I picked up this M1903 sporter in a pawn shop for a bit over $200. The stock was carefully and tastefully reshaped to the previous owner's liking. He had removed the sight band and installed Williams sights on the barrel. It was probably a "barrel gun" at one time:
In its former life, it was a 1917 Rock Island used and refit by the USMC. Like others here have mentioned, it was not what I wanted. So I filled and filed the holes in the barrel, bought some new hardware, and made it into this:
No real collector value anymore, but it looks better and feels better in my opinion. It shoots better too, if you can find the front sight in the aperture. And I can sell it for more than $200 (but maybe not what I put into it.)
Of course, my next project was to turn a WWII Chinese Mauser into a 45 ACP. My 'smith advised against ever shooting 8mm in it again. The stock was rotten and literally broken in half. The barrel was Junk. But hey, I used that pawn shop stock again!
So sometimes, even people who value the history behind a gun will end up sporterizing it. You have no idea how bad the rifle was before they messed with it in most cases.