I was expecting to find more budget and DIY Garand stuff

[Flyer]

Looking at Brownells, barrel vise inserts are $50 for steel, $60 for aluminum, receiver wrenches are $110 and timing gauges are $80.

They might be worth it for a professional gunsmith who is going to do dozens of Garands but those tools really don't need a terrible amount of precision to make something that could last for many Garand builds.

I'm going to make my own set using scrap metal and a bit of oak.

I bet I'll save enough to buy a pull through chamber reamer.

First thing, it seems that the GI barrel contour has diameters of 1.1" and 0.865" at the chamber end. I'll measure before I do any cutting but I have read that people have used 1 1/8" and 7/8" to make barrel vises so that is easier to find off the shelf.

I have been reading about the CMP receiver wrench and the Brownells wrench reviews so I will make a hybrid with an oak insert to protect the finish and the handle at an angle that allows it to tighten the receiver in an upright position with the handle horizontal.

The timing gauges seem very simple but might need some precision to work accurately. I might make mine adjustable so that I can dial in the precision with a screw and use a nut to lock it in.

Any way, I didn't see much that was made the way I would do it. If you know of cheap tools or designs that would be good to copy, let me know.

I am almost certain that I will not be making more tools than I need but I hope anyone who likes to DIY will copy or improve upon what I do.

[Orlando]

Trust me all you need is a cheap 18 " Cresent wrench for the receiver. I did several this way before making a receiver wrench andit works fine. No need in spending $$$ if you are just going to do one or two
Cut a piece of aluminum can to protect the receiver finish

[Flyer]

I'm sure you are right but guns are my hobby and I like nice tools.

If I could spend $60 and get a nice set for barreling Garands, my order would have been placed years ago. Since that doesn't exist, I'm going to spend some time in the shop and I'll wind up with a cheap purpose built tool and pride in ownership.

When I was young I got to visit my grandfather's garage on occasion. It was filled with home made tools of various quality. For him it might have been the result of living through the depression when you had to make and repair anything you need by yourself because the money to pay someone else was not there. I like to do similar things because I appreciate his creativity, determination and craftsmanship. I'm cheap too.

I'll probably be able to make a receiver wrench for less than the cost of a Harbor Freight Crescent wrench big enough to do the job. That means I'm billing my time at $0.00/hour but doing it is what I'm after.

[Orlando]

Since you were on a budegt I though maybe you had a Cresent wrench laying around you could use. Yes tools are expensive, thats why most people who only plan on doing a couple hire it done. It makes more sense financially
Heres a wrench my buddy made for me

[Punch The Clown]

I'll probably be able to make a receiver wrench for less than the cost of a Harbor Freight Crescent wrench big enough to do the job. That means I'm billing my time at $0.00/hour but doing it is what I'm after.

I didn't think anything was cheaper than a Harbor Freight wrench.

[Flyer]

I think I have figured out a way to make a barrel vise out of some pipe nipples, scrap conduit and a pipe cap. A few cuts, some drilling and plug welding should do it.

I should really build it to fit in a bench vise but I need an upgrade. I should check out Craigslist to see if I can find a Wilton.

[Flyer]

Wow, it looks like the days of finding an old Wilton for $80 are gone.

One other thing I have been looking at is an interchangeable reloading press base. There is a company that makes some nice ones but their system has some faults I would like to correct.

It seems like I should make a flush mount plate and maybe hang a Garand barrel vise under it to keep it out of the way and solidly attach it to my bench.

That's one more project but not that big.

[Flyer]

Cheap barrel vise concept:

Black iron plumbing pipe is cheap, welds pretty good and is generally easy to work with.

It is available in different wall thicknesses but the dimensions are all nominal, in this case that fact will be used to our advantage.

Another thing about pipe is that it is welded down its length. If you cut it lengthwise, it will usually spring open a bit which we will also use to our advantage.

With the shape of the Garand GI barrel profile, there is a ledge that can take the torque of barreling so the barrel vise does not have to grab the barrel tightly. A tight grab would be better so I am going to try to make the pipe sections grab like a collet but if it winds up loose, no big deal and adding tape to the vise could snug it up.

As mentioned earlier, the GI barrel profile is two half circles, one 1.1" in diameter, the other 0.865". Bottom to top that is 0.9825".

1 1/4" schedule 40 pipe has a nominal I.D. of 1.380". That means I need to fill 0.140" on the bottom of the pipe and 0.2572" to fill on the top.

Forgetting the O.D. and I.D. for a while because they are close to what we need, 1" schedule 40 pipe is 0.133" wall thickness and 3/4" schedule 40 pipe is 0.113".

0.133 is close to 0.140 and that gap could easily be filled with aluminum tape.

0.133 + 0.113 = 0.246 is close to 0.2572 and that gap could easily be filled with aluminum tape.

Carefully trimming and shaping the ends of "C" shaped half pipe sections and plug welding stationary and moving sections should allow it to clamp using a drilled out pipe cap and the threads on the 1 1/4" pipe that holds everything.

The only negatives to this approach I see is that it will be a bit labor intensive, it needs a welder, a lathe is a good idea and you would need to strip everything off the barrel to make this work, the clamp style just needs the rear hand guard removed.

The positive is that I have pluming pipe scrap so the pipe cap and labor will be my only expense.

Now I have to plan my receiver wrench which will also be mainly built from scrap.

I think the one Garand tool I need to buy is the gas plug wrench.

[Flyer]

I tried the 1/4" socket extension to remove my gas plug and it was barely tight so no wrench needed. The gas cylinder was another story, it took some beating with a wooden block to get it off the splines.

Once that was removed, I discovered my parts kit is incomplete, there was no rear handguard retainer pin. Hopefully those aren't $$$.

Any way, I'm ready to build a barrel vise once I get to the shop. With Thanksgiving, I'm not sure when that will be but hopefully by December 1.

[Orlando]

I suppose you are talking about the lower band pin. Go to hardware store and buy a 1/8 x 1/2 roll/split pin I can send you plans for a receiver wrench if you are interested and if I can find them