Airsoft M14 to M1 Garand

II have always loved the M1 Garand. It is easily my favorite gun of all time. When I got into airsoft, all I wanted was an M1 garand. But they only make gas rifles, which I don't like. So, the M14 looked close enough. But I was never satisfied. So, after some research, I found out how to make one out of my M14 and I decided to share it with Instructables. In this instructable, I will show you how to turn a TSD M14 Spring rifle into a look alike of the M1 Garand. You will need:
1x M14 rifle (long barrel)
Phillips screw driver
M1 garand barrel assembly (I got mine from 2nd Bat. on ww2airsoft.com)
Saw for cutting metal
Mighty putty (or something like it.)
Black paint
Brown paint
Sandpaper
Optional 780 series shotgun mags (Evike.com)

Take the magazine out, then take the screw out of the magazine holder that holds the top of the gun in place. Then take the rifle into its two parts by sliding the top forward and lifting the front up it should come out. (May take some effort.)

Take out the two screws at the front of the top half (Near the barrel). Once they are out, you can take off the barrel assembly. You are done disassembling the top half.

Not really a whole lot to do here. In the front of the stock, you will find two screws on a rectangle. Take these out, and the screw on the tiny silver plate in front of it. Then take off the rail system on the bottom. It may feel stuck, but you have to pull pretty hard. It will come off. If the back rifle strap ring is broken (Like mine was) Keep the ring that comes off. This will be the back ring later. You are don disassembling the bottom half.

The part that you get if you order from 2nd Bat looks like this. You are going to need part of the barrel from the M14 to finish the barrel. You have to cut off a part of the barrel from the M14 to fill in the hole. You will see what I mean in a second.

This is where you need a saw for metal. You need to measure out a part of your M14 barrel to fit in the gap from the M1 garand barrel. AFTER THIS POINT, THERE IS NO GOING BACK!!! Cut the part out with a saw. Make sure it fits right. Then, use some glue to get it to stay in place on the barrel assembly. Slide the assembly onto the silver barrel. Make a mark on the inner barrel where you need to cut it. Cut just below that with a saw. (In the pictures, I dont have the M14 barrel part on yet.) Then put the assembly back on.

Basically do the opposite of disassembly. Slide the top half back on, then, when it clicks all the way in place, screw the mag holder back on. Screw in all the screws. Once you are done with that, glue the barrel assembly on.

Billy Mays was definitely not lying. Trust me, this stuff works awesome. Anywhere there is a wierd looking edge (near the barrel for example), put Mighty Putty on to make it look more smooth. Here's a picture of the real gun for reference on "wierd edges".  I also used mighty putty to attach the rifle strap ring to the stock where the old one broke off. Also, I used mighty putty to fill in the "ridges" on the front. They just didn't look good. It did end up being a little bumpy, but it looks better. And you will need to make a flat part at the bottom of the barrel. Look at pictures for reference. Make sure to sand the putty smooth! I forgot to. It will look better if you sand it.

Before you do this, make sure that your putty is smooth! I forgot to! I used model paint to paint my rifle. For the brown, I used a color called "Leather". For the black, I used a basic flat black color. Again, use the pictures for reference while you're painting. The paint I used was a little thin at the beginning, which gave a cool effect. But I wanted a more basic look. The gun in the pictures has thicker paint. Remember to paint the ring around the front of the gun. In between the barrel and the cocking mechanism.

Time to finish this. Put on some clear coat over anywhere that you painted. This will protect the paint from chipping off. The gun in the pictures is clear coated and you can't even tell.

You're done! Your M1 Garand rifle is now complete! If you want more information on making short clips so it looks even more correct, go to this link. Thanks for reading!

LINK- http://ww2aa.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=m1garand&action=display&thread=2825&page=3