M1 Rifle, Building a Dummy for Dummies. Or At Least This Dummy

[mikie]

To be clear at the start, I do NOT have any mechanical abilities, gunsmithing skills, hardly any tools, no real workbench and almost no budget. But that didn’t stop me from building a dummy Bren gun from original parts last year and it won’t stop me doing the same with a Garand. It was a fun project that kept me busy and bankrupt for a year. You can see my Bren project over on the WMF.
Like the Bren,  I got started on this by stumbling on a very cheap May 1944 dated Garand barrel last month. It’s in too bad shape for a shooter so it is a good candidate for this. I planned on ordering parts slowly but my excitement got the better of me and I now have a pile of them to play with when I have the time. I’ll update here as things progress. I’ll start off with the barrel. Just for the record, I did not grind down the barrel to expose the date. The dealer did that. But you can see how rusty it is. I love it! 
I hope you enjoy the ride. 
mikie
 

[Charlie Flick]

Mikie:

 

You did a great job with that BREN gun build.  I hope your M1 turns out as well.  Keep us informed on your progress.

 

Charlie

[mikie]

The thing that made me decide to dive into this crazy pool was finding the front half of a demilled receiver for $15 from Sarco. With my dear daughter’s wedding bills coming in, cheapness would have to be the deciding factor in my hunt for parts. Nobody seems to have the rear half at all but I figured I could fudge something up if need be.  
Next in were the handle section of a cut up op rod, a front handguard, and parts for the front sight and gas cylinder. 
Shush 🤫 . Don’t tell anyone but the op rod is for a 7.62 mm gun. This is going to be a wall hanger so I am not too concerned, but I am making every effort to match as many parts as I can to a 1944 production rifle while keeping in my tiny budget. 
mikie
 

[mikie]

21 hours ago, Charlie Flick said:

Mikie:

 

You did a great job with that BREN gun build.  I hope your M1 turns out as well.  Keep us informed on your progress.

 

Charlie

Thank you for the high compliment. I appreciate your support and encouragement a great deal.

mikie

[john k]

Cool project.

 

If I may suggest, the readily available M14 demil, back-half pieces can make pretty good fill-ins for something like this.

 

 

 

 

[mikie]

1 hour ago, john k said:

Cool project.

 

If I may suggest, the readily available M14 demil, back-half pieces can make pretty good fill-ins for something like this.

 

 

 

 

Great idea. One I hadn’t considered. I’ll look into it. Thanks!

mikie

[Edward C Bell]

Great project! Hopefully it will turn out really nice!

[mikie]

I’m still in the parts gathering phase. I’ve had very little time to work on it since my dear daughter dropped the grand dogs off for a weeklong visit. 
 

While I am pretty much on my total budget target, I’ve gotten impatient and ordered parts way ahead of my intended schedule. Fortunately, I am independently wealthy and money is never an issue with me 🤣. Ha! Funniest joke I’ve said in a long time. 
mikie

[268th C.A.]

looks like you have some interested parties there. 

[mikie]

On 4/12/2025 at 1:56 PM, 268th C.A. said:

looks like you have some interested parties there. 

When they gang up on me and give me that look, I know it’s walkies time! I love those guys. How can I resist those faces ? 
Mikie

[mikie]

The good news today is that I had an hour or two to work on the Garand. My goal today was to clean up the muzzle area of the barrel so I could install the gas cylinder and front sight assembly. There was a lot of corrosion there that wouldn’t let me slide it on. So it was file and sandpaper time. There is still work to do here, but it was good enough for a fit check. Progress! It’s a wonderful thing! 
The bad news is that I realized I somehow missed buying a gas cylinder lock screw. But that’s ok. There are plenty of other things to work on until I research and find the correct type for a 1944 gun. Doing research is a big part of the fun with this project. I love learning stuff. 
mikie

[mikie]

Tonight I moved on to the demilled trigger assembly. The one I bought has the safety lever and trigger welded down. Not a problem for a wall hanger, but I can’t let it be. The gunsmiths looking in here will probably be horrified, but a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do. I pulled out my dremel. Sparks! Fun! And after a bit, the safety lever popped out. Good enough for tonight. The trigger is going to be a bit more tricky to undo. So stay tuned! 
mikie

[JohnK83882]

Love the hobby grinder.

[doyler]

Looks like a fun and interesting project Mikey. I may have a old stock around. 

 

You can leave it a bit rough and display it like a few of the rifles that are found time to time from the battlefields. I recall the one found on Makin Island. Charlie also posted a topic on it.

 

https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/274458-1942-makin-island-raid-m1-rifle-conserved/

[mikie]

9 hours ago, doyler said:

Looks like a fun and interesting project Mikey. I may have a old stock around. 

 

You can leave it a bit rough and display it like a few of the rifles that are found time to time from the battlefields. I recall the one found on Makin Island. Charlie also posted a topic on it.

 

https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/274458-1942-makin-island-raid-m1-rifle-conserved/

Hi Ron. Thanks for stopping in. I did pick up a stock. I haven’t gotten around to taking pictures yet. It’s old and banged up but intact. Just the way I wanted it for this project.

mikie

[mikie]

Just in case you thought I was just being modest when I said I have no mechanical abilities, here is some proof I was being accurate.

While busy having fun with the dremel grinding away at the weld on the safety lever, I was thrilled when it suddenly popped out. Then I noticed that I had almost ground off the mounting pin or stud thingee. Fortunately there is enough metal left there to retain the lever and the darned thing actually works now! To an “All thumbs” guy like me, this was a major victory. 
mikie

[mikie]

80 years old and in pieces, and this thing is still causing casualties! I accidentally dropped the darned barrel, with the receiver section attached, down on my foot. Fortunately it did not fall more than about 18 inches. And somehow the ragged demilled edge avoided impaling me. My sock has a hole punched in it but other than a small scratch, my foot is fine. I guess this is a lesson for me to slow down and not just go barreling along. 
Mikie
 

[Marshallj]

On 4/12/2025 at 4:51 PM, mikie said:

I’m still in the parts gathering phase. I’ve had very little time to work on it since my dear daughter dropped the grand dogs off for a weeklong visit. 
 

While I am pretty much on my total budget target, I’ve gotten impatient and ordered parts way ahead of my intended schedule. Fortunately, I am independently wealthy and money is never an issue with me 🤣. Ha! Funniest joke I’ve said in a long time. 
mikie

Why are you ignoring us?

[mikie]

59 minutes ago, Marshallj said:

Why are you ignoring us?

Ha! I’m a bad doggie granddad. They wanted to go walkies. And it had been almost two whole hours since the last time we went out. And I hadn’t given them a treat in at least 10 minutes. Poor boys. 
mikie

[mikie]

OK, here is my stock. I found it on that ‘bay place. It’s beat up, but solid and intact. It’s just the way I wanted it. And the price was good. I cannot see any cartouche on it but there is a very very faint circle on the pistol grip.  It came with the butt plate, ferrule, and sling swivel installed. From what I researched, the butt plate is WWII type. Within my tiny budget I’m trying to get parts correct and close to the early 1944 date of the barrel. Hopefully this stock will do that. 
I should have mentioned earlier that any comments, criticisms, suggestions and recommendations for the name of a good psychiatrist are always welcome. 
mikie

[jmd62]

On 4/13/2025 at 11:27 PM, mikie said:

The good news today is that I had an hour or two to work on the Garand. My goal today was to clean up the muzzle area of the barrel so I could install the gas cylinder and front sight assembly. There was a lot of corrosion there that wouldn’t let me slide it on. So it was file and sandpaper time. There is still work to do here, but it was good enough for a fit check. Progress! It’s a wonderful thing! 
The bad news is that I realized I somehow missed buying a gas cylinder lock screw. But that’s ok. There are plenty of other things to work on until I research and find the correct type for a 1944 gun. Doing research is a big part of the fun with this project. I love learning stuff. 
mikie

I love those wartime (mainly 43 into 44 if I recall correctly) saw cut modifications to help keep the cylinder tight on the barrel. 

[Brian Dentino]

Mikie, when you get down to some of the smalls like the gas plug and others that you may not have I would recommend finding a gun show or two around your area as a lot of dealers I have seen have plastic "tackle box" type of bins with various bits and bobs for different rifles such as the M1, Mauser, Arasaka, etc. that they bring to sell for cheap.  Lots of screws, plugs, fasteners, etc. and normally cost a couple bucks at most.  May be a good source as this cool project moves along to help you get closer to the finish line.

 

In the meantime, remember the doggies need more walks and treats than you realize!  Will be watching with anticipation on this project and to make sure that they get what they need.  (Ie:  treats and walks)

[mikie]

34 minutes ago, Brian Dentino said:

Mikie, when you get down to some of the smalls like the gas plug and others that you may not have I would recommend finding a gun show or two around your area as a lot of dealers I have seen have plastic "tackle box" type of bins with various bits and bobs for different rifles such as the M1, Mauser, Arasaka, etc. that they bring to sell for cheap.  Lots of screws, plugs, fasteners, etc. and normally cost a couple bucks at most.  May be a good source as this cool project moves along to help you get closer to the finish line.

 

In the meantime, remember the doggies need more walks and treats than you realize!  Will be watching with anticipation on this project and to make sure that they get what they need.  (Ie:  treats and walks)

Ha!
Thanks for the suggestion. Sadly gun shows around here, in the San Francisco Bay Area, are rare if non existent anymore. 
mikie

[mikie]

I don’t know about the Garand but our boys seem to be a hit around here. And rightly so. They are good boys. 
Keeping with the militaria theme here they are trying on some boonie hats. Gunji boy has got his war dog face on. 
mikie

[mikie]

Some folks have spent some time recently filing their income taxes, I’ve been filing my Garand barrel. 
Today’s effort was on the section that holds the barrel band between the handguards. The barrel was so pitted i could not get the band closer than about an inch to the band pin notch. So it was some  more fun with the  dremel, files and sandpaper. In the end this little bit is now done. Victory is sweet!