Counterboring a barrel

[richbug]

Anybody have any thoughts on it? I have a 1913 RI 1903 Springfield with the original barrel on it. The rest of the rifle is a mix of assorted parts that I accumulated to go on the barreled action that came from a garage sale. The barrel is pretty good except for the last 2" or so. Looks like some serious cleaning rod wear. I want to get it shooting respectably. Currently the best I can get out of it is using 170 gr RN jacketed bullets with a surplus 4895. At 50 yards a 10 shot group I can get 6 into 2-3", 2-3 more wil be on the paper, and 1 will be MIA. Pointed bullets don't make any group at all and look like buckshot on a 24" target.

I have a .316" chucking reamer, will this do the job, or do I need a bigger size? I planned on doing it in the lathe.

[matm0702]

Hi richbug

This is a post I submitted on milsurpshooter.net and my help with your problem. There are several postings regarding this procedure on the above website. The method I used below is based on what I had available and was advised by a old gunsmith that I know.

I have a Enfield 2A that saw excess use of a Pull thru. It was so bad the bore measured at its worst point .328. The good part is that it only went approx 1/8 of an inch down the bore. After reading several post on this forum, then consulted a old school gunsmith who simply said to use a hnad drill with the barrel secured in a vise or cradle.A ordinary steel cutting drill bit was used with plenty of ATF for lube. The bit was used which as he stated was best as a new bit would tend to grab. Keeping the bit cool and removing small amounts at a time between lubing. I drilled out under 1/4 inch of barrel with a .375 drill bit. Before starting this the rifle shot all over a sheet of notebook paper at 50 yds using Rem 150 grain factory. After the counterbore I loaded the rifle with cast bullets loaded over 12 grains of Red dot (didn't want to waste jacketed bullets on a potential failure). I was real surprised as the group shrank to a 2.5 inch group at 50 yds once I got the sights set with a tight cluster of 5 rounds in 1 inch. I still need to try some jacketed rounds to double check my progress.

Mike

[missionary5155]

Greetings
Years back I bought my first M1 garand.. an H&R inport marked. The barrel was the same as yours wollowed out. It would group minute of paper plate... I ordered a new barrel for it and while waiting decided to experiment. I Drilled by hand using whatever drill bit I had that was more than .38 Which was about half the barrel material. ( I wish I had that info written down here) . I started by drilling a measured 1/2 "into the bore. I looked into the bore and it looked like that was enough but I drilled further to 1 ". I tried it again with a Basic M1 Garand load and it would shoot at 2 1/2 inches 100 yards. I do not know the minimum or maximum counter bore that would work. I just decided on a size. I was prepered to go larger if my first "drilling" did not help. I did nothing to recrown or "finish" the inside of the counterboring. So it does work... I figured I had nothing to loose with a IMPORT Marked barrel.
Next I decided to drill holes into the top of the barrel to act as a compensator. 1 3/16 hole did not do much... but 3 closely spaced holes almost eliminated all muzzle climb. Did not affect accuracy. I still have this barrel for a future application.
My NEW barrel (5 years ago) shoots a tuned 180 grain gc into near 1 ".
I grew up in a small farm community in Southwest Michigan (Riverside) where the basic attitude was repair what-cha-got some way or another... It´s broke so fix it.

[Bret4207]

I've done it using a piloted countersink. The lathe/reamer should do fine.