Okay, so about 45 days or so ago I got the random urge to buy a Garand receiver from my local dealer when I saw some sitting in a display. The same day I ordered a parts kit (mix of USGI and Beretta parts) and after having a TERRIBLE experience with the company I ordered the parts kit from I finally got it today.

And what did I devote much of my day to? I couldn't get myself away from it so I put the entire thing together in one sitting - about 4 hours total including a few minor set backs with the rear sight assembly and then the barrel. Went quicker than I anticipated.

It's together and functional now, I just need to do some refinishing on the stock and get the headspace double checked.



I'll post a final picture after I get the stock refinished.

Nice. Isn't the M-1 a fantastic rifle?

I've been thinking about getting one for years, don't know why I waited until now.

how does the barrel get headspaced, is it a machine operation on the bolt?, and did the barrel time nice without machine work

I'm going to take it into my local dealer to get the headspace checked as I don't have a guage and don't really want to buy one. He said he'd do it for free since I never walk out of there without a new gun in my hand.

As far as the barrel goes, much of my problem was sitting there and debating if I should mount it myself or not. Finally I said the hell with it and cranked the bitch on there and it low and behold, it tightened up almost at the exact point it should have. I think it still needs another good crank because I think the front site is leaning ever so slightly - three other people said it looks like its perfect, so that might just be me being anal and paranoid.

I'm glad I decided to go with the build from a kit for one reason and one reason alone: I now know the operation of the M1 inside out. However, I don't think I'll be building another rifle for a while as it was quite a bit harder and more frustrating at times than building an AR15.

The receiver cost me $200 and the parts kit was $300 plus shipping. So for roughly $550 - after I finish working on the stock and get some clips and a sling - I have myself a nice rifle. The few M1s I've seen around town are at least $800+ so I feel like I've saved some money as I'm not too concerned with whether or not it might have been used to shoot Nazis or Koreans at some point.

It may not be completely finished but it's still a beautiful piece of work. Congratulations dude!

I have thought about doing this, what would you say was the most difficult part of the assembley process?

I already ordered a brand new walnut stock, so the stock you see will be gone (it came with the parts kit), I have the owner's guide, bayonet and cleaning kit and sling are on order, and i have 12 clips.

All I have to do is get that barrel adjusted and then I'll be in business.

Okay its now 100% complete. Everything checked out, barrel fine tuned and the new stock...

Oh yeah, before I forget... AIM Surplus has kits ranging from $80-$120 now. I don't know if they're on aimsurplus.com or not, but they are in the printed ad I got in the mail. So uh, I got a bit raped on the price (and service) of my parts kit because I was only able to find one company at the time selling it and it seemed like a good price at the time. Hindsight is 20/20...

Anyone interested in a build can get everything including receiver and brand new stock for less than $400 probably.

That was a very accurate identification of the bayonet. I picked it up from my local shop for $5 so I didn't get the scabbard. I'm shopping around for a longer one in good condition with the scabbard as we speak, I just needed something to hold me over while I wait.

ECS Said I have thought about doing this, what would you say was the most difficult part of the assembley process?

Sorry ECS, I missed your post initially and just saw it...

The most difficult part of the assembly was probably the barrel. But looking back, it really wasn't too bad. Luckily, CMP has a very detailed assembly/disassembly guide that shows piece by piece how to put everything together. My biggest problem overall was jumping ahead of the instructions or trying to do it without reading all of them...