M-1 carbine muzzle free-bore

jvall1201 · December 23, 2009, 01:19 PM

I just purchased a nice Inland. The rifling in the bore is strong, but the only thing that bothers me is at the muzzle end, the rifling ends about 3/8 of a inch from the end of the barrel. It is not wear, but appears to have been done this way on purpose. Has anyone seen this?

Rottweiler · December 23, 2009, 01:30 PM

Counterboring the muzzles is/was a cheap and easy way to re-crown a barrel. Was fairly common on foreign military rifles. Yours was probably done after it was sold/given/loaned to another country. that little bit of barrel minus riflling won't hurt a thing.

Shoot and enjoy your carbine

jborushko · December 24, 2009, 10:17 AM

yep this is definitely a counter-bore situation. no harm done.

shoot it or maybe have a gunsmith re-crown it. personally i like a step crown with the crown at 11 degrees.

Dfariswheel · December 24, 2009, 08:16 PM

A little more info.

In a lot of military rifles, especially those used overseas, the muzzle got worn by heavy wear from a cleaning rod.
The rifling got worn down and accuracy degraded.

So, it was common practice to counter bore the barrel to restore the muzzle for better accuracy.
You don't see this on rifles that stayed in the US since we simply re-barreled a worn barrel

December 23, 2009, 01:19 PM	#1
jvall1201 Junior Member Join Date: February 20, 2008 Posts: 2	M-1 carbine muzzle free-bore I just purchased a nice Inland. The rifling in the bore is strong, but the only thing that bothers me is at the muzzle end, the rifling ends about 3/8 of a inch from the end of the barrel. It is not wear, but appears to have been done this way on purpose. Has anyone seen this?

December 23, 2009, 01:30 PM	#2
Rottweiler Senior Member Join Date: January 30, 2001 Location: Texas Hill Country Posts: 391	Counterboring the muzzles is/was a cheap and easy way to re-crown a barrel. Was fairly common on foreign military rifles. Yours was probably done after it was sold/given/loaned to another country. that little bit of barrel minus riflling won't hurt a thing. Shoot and enjoy your carbine __________________ Texas - envied by lesser states since 1845

December 24, 2009, 10:17 AM	#3
jborushko Senior Member Join Date: August 5, 2009 Location: Tacoma WA Posts: 469	yep this is definitely a counter-bore situation. no harm done. shoot it or maybe have a gunsmith re-crown it. personally i like a step crown with the crown at 11 degrees. __________________ EDIT: yeah i always "edit" my posts

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December 24, 2009, 08:16 PM	#4
Dfariswheel Senior Member Join Date: May 4, 2001 Posts: 7,478	A little more info. In a lot of military rifles, especially those used overseas, the muzzle got worn by heavy wear from a cleaning rod. The rifling got worn down and accuracy degraded. So, it was common practice to counter bore the barrel to restore the muzzle for better accuracy. You don't see this on rifles that stayed in the US since we simply re-barreled a worn barrel