Sporterized military rifles

[gotboostvr]

Here's mine:

1914 Gew 98 Mauser, 30-06 Marlin barrel, Redfield peep sights, Fajen stock, and a very nice trigger.

Picked it up off of Funbroker for $150 to shoot mild powered cast loads for fun. Now that I'm moving out west where bottle neck cartridges are fair game, I might press it into service once more for medium/large game.

Edit: Corrected K98, to Gew 98

 

[mustanger98]

1914 K98 Mauser, 30-06 Marlin barrel, Redfield peep sights, Fajen stock, and a very nice trigger.

Picked it up of Funbroker for $150 to shoot mild powered cast loads for fun. Now that I'm moving out west where bottle neck cartridges are fair game, I might press it into service one more for medium/large game.

Is the reciever marked "Mod 98" or "Gew 98"? I'm just recalling something I read a long time ago... IIRC, some Gew 98's were rebarreled/restocked as K98's.

IMO, a rifle such as yours ought to be taken hunting. If you do, good luck.

 

[gotboostvr]

Is the reciever marked "Mod 98" or "Gew 98"? I'm just recalling something I read a long time ago... IIRC, some Gew 98's were rebarreled/restocked as K98's.

IMO, a rifle such as yours ought to be taken hunting. If you do, good luck.

Actually, you're correct it is stamped Gew 98.

 

[35 Whelen]

The wailing and gnashing of teeth over sporterized rifles is a little silly. It happened, it's over.

My Dad was avidly sporterizing and converting military rifles in the '60's and '70's and I still have some of them. The hobby spilled over to me, and I guess I've done 8 or 10 of them.


Some of my more successful endeavors-

I wanted a all-weather elk rifle that could withstand nasty weather, miles in a saddle scabbard and being hauled up and down mountains. In the early '90's I picked up a Czech VZ24 (known for their smooth actions) for $85, had a buddy chamber in 35 Whelen and install a Douglas Premium barrel, had it Parkerized, installed a Timney trigger, then I installed the sights, D&T'ed it for a 4X Burris scope and bedded it into a composite stock. It's as ugly as a mud fence, but it shoots like a benchrest rifle and is wonderful for elk.







About that time I built a Scout Rifle based on an FR-8 for which I paid the princely sum of $140. The same buddy turned the flash hider down and I welded a low bolt handle, mounted a receiver sight and scope base, and did some work on the stock. I've used it more than any other rifle and couldn't possibly count the game it's taken. It's a fine shooting little rifle too.







My wife used the above Scout Rifle one season and loved it, so like any good husband would do, I built one for her. This one took some major work including lapping a tight (.305") spot out of the barrel and making some serious modifications to the stock.

Before-



After-



At the range-



So there's some of my contribution to raising the value of old military rifles.

35W

 

[troy fairweather]

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?attachments/img_20180719_132249-jpg.796881/


Sorry for the bad photo. Shots from my 09 Argentine 7x57AI sighting in. I was trying to center the leupold std bases that's why there's shots left and right. 2 far left were the first. Believe i did 2 clicks up for the group, I think for as many shot in a row it's pretty good 3 round group, for a deer rifle.

 

[entropy]

Actually, you're correct it is stamped Gew 98.

Definitely not a 1914 K98. The carbine in 1914 was the 98A (made until '08) or 98AZ.

 

[theotherwaldo]

-Looks a lot like the Swedish Model 1894 that I was working on today... .

 

[Mr. Zorg]

Those antique Nepalese weapons in the link were Enfield Muzzle loaders, Sniders, and Martini-Henry and locally produced alternatives to both.

I have to say both the Enfield 1853 and the single shot breechloaders were very tempting when they first came in, but the "good" ones went fast.

-kBob

Said some pieces were from the early 18th century too in that one link under Ghurka Collection, so some from before metallic cartridge days.

"In 2004 Christian Cranmer completed his 35-year-long attempt to convince the Nepal government to sell him over 50,000 antique firearms. These weapons were part of the arsenal of the Royal Nepalese Gurkha Army, and had been sealed away in the Lagan Silekhana Palace since 1839.[3] He has published a book and made a DVD documentary about this, titled Treasure is Where You Find It.[4]"

Probably some artworks for royal family hunting pieces from years gone by in the mix. A fascinating hodgepodge I'm sure, now they have a national mid 20th century and newer hodgepodge.

I'm sure the DVD is interesting but not enough for me to spring for purchasing a copy, just me.

 

[Offfhand]

Among the more spectacular military conversions you're liable to see anywhere are the Springfield M2 .22 Rimfire marksmanship training rifles "sporterized" to .22 Hornet. This got started back in the 1920's when Townsend Whelen and a bunch of like minded gun nuts at Springfield Armory (the real one) tried hot-rodding the old .22 WCF by replacing the original black powder with smokeless powder. Naturally, they had plenty of M2 rifles to mess with because that's where they were being made, and the conversion from rimfire to certerfire amounted only to rechambering the barrel and reconfiguring the firing pin and extraction. And thus the .22 Hornet was born, and made legitimate a few years later when Winchester offered standardized ammunition. (Loaded with .223" dia. jacketed bullets to fit Sprigfield's .22 RF barrels.) About then a few custom gunmakers such as Griffin & Howe, Hoffman Arms and Sedgley got in on the Hornet craze with their versions of Springfield M2 to Hornet conversions. Shown here, compared to an unaltered M2, is a Griffin & Howe K-Hornet conversion, with full magazine and their distinctive classic styling, bolt handle altered for low scope and even M-70 type wing safety. Generally not your typical bubba effort.

 

[indy1919a4]

Among the more spectacular military conversions you're liable to see anywhere are the Springfield M2 .22 Rimfire marksmanship training rifles "sporterized" to .22 Hornet. This got started back in the 1920's when Townsend Whelen and a bunch of like minded gun nuts at Springfield Armory (the real one) tried hot-rodding the old .22 WCF by replacing the original black powder with smokeless powder. Naturally, they had plenty of M2 rifles to mess with because that's where they were being made, and the conversion from rimfire to certerfire amounted only to rechambering the barrel and reconfiguring the firing pin and extraction. And thus the .22 Hornet was born, and made legitimate a few years later when Winchester offered standardized ammunition. (Loaded with .223" dia. jacketed bullets to fit Sprigfield's .22 RF barrels.) About then a few custom gunmakers such as Griffin & Howe, Hoffman Arms and Sedgley got in on the Hornet craze with their versions of Springfield M2 to Hornet conversions. Shown here, compared to an unaltered M2, is a Griffin & Howe K-Hornet conversion, with full magazine and their distinctive classiv styling, bolt handle altered for low scope and even M-70 type wing safety. Generally not your typical bubba effort. View attachment 935295 View attachment 935296 View attachment 935297 View attachment 935298

Love that scope

 

[Offfhand]

Love that scope

I love this type of scopes too. It is the vintage 1" Unertl like they made back in the 1930's and is only 6X magnification but is period specific for the rifle and that bygone era of varmint shooting.

 

[indy1919a4]

I love this type of scopes too. It is the vintage 1" Unertl like they made back in the 1930's and is only 6X magnification but is period specific for the rifle and that bygone era of varmint shooting.

You know you really hit something there. It is amazing looking today how low power scopes were. Even through WW II most the military sniper scopes were 2 & 4 power.. Again amazing scope and gives that rifle an over the top look..

 

[mgmorden]

You know you really hit something there. It is amazing looking today how low power scopes were. Even through WW II most the military sniper scopes were 2 & 4 power.. Again amazing scope and gives that rifle an over the top look..

Yeah I have to admit - I only hunt with scopes. I'll shoot pistols with irons all day, and even "tactical" rifles when plinking I don't mind an aperture sight, but if I'm hunting I'm using a scope or nothing.

That said, my scopes pretty much NEVER leave the minimum magnification - 3x on most of them and 2x on a few. Heck the scope I just mounted on my 300 Blackout AR is a 1x to 4x and it'll probably spend most of its life on 1x. I really like hunting with a crosshair setup, but magnification just isn't that important. That might would be different if I hunted out west, but here in SC my average shot on a deer is around 30-35 yards, and VERY rarely does it get up to 100. The trees are just too thick to see much farther than that (and I mostly hunt in the woods rather than fields).

 

[mjsdwash]

I like them. I see no problem with destroying (slightly) a 'collectable' to make it more useful, practical, and get it out in the field more. If they could talk, I'm sure they'd tell you they'd rather be used than look original. It was nice during that brief few years where a sporterized milsurp was near worthless. Now people are seeing them as a good alternative to the injection moulded, ugly, unsighted price-point rifles today.

 

[mjsdwash]

Note that the 2nd Amendment is not about hunting. Sporterizing makes a rifle less useful for its original military / militia purposes. It can therefore be argued that this process is anti-2nd Amendment.

less useful in a trench, but better handling and lighter has its value too.

 

[rust collector]

less useful in a trench, but better handling and lighter has its value too.

Yes, the relentless march of time made those rifles less useful for their original purposes, and all the hand wringing, wailing and gnashing of teeth won't change that. It's called obsolescence, and I can identify with it!

 

[mustanger98]

I've read lately that WW1-era rifles weren't originally intended for trench warfare, but were actually holdovers from the end of the era of Napoleonic tactics. So, the European rifles we associate with trenches... they weren't really that great in the trenches. The U.S. and British rifles were probably better... then Germany changed from Gew98 to K98k in the 1920's.

 

[OneFreeTexan]

I have a handful of old Military, mainly Enfields that haven’t been modded......Maybe it’s time to start selling them.

Except for my ‘money’ gun, an old Swiss K-31, that I will occasionally take to the closest range, and outshoot most everybody with it’s accuracy.....Last time I made $120. Of course the ammo is expensive.

 

[Duster340]

Love K31's. If mine weren't already f'd up when it was given to me, I'd have restored it back to milspec. That said, it is a ridiculous tack driver and the 7.5 Swiss is a helluva deer round.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Shoulda posted a scope pic with my 1916 Gew 98... Its period correct to the point of a 50s sportster at least. Side mounted to the receiver.

 

[AlexanderA]

I've read lately that WW1-era rifles weren't originally intended for trench warfare, but were actually holdovers from the end of the era of Napoleonic tactics. So, the European rifles we associate with trenches... they weren't really that great in the trenches.

Rifles in general weren't that good in the trenches. What good is a rifle, if you are going "over the top" against machine guns, barbed wire, and artillery? A primitive spear would be just as good. Actually, the Germans figured out, late in the war, that infiltration tactics were more effective than mass charges. They sent forward small teams armed only with grenades, pistols, and sharpened shovels, under cover of night and smoke. Rifles were an unnecessary burden.

 

[hossfly]

I don't see any problem if you want to Bubba them. The fact of the matter is the collectors market on them isn't very lucrative. I have a barreled Chilean Mauser action with a butchered stock and the original 29 inch barrel. If it were really worth anything I'd trade it for a good gun. As it is I'm going to use it for a tinker project.

 

[Mr. Zorg]

Rifles in general weren't that good in the trenches. What good is a rifle, if you are going "over the top" against machine guns, barbed wire, and artillery? A primitive spear would be just as good. Actually, the Germans figured out, late in the war, that infiltration tactics were more effective than mass charges. They sent forward small teams armed only with grenades, pistols, and sharpened shovels, under cover of night and smoke. Rifles were an unnecessary burden.

Including their then-newest "pistol" for such operations, the MP18 with snail drum magazines. It and its descendants and relatives manufactured all over the globe with greater and lesser degrees of refinement factored significantly in combat operations including guerrilla activities in the next World War.