My FFL took a Beretta BM 59 that has a Springfield M1 receiver.  The gun is in very nice shape and would fun to own, but I do not know much about the Beretta BM59 or a converted one.  According to my dealer back in the day you could send your M1 Garand to Beretta and they would convert the M1 to the .308 BM59.

I know the Beretta BM 59 has some collector value, but what would be a fair price for a converted one?

We have one a Springfield conversion. It's been a really fun gun. Mags are REALLY expensive. And hard to find. Parts are pretty scarce and pricey. And it really offers nothing over an M1A to justify it's cost. Back in the day they were somewhat more common and affordable to run and maintain. Now they are more for the collector who has to have one or two of everything. The is a guy who does a mag conversion on your M1. Which is really all the semi auto BM59 is. Now if your talking about a real Beretta in Full Auto..........well that would be a whole different game.

Mags can be had online through the auction sites if you keep your eyes open.  I bought a big pile of them for about $40 each in the last few years, which isn't great but it isn't too bad either.

I like mine, but the truth is the rifle really does nothing my others (M1A, etc) don't do just as well.

That depends on the provenance of the piece.  Your FFL is correct that Beretta did convert Garands to BM59s (Model BM59e I think), but this was probably done on large contracts with governments or government agencies.  Was this done by Beretta or was it done using a Beretta kit by a local gunsmith?

1: Is it a receiver from Springfield Armory in Massachusetts, or Springfield Armory in Genesco?  If the former, beware of a reweld.

2: Is it about 1/2" shorter than a regular Garand, or shorter?  

Beretta got the Winchester tooling after WWII and first made the "E" model, which was converted.  (you could never "send one in and Beretta would convert it")  Then they made regular models (what the M14 should have been) and folding stock Alpini (mountaineer) models.

If you pass on it do a guy a favor and pass me his info - I've been looking for a BM59 for a while.

Beretta converted a lot of M1s to BM59 specications for Italian, Angolan, and one or two other militaries. They did not convert ones sent in by private individuals.

I can almost guarantee you have a Cal-West/Golden West/Etc... conversion, and they are really not worth that much.
I've seen them in various conditions, and configurations (ranging from very nice almost indistinguishable from real PB to absolute cobbled together garbage) go for anywhere from $900-$1400. A real BM59 (Berben, etc... imported) will be more. A lot more.
The SAi (Reese Surplus.) converted BM59s are generally very nice, and are worth about mid-point, so between $1500-$2500, and they still have "new" ones on the shelves.

I somewhat regret selling my Berben BM62 with 10 mags.....

A good way to tell if it's a PB or a conversion is the grenade launching sight/gas cut-off and the bipod cut on the gas cylinder. Also the distance between the gas cylinder and the barrel is a dead giveaway.

Real BM59:


Typical clone:

Thank you for the information gentlemen.

I will have to take a look at the rifle again.  Right now the rifle is packed away in my dealers gun show collection, which is where I saw it over the weekend.

To me the rifle looked in nice shape and it looked like a BM 59 right away, even the bolt lock was stamped PB.

The rifle did not have the grenade launching sight, but it did not have the ugly recoil pad like the picture of the BM59 clone.

He wants $1500 for it.  Which is $100 more than M1A Socom I bought from him.

R2point0 if I do not make a move on this rifle I will send you the info.

Make sure it's not a BM62.
They had the recoil pad buttstock, no grenade launching site, etc...
Mine came with two stocks: one with the black hard rubber pad, and one with a red ugly one, just like BM59 clone.

Start speaking Italian and visit some Italian gun owners forums.

Original Parts once stocked in Italian battalion-level armories are starting to pop up lrather easily.

Thats good to know. Maybe I could just find a translator