That is a civilian BFA commonly advertised in World War 2 magazine, VFW & DAV mags and on the internet. They are commonly used by reenactors.
NOTHING was done to the rifle to install it! The gas cylinder lock was removed and the BFA installed and the gas plug put back in.
To do what you want to do you may have to buy the lock, don't know if you can get them from the Army or not, but it is worth asking.
I think you would be better off to use the rifles as is instead of doing the manual cycling for each shot. I would guess you got that idea from watching modern military funerals where they hand cycle the M16icon.
Sarge
Information
Warning: This is a relatively older thread
This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.