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One thing to remember about many sporterized military rifles is that they were sporterized when :
They were common...
They were inexpensive...
They were just another German , English , Japanese , etc rifle...
Heck Just after the War of 1861-1865...Bannerman's sold a lot of rifles and muskets as surplus...many a fine rifle or musket was converted into a muzzleloading shotgun....
Articles in the American Rifleman told you just how to sporterize that rifle..
That you just ordered ( from that very magazine ) and had delivered to your door...
Whole chapters in gunsmithing books of the period were devoted to just how make a sporter out of that old army gun...
Of course I am talking about the 1950's and 60's...as well as the1970's and 80's to a smaller extent.
In the 1980's and 1990's Navy arms imported some sporter and heavily modified Lee-Enfield rifles as well as some neat Mauser rifles and Carbines in .45-70...Kimber also did a run of Mauser sporters....
Would I suggest now taking a unmucked with Mauser 98K and turning into a sporter...nope
But times have changed and these rifles have gone up in price and are more uncommon...
Partly , because of folks making sporters out of them....and partly because of movies like
Saving Ryan's Privates , Brothers of the Band and the like....
Andy
They were common...
They were inexpensive...
They were just another German , English , Japanese , etc rifle...
Heck Just after the War of 1861-1865...Bannerman's sold a lot of rifles and muskets as surplus...many a fine rifle or musket was converted into a muzzleloading shotgun....
Articles in the American Rifleman told you just how to sporterize that rifle..
That you just ordered ( from that very magazine ) and had delivered to your door...
Whole chapters in gunsmithing books of the period were devoted to just how make a sporter out of that old army gun...
Of course I am talking about the 1950's and 60's...as well as the1970's and 80's to a smaller extent.
In the 1980's and 1990's Navy arms imported some sporter and heavily modified Lee-Enfield rifles as well as some neat Mauser rifles and Carbines in .45-70...Kimber also did a run of Mauser sporters....
Would I suggest now taking a unmucked with Mauser 98K and turning into a sporter...nope
But times have changed and these rifles have gone up in price and are more uncommon...
Partly , because of folks making sporters out of them....and partly because of movies like
Saving Ryan's Privates , Brothers of the Band and the like....
Andy