Milsurps, bubbarized or not

[Palehorseman]

I only have two, a 91/59 MN 7.62x54 and a FN M-98 rebarreled to 7.62x51 NATO by the Israelis.

The MN I got off a neighbor for $25.00 couple years ago. The 98 I picked up over a couple decades ago. Both are pseudo scouts and I really like the fast and handy concept.

I only shoot hard cast WW water dropped GC boolits in both, and they are very accurate up to a bit over 2,000 fps.

Pics here:
http://hstrial-rchambers.homestead.com/early.html#

 

[gun addict]

:banghead:\\not my cups of cake, if you want my opinion you definately bubbaed it, but then again it's your gun.

It's hard to find a good conditioned Isreali K98k in 7.62NATO, and......

 

[jd46561]

yuk!. :banghead:

Have a Swede m94 mauser someone Bubba'd, they turned an 900.00 carbine into a 150.00 carbine. Shaking my head.
If you want a sporter or hunting rifle buy one already built. Leave the Historic weapons alone. JM2C.

 

[earlthegoat2]

While the contemporary styling of the so called sporterized milsurps leaves much to be desired, I do like a tastefully done sporterization. Unfortunately you have to completely redo a stock to make a milsurp conversion look decent.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

Here are the 2 answers you typically going to get with a surplus rifle in any configuration, other than original, here on thr.

1. Yuk
2. Its your gun do what you want.

I'll offer a 3rd. You have done nice work. While most mil-surplus are worth much more in original condition I also have a swedish mauser previously modified by the previous owner. It was the most fun I ever had making it into something usefull / nice. There were MILLIONS of both types of rifles made, and you did nice work, finished it, and didnt do a hack job.... SO I say Looks good, good work. Since, I have been keeping my eyes out for previously modified rifles that I can do something with....for cheap.

 

[Yo Mama]

The only thing I liked was the 1911.

 

[brianr23]

You can scout rifle both the mosin and k98 without doing permanant alterations. In my opinion there is nothing wrong with that. I bought a Santa Fe Jungle Carbine (A no. 4 that was modfied by Santa Fe Arms after the war) a few years back. The stock cracked after a year or so and I put a synthetic stock on it. People always look at me like I ruined a authentic Jungle Carbine because they simply don't know that it was modified 50 years ago. I plan on buying a replacement stock and changing it back soon. Bottom line to me is if you can put it back in its original configuration then go for it. As for permanant mods....I'd rather not do that to milsurps. I have an israeli k98 too. Mine is in fair shape at best and wont group but I just like having it. Im lucky to hit a 2' (thats right foot not inch) circle at 50 yards but its my piece of history.

 

[Moose458]

I agree, I'm impressed you did real nice work, and as long as you're happy. Hey the only person you have to please, is yourself. I've also sporterized a couple of milsurps myself, and couldn't be happier. I made a scout out of a K98 and a scoped hunter out of a Swede (which my wife took over after the first shot). I didn't put near the time or effort in mine that you put in yours though.

 

[browningguy]

I don't mind what people do with their rifles, both of those are common and anyone that wants an original can get one so I don't have a problem with it. When people say either is hard ot get, they generally mean hard to get for under $100. If you pay the going price their are plenty of them.

Here's my bubba'd Model 1891 Mauser in 7.65 Argentine, the conversion work was done in the '50's and I quite like it:

 

[madcratebuilder]

I'm with Ohio Gun Guy on this one. I have both original and sporter mil-surps. Now there are some rather rare mil-surps that I think should be kept original, but most were made in the millions so cutting one up to sporterize it is not really destroying one.

 

[Ohio Gun Guy]

Here is mine

 

[rklessdriver]

I agree with OGG about one thing.

1. It is your rifle and you can do what you want with it.

Definatly not my cup of tea but everybody's different for a reason.
Will

 

[w_houle]

Not all milsurp makes for good sporterized rifles, but if you find one and just can't help but to see it buried in the rifle you have, then go for it. Have a vision, and a reachable goal, not just a cheap milsurp rifle that you aren't losing money on if you butcher it. A man has to know his limitations: Ask for help and have others do the work that you can't. I see that as the tragedies of this endeavor. That being said: All sporterized rifles are works of art; some are close to Rembrant, while others closer to Jackson Pollock.

 

[GD]

I have two M91/59's and as others have spoken about these rifles, they are very accurate. I paid under $100 for both of them. In my opinion, they are worth much more. At last weekends Topeka gunshow, a guy had a M91/59 in a synthetic stock and had the raw materials to make a scout rifle out of it (he had a bent bolt kit and a drill and tap mount with the rifle). He wanted $150 for the whole thing. I was very tempted to buy it due to its more rare date (1940). The fact that it was missing the original stock turned it off for me. In any case, $150 for a very accurate carbine is probably still worth it as you would have a great shooter.
I have seen some very rare rifles that lost most of their value due to someone hacking them up. Case in point, someone with a Finnish M28/30 mosin that has it's barrel and stock cut trying to sell it for $150 with no takers. In original condition the rifle should easily sell for triple that amount.

 

[Col. Plink]

Yeah, dog, nice work. Don't let anyone tell you how to trick out an old rifle. I really like the looks of 'em too. Trying to figure out the best way to scout scope mount a long eye relief scope on my VZ-24, but no one seems to be able to tell me if the rear sights arethe same as any other rifle to make it easier...

 

[jimmyraythomason]

All mil-surps aren't automatically collectable. Many M98 Mausers never saw ANY warfare use and have NO notable history. Many are only valuable to niche collectors and are otherwise just fine shooters. Beauty IS,in fact,in the eye of the beholder. A Colombian M98 in 30.06 is already a re-work and not collectable. An Argentine 1909 is collectable because it has many features not found on other M98s. The F.A.M.P. made Argy 1909 Calvary Carbine is rare and collectable. Just a couple of examples. Don't condemn anyone for "chopping up history" when they may in fact be just turning old junk into something very useful and even beautiful(but THAT too is in the eye of the beholder).