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