Has anyone done this before with the original Griffin and Howe mount? I have a 308 Expert that is a solid shooter and was wondering if it’s worth going down this road to squeeze out a little more accuracy.

Yes have done it.  
The receiver was from a drill rifle.  Put a Krieger barrel on it.  Had a local smith do the D&T.  I’ve done plenty of 1903A3s but not a Garand.  Not easy to do correctly, not easy to drill or tap a Garand receiver.  

My personal opinion is to not do this with a nice receiver or a 308 rifle.  If you were to take a current Rack grade receiver and put a nice 30-06 criterion or Krieger barrel on it, I’d say go for it.  

I’m coming at this from a traditionalist and competitor POV.  The M1C was never chambered in 308 and couldn’t be used in a CMP sniper match.

Ultimately it is your rifle.

This is just my opinion.

I would not do it.

IMO, the real appeal of the M1C derives from it's originality, uniqueness and rarity as examples of the military attempting to adapt their rifle to a new role.  This is the basis for its collect-ability, its scarcity and associated price.

There's nothing wrong with making your own but you will end up with a scoped, semiautomatic rifle that is rather lack-luster in its accuracy.  

It will not be an original M1C.  Someone down the road (after it leaves your hands) might be concerned it was an attempted fraud, so be sure have it marked in a way that is somewhat obvious that it is a reproduction.

It would be, could be, fun to have.  Still, I would not do it.

If you do it, ENJOY!


P.S. - I have an original M1D, with its full kit, purchased via the DCM lottery back in the 1990's.  It has never been fired by me.

If you want to build out an M1 Sniper, go the M1D route. They dropped the M1C for the M1D for a reason, the M1C was a pain in the ass.

Major reason they dropped it was ease of production.

According to the M1 book I have, Drilling a receiver after it was heat treated was difficult, The receivers were being sent to G&H for the mounting and then sent back to SA for the rest of the assembly.

I dont think the M1D is as accurate as the C but it is much easier to produce.

I have an orginal M1C  Its the least accurate sniper I own.

How about one of these mounts?
Currently oos but if you just want some magnification then it might be the easiest option for you

I think Ultimak makes a railed handgard for the M1 that allows you to use a red dot or an extended eye relief (handgun scope) mounted far enough forward to avoid interference when loading the rifle.

You could always return the rifle to original condition when you want to sell it.

https://ultimak.com/product-category/m1garand-category/

How does it attach?  I see some screw holes in the rail but there are no matching holes in a stock.

This link describes it better.  

Two steel barrel clamps are used.

Does anyone have one of these or used one?  How are they?

The micro prism mount and the ultimak mount look like great alternatives I was just looking for something more period correct. I’m not really a purist in the sense that everything has to be correct right down to the caliber nor am I trying to create some kind of fake M1C, which would be easy to see by any collector.
It looks like G&H still offers and installs the M1C mount, not cheap to say the least. I’ll have to see what the the old budget allows.

What Trollslayer stated in third post near top.

I've got a D Model acquired from CMP and, like Trollslayer, have not shot it.

I also purchased a C model from CMP with a plugged receiver, which I drilled out, installed the appropriate USGI scope and mount (those mounts have gotten expensive!).  I was disappointed in its accuracy.

Regarding the Ultimak rail, here is one on my .308 Mini-G:



The only real downside is that there aren't as many LER optics (other than RDS) that clear the receiver for clips.  Otherwise it's a good option that would theoretically allow someone to return to a factory handguard (if it was something other than a Mini-G).