M1 Garand Reload Practice Round

I had the nutty idea of using my M1 Garand rifle in 3-Gun competition.  I wanted to practice speedy reloads at home, safely, using dummy rounds.

You can use dummy rounds, such as A-Zoom snap caps, in a Garand clip.  But there are a few problems. The snap caps get banged up pretty bad over time. And it's inefficient for practicing: the chambered round gets ejected and ends up under the furniture, and because the clip is no longer full, when you eject the clip the remaining rounds fall out of it.

I've designed this modified dummy round, that can replace the first and last dummy rounds in the clip (two of them, to maintain the rotation symmetry so the clip can be inserted in either orientation.)  It fills up the clip, so that the bolt will release as normal when clip is inserted. But it has a long scallop, so the bolt will pass over it, and not chamber it.  It also has a special fin on one side, to prevent it from rotating out of the proper alignment in the clip.

It also lets the clip work as a “single shot adapter”: after inserting the clip, you can hold the bolt back and place a single live round on top before releasing the bolt.

I've made two versions: one matching the dimensions of an “M2 Ball” round (with 152 grain bullet), and the other matching an A-Zoom 30-06 “snap cap” (with whatever tiny little bullet that has).

They're designed for clips loaded with the top round on the right side of the clip, as is standard.  If you prefer to load them on the left side, then you can mirror image it in your slicer.

Update Sept. 7, 2021

Added a .308 Winchester version.  It's based on the 147 grain “M80 Ball” cartridge.

Printing Details

I print them on their side, with 25% gyroid infill and supports.  If you orient it correctly, it will require only a little bit of support material.

My first prints were in a vertical orientation.  They looked better, but they were fragile, and the “bullet” broke off very easily at the layer lines.