Sir,
I wanted to provide a couple of suggestions for those folks that are using M1 Garand rifles. [These .30-06 rifles are fed by 8-round en bloc clips .] One obvious solution is the ten-pouch WWII ammo belt that every one is familiar with, giving a total of eighty rounds. There are a couple of other good solutions.
One that I especially like is to use a WWI U.S. Grenade Pouch Vest. You can find them on eBay and various internet sellers, both original and reproduction ones. It is a rectangular panel with a shoulder/neck strap and ties to go around the chest. It looks like what we call a [Magazine] Chest Rig today and has eleven pockets on it that snap close. They were obviously designed to carry WWI vintage grenades, but each pocket hold two en bloc clips as if it were made to do so. This gives a total capacity of 176 rounds. Better yet, tie or stitch the sides of two panels together and you now have an impromptu vest holding 352 rounds. Its not as fancy as a store bought vest but it works really well.
Also, Original S.O.E. makes a Pull-Out Garand Tray that fits in their Patrol and Ralleyman AR-15 magazine pouches and sub-loads. One of these pullouts hold six en-blocs each giving forty eight rounds for each AR pouch or ninety six rounds for one of their double AR-15[magazine] pouches.
Maybe these will give the M1 Garand users out there some additional ammo carry options. Sincerely, – Matt R.