The Story

Ente has always been a firearms enthusiast and interested in history, especially World War I, World War II and The Vietnam War. Ever since he first saw the iconic profile of the M4A1 he wanted one of his own.

Spc. Nicholas Haney, from the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, on patrol.

December 8th 2005

Mosul - Iraq

Paratrooper of 82nd Airborne Division's Company B , 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment provides security for a meeting between Gen. John Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command, and the Al Fallujah Council.

February 20th 2004

Fallujah - Iraq

Why build one?

Well first of all, cost. An actual M4A1 can cost a pretty penny. Ente built his for less than $1,000 USD with new & reproduction parts.

(Tools not included in that price.)

Ente enjoyed the M4A1 in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and that was the first time he played a Call of Duty game, it was Thanksgiving 2009. Ente went to his Aunt's home for a Family Thanksgiving dinner, while the Adults were getting things set up and food was being prepared for serving, him and his cousins played Modern Warfare 2 Special Ops Missions on their PlayStation 3 while waiting for food.

Ente was enamored with the game, he grew up playing games like Super Mario Bros. on the NES, Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo, Pokémon on the GameBoy, Star Fox 64 on the Nintendo 64, Sonic The Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis, Guitar Hero and Grand Theft Auto on the PlayStation 2, etc. He had never seen a game like this before, realistic graphics, first person shooter with military lingo, operations, and gear. He had Family that served in the Navy & National Guard and was always curious about the military after watching tons of documentaries on the History Channel.

Since that day he wanted an Xbox 360 and when the next Call of Duty, Black Ops came out he fell in love with the gritty Vietnam era story and clandestine operations covered in the game. He still Plays Call of Duty to this day on his PC and has expanded to games like Counter-Strike, Splitgate, Battlefield, and PUBG. Black Ops 6 is pretty good in his opinion but he dislikes all the colorful costumes and Fortnite style emotes and characters.(Ente did play Fortnite at release and through Chapter 2 Season 3, he likes Fortnite but dislikes all the games trying to emulate it.)

Ente saw a few clone or tribute builds on reddit of the 2009 Modern Warfare 2 M4A1 and decided it would be fun to build. After all he started with MW2 and it would be somewhat sentimental to him for the memories.

How did he do it?

Building the M4A1 was quite easy when it came to sourcing parts as they are still prolific and the rifle is still in service today. He went to Palmetto State Armory and was looking for parts for his Retro Builds when an M4A1 parts kit popped up in the feed. He figured it was so affordable why not buy it and toss it on the shelf for another build one day. Coincidentally he was browsing reddit not long after in the r/AR15 subreddit and came across KomradeKrycek's post where he built a Modern Warfare 2 2009 M4A1 and a Modern Warfare II 2022 M4. Then it clicked, why not use the kit laying on the shelf and build the MW2 2009 rifle? So after that he went looking for parts that would compliment the build and get it looking close to the in-game rifle.

Ente picked up an Anderson Manufacturing Stripped Lower Receiver from someone local who was selling it after not building a rifle, he got it new in box for about retail price. He then went to Midwest Industries for a Quad Rail Handguard.

Ente went to Knight's Armament Company for the 'Broomstick' forward grip. After that he went to ModArmory to source surplus KAC Rail Covers as they weren't available in the size he wanted on KAC's website, you need two small ones side by side on the left and right side to get the MW2 look.

Ente went to Magpul to get an MBUS Rear Flip Up Sight and sourced a Holosun HS510C Red Dot Sight as it matched the Red Dot in the game the closest without breaking the bank.

Finally after sourcing all the components he disassembled the M4 Stock and had an Extra A1 Grip laying around as the in game rifle had one (Ente also finds the A1 Grip much more comfortable.) and pulled the retaining clips from the Rail Covers. With the Stock, Lower receiver, Grip and Rail Covers ready he took them to a local custom shop to have them Cerakoted. Ente looked into doing it himself however decided against it, professional cerakoting would look better.

Once he got the coated parts back he laid the parts out on the bench and got to work. Ente assembled the M4 Stock, built out the Lower Reciever and installed a DNT D2 Super Safety. Ente installed the receiver extension, staked the Castle Nut and installed the M4 Stock. He installed the Upper receiver on the Lower Receiver, He replaced the M4 Handguard with the Midwest Industries Drop-In Quad Rail and installed the KAC Rail Covers(Those Clips are a bitch). He then installed the Magpul MBUS flip up sight and the Holosun HS510C Red Dot Sight.

After getting the rifle assembled he oiled all the friction surfaces and fire control group. After wiping away excess lubricant he used some Black Gaffer's tape on the magazine to match the In-Game model.

After it was completed he used headspace gauges to check the chamber clearance to ensure the rifle was safe to operate.

Accessories

Ente sourced a CTOptic Barrel Mount Laser Sight similar to the one in game and got a Ferro Concepts Slingster in Coyote to use while carrying the rifle during training drills. He also got an optic cover to keep dust off the HS510c and a pistol grip plug that holds a spare battery and hex key for the optic.

After a few months of research, careful planning, sourcing parts and tools, the build was finished.

A list of parts and tools used can be found below. For those who want to build their own M4A1.

Thank you for reading if you made it this far!

-Ente & Maltz

Founders of Functional Reserve Militia