I have a Springfield M1 produced in late May, 1945 with a badly worn crown. Groups aren't exactly Minute-of-Pie Plate, but still, I was getting 3-5" at 100 yards depending on ammo. It could be a lot of things, but the crown is obviously in lousy shape.

I'm thinking about having it recrowned, but I want an armorer who knows what he's doing. Shouldn'ttake more than an 1/8", but I've heard of horror stories before. Does anyone know of an old-school M1 armorer who does that kind of work? Has anyone had it done to their Garand?

Aught,

While I have never had any of my Garands recrowned, I have had a couple reworked or repaired. The barrels were not cut just the crowns were redone. All I had to do was to touch up with some cold blue and it was very difficult to tell they had been worked on. They shot much better after the work, the groups went from 4-6in at 100 yards to 2-3in. Good enough for me to have fun plinking with them. I think cutting and recrowning would ruin it as a collector. Does the barrel match the receiver? If so I would not touch it at all as they (matching barrel to receiver) are getting harder and harder to find. Most (if not all) M1 Garands went through some type of rearsonal at some point in their lifes. I will never touch my matching Garands even if they shot bad.

My father served in Koreaas acombat infantry rifleman (1950-1953)and he remembersthat most of hisM1'swererearsonaled WW2 rifles and most of them with new barrels. Infact when his Infantry regiment (38th) was dispatched to Koje-do to guard prisoners of war in April of 1952 he was issued an M1 Carbine (higher mag capacity) and even those had been rearsonaled with the updated windage and elevation adjustable rear sight and the bayonet mounts as well.

After that the unit was sent back to the front to help out the 23rd regiment on "Old Baldy" and "Pork Chop Hill" he was again reissued an M1 and it also was rearsonaled.

To this day that is his favorite rifle and he has spent his lifetime collecting them (as well as other firearms). That riflesaw him through many battles including"Old Baldy", "Pork Chop", "Bloody Ridge" and "Heartbreak Ridge", two Purple Hearts, twoBronz Stars and a Silver Star.He was one of the "Marnemen" and they called themselves the "Bastard Regiment" as they were put together from other regiments of WW2. He has many, many interesting and riviting stories......

Got a little off track here, sorry for the hijack. I'm just very proud of my dad.

Any competent gunsmith will be able to recrown it.
A lot of competitive shooterswho sot or shoot the garand have their own crown cutting tool to freshen up the muzzle occasionally.

A bad crown, IMHO, wouldn't cause those poor groups. You can re-crown it yourself....Brownells sells a brass crown tool and the grit and it's very low tech. Your electric drill does the work. Call Brownells and ask for a techie and he will help you out. 1/8 inch seems hugely excessive. Normally just cutting down to the Lands and grooves is all you need. If the barrel needs 1/8 inch, then the barrel is probably shot anyway. Brownells 40/44 will touch up the end of the barrel. Good luck and regards, Rick.

I appreciate the help, guys.