembled rifle showing the modified (curved) operating rod extension (piston).
A page of an US official manual showing two experimental Garand; one is the T.26.
A dummy cartridge clip.
A complete cleaning /maintenance kit.
Enrico
