To counterbore, or to not counterbore - 1903 Mark I Springfield

Longbranch1943

Longbranch1943

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Hello everyone, I have come here looking for some serious advice. I have a 1903mkI that has a badly worn muzzle “you can visibly see that the rifling is worn flat at least 1/8 inches past the end of the muzzle”. I get MAYBE 1/16 of an inch amount of visible bullet when placed down the muzzle “M2 ball” which is pretty much a spike in the coffin in the accuracy department. So I gotta ask, should I counterbore? This gun was made in 1919, but was rebarreled in 44’, so its seen a lot of rounds fired in its life. As for the gun itself the bolt headspaces fine and the rifling down the rest of the barrel itself it fairly sharp and defined. Would I be wrecking the collectors’ value any? I don’t really want to rebarrel this thing since it’s already been done once and you would lose the history of that. Has anyone else done this and seen any significant results? I know I won’t get the type a groups it had fresh off the line, but if I can pull so much as 2 1/2 to 3 inch groups at 100m I would be happy. I got this rifle for like 1K so not too bad for what Springfields usually go for. I’m kinda just torn between the whole originality aspect and the idea that I can give this gun essentially a new barrel life without putting a new barrel on it. Let me know what you guys think.
 
I would shoot it first and see what it does. I know when I rebuild Lee Enfields I always shoot them before doing any bedding as I have been surprised by how well they have shot. Counter boring may work well but if you don’t have to do it, it’s useless work.
 
OP, a lot of those rifles had their muzzles counterbored by armorers, when they no longer were nice and sharp, causing accuracy issues.

Shooting it first, as is suggested, makes good sense. Just remember, those rifles were accurate for their time period's specs with issue ammuniton. They usually aren't ''tack drivers'' even with excellent bores, when combined with issue ammo, such as the M2 ball.

I have personally counter bored more than a few milsurps, which were going to be shot by their owners. Counterboring works very well to bring back the muzzle to being ''square'' to the axis of the bore, if it's done properly. I do it in a lathe but I've seen it done on a drill press, using a "V" notch vice, on its side and inserting the muzzle end of the barrel through the hole in the drill press's table.

Both methods work well, IF CARE IS TAKEN TO KEEP THINGS SQUARE.

Usually the damage you describe is caused by POOR CLEANING METHODS, such as using a "pull through" cleaning device, without a muzzle protector.

If that barrel is properly stamped, I would definitely try counterboring before swapping it out. Especially if the rifle is still wearing full military wood etc.

If it's a sporter, it won't make any difference in value and actually cutting back the muzzle to where the rifling is still acceptable would be my preferred fix.
 
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