lets see some sporterized army surplus!

[huntinfool87]

I have a 280 that is built on a sporterized check. K98 mauser. I just acquired A sporterized 6.5x55 Swedish mauser. I'm loving these guns! I was just wondering what you guys might have for sporterized army surplus rifles.I'll have pics to share in the next few days but I'd love to see what you guys have!

 

[rcmodel]

On the left is an 03-A3 30-06 Springfield I built as my first center-fire rifle project in 1962 when I was 18 years old.

The other one on the right is a 98 Mauser 25-06 I built in 1970 something when I was about 30.



rc

 

[huntinfool87]

Those are beautiful

 

[bannockburn]

rc

Very nicely done! Those are some nicely figured stocks as well.

 

[tark]

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest the armpits of anyone who "sporterizes" a milsurp in good condition. Junker is another matter but leave the good ones alone. Just my opinion, which is worth exactly nothing to anyone but me. They are pieces of history. leave them alone!

 

[huntinfool87]

Tark I see what your saying. Mine where sporterized before I got them. I also know what a great find it is to find an old surplus rifle in great shape.

 

[SuperNaut]

Based up the law of supply and demand, sporterized milsurp rifles cause the resale price of bone-stock rifles to increase.

If you are a collector you should praise Bubba.

 

[Salmoneye]

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest the armpits of anyone who "sporterizes" a milsurp in good condition. Junker is another matter but leave the good ones alone. Just my opinion, which is worth exactly nothing to anyone but me. They are pieces of history. leave them alone!

I am on your side...

If I get the time in the next day or so, I will take some pics of the IBM M1 Carbine that my Father bought in 1973 for $75...

It's a crying shame what was done to it...

 

[delrom418]

Let's leave the military surplus rifles unsporterized.

DR

 

[agtman]

Bubba Bustin'

Inherited this one - it's my Gramp's custom 30-40 Krag.



Long dead now, Gramps never said, and I never could find out, who customized it into "sporter" configuration. But whoever did the work had some talent, and I'm pretty sure his name wasn't "Bubba."

It's set up like an English iron-sighted big game hunter, but on the barrelled action of a Krag instead of a .303 Lee-Metford. I'm thinking it's 1930-ish, style-wise.

The barrel-banded Lyman front sight is mated to a rear Lyman aperture sight. Schnabel forend on a beautifully-grained stock, Winchester steel buttplate, and a grip cap. The sling I added, but it's temporary until I find a better one. The front sling swivel is itself a barrel-band type, and protrudes down through the foreend of the stock.

When's the last time you saw a knurled knob on a Krag's bolt handle? ...



... Or, a custom grip cap?

 

[huntinfool87]

That is beautiful!

 

[herrwalther]

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest the armpits of anyone who "sporterizes" a milsurp in good condition. Junker is another matter but leave the good ones alone. Just my opinion, which is worth exactly nothing to anyone but me. They are pieces of history. leave them alone!

I am torn about whether or not to sportize my Mosin. I would never consider changing other surplus rifles like Garands or the like. My Mosin is in pretty good shape for a '43 rifle. Shoots very accurately and I could make it better with a stock and scope upgrade.

 

[Malamute]

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest the armpits of anyone who "sporterizes" a milsurp in good condition. Junker is another matter but leave the good ones alone. Just my opinion, which is worth exactly nothing to anyone but me. They are pieces of history. leave them alone!

Let's leave the military surplus rifles unsporterized.

DR

I'm not sure if the comments quoted think anyone is proposing sporterizing old military guns today, or just wanting to make out of context drive by comments.

Sporterized military guns are from another time. They were commonly available very cheaply for the most part, and were an affordable alternative for many people to factory made sporters. Nobody ever thought theyd be worth anything, and would have laughed at the idea of leaving them alone so one day they would maybe be worth something. They were worth far more as a decent, affordable hunting rifle to them at the time. Some poorly done guns were made from them, (and so what, they were cheap) and some truly nice guns were made from them. I've had original versions of a number of bolt action military rifles, and a decent or good sporter is head and shoulders above what the guns were in original form as far as handling and shootability. In original form they were heavy, bulky clunkers that handled so-so at best. As sporters, they become a great shooting and handling rifle. They also have far more character than a model factory sporter. I like my sporterized 1903 and commercial Mauser sporter vastly more than the original versions, and much more than any factory produced rifles of today.

Thats not the case today, nobody is making sporters much from valuable, collectible old guns. If they are, it isnt to build so-so guns, its to build a classic. If someone wants to build a sporter from cheap, widely available guns, I say have at it.

 

[huntinfool87]

malamute

I agree completely! My 2 sporterized mil surplus rifles are amazing! I can understand wanting to save history but there are so many of them that are completely trashed and you can pic them up for very cheap... Hell I have a mosin with a bent barrel and the bore is SO FAR OFF CENTER it's amazing that it was ever let out of a factory. The gun doesn't shoot for craps probably never has. So I ask why not turn it into something I can use? Have a one of a kind gun instead of one in millions maybe even billions...

 

[johnnydollar]

Here is a Czech VZ-24 in .30-'06. It was sporterized by Kimber of America back in 1996-'98, when Kimber was selling sporterized Mausers commerically. I bought the rifle last summer, and changed out the original black synthetic stock for a nice wooden stock I picked up at a gun show.

 

[johnnydollar]

Let's leave the military surplus rifles unsporterized.

DR

I'd much rather see a fine sporterized Mauser than another "custom" AR-15 with a rattle can paint job.

 

[agtman]

Chop 'em ...

Let's leave the military surplus rifles unsporterized.

Dude, seriously?

Now where would the utility - not to mention all the fun - be in that?

16.1" M1 "Hog Carbine" ... in .308.

 

[eastbank]

i bought this 98 german 8mm mauser at a flea market for 50.00, it was bubbaed years ago and left in this deplorable condition. i looked thru the barrel and it has a ex bore and it was D&T and bolt altered(not very good) so i decided to make a real sporter out of it. i mounted a 10x leupold on it to see if it would shoot and it put three into a one inch group at 75yrds. all the metal parts remaining have matching numbers, so its going to get a complete overhaul as i find the parts. i want to end up with a light weight carrying deer rifle. do i need it, no as i have many other rifles to hunt with. i just want to. eastbank.

 

[bannockburn]

agtman

That is one sweet looking Krag sporter that you inherited from your Grandfather. I received a Krag from a friend of my Dad that had been used as a parade rifle by a local veterans organization. It had bright chrome plating on all the metal parts and a thick coating of varnish on the wood furniture. Thought about sporterizing it into a sort-of Krag Carbine but decided instead to restore it to it's original configuration. Stripped off the chrome plating with Hoppes No. 9 and carefully sanded down the varnish and restained the wood. Had it reblued to match the original finish of the Model 1898 and overall I think it turned out fairly well.

 

[agtman]

Awesome restoration of that Krag, Bannockburn. The work you put into it paid off very well.

 

[bannockburn]

agtman

Thanks for the kind words. Took awhile to get it all done but it was really worth all of the time and effort. Love that ever so smooth Krag bolt action!

 

[agtman]

So how's it shoot?

 

[Cocked & Locked]

.30-40 Krag

 

[HKGuns]

May the fleas of a thousand camels infest the armpits of anyone who "sporterizes" a milsurp in good condition. Junker is another matter but leave the good ones alone. Just my opinion, which is worth exactly nothing to anyone but me. They are pieces of history. leave them alone!

Pretty much sums up my thoughts on the subject.

 

[agtman]

C&L ... That's a very nice Krag sporter!