Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Military Sporting rifles

Be a product of the 1950's and 60's my first fascination with firearms was sporterized military rifles for hunting. I was never much at doing the work myself ,the couple I tried looked worse when I got done than when I started.To me some of the most interesting firearm is a finely sporterized military rifle.Nothing I own is exceptional but I like them. It don't make sense now day to cut up any military rifle for a couple of reasons IMO.You can buy a bottom of the barrel brand name hunting rifle for a little over $200 and nice original bolt action are hard to come by.I love to see some pictures of your military sporting rifle and some of the game it has taken. Thank you Here's a couple of mine.







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#1 Enfield No.4 Mk. .303
#2 Swedish Mauser 6.5X55
3. 7.7 Jap (my Dad brought home in 1945)
4. 6.5 Jap Carbine

My Yugo M24/47 in the original 8x57 mauser with a Boyds walnut sporter stock and Pentax 1.75-5x20 in
Leupold bases & rings, Timney trigger & safety. 1-1/4"@100 and 3"@200 with Nosler Ballistic tips. unfortunately my pics are too large for this site

We've got an old Model of 1917 .30-06 and four generations of my family have used it. B&C stock, barrel bobbed to 21", Timney trigger. Still has the six-round magazine. The 6x Leupold is zeroed at 200 yards with 165 gr Nosler Partitions.

My youngest son keeps filling tags with it, he's pretty fond of the old rifle. Last few years he's taken two bucks and two bears with it:







Not great photos of the rifle, but you get the idea. We all like it, and the young fellow is convinced it is The Rifle.

Regards, Guy

It's a little different these days. After WWII, there were almost no new sporting rifles being made, but surplus stuff was common and cheap as was labor. These days you can get a good, functional bolt gun and scope for a couple days' pay (but maybe no ammo!). I just wonder how many of these econo-guns will still be working and taking game 50 or 75 years from now, especially the ones with detachable poly mags.

I agree with you that for the most part it's silly to cut up decent, collectable, shootable, milsurp guns for "sporters" these days, but there's nothing wrong with using a nice Mauser, Springfield, or Enfield as the basis for a really nice custom rifle. It's just not very cost-effective. Some of the more common milsurps make pretty good truck guns as-is or with a little trimming down here and there and sight modification. One of the things missing from the market today is a good, cheap, rifle with iron sights. By the time you buy one of the new economy grade guns and have sights fitted, it's not so cheap.

That Number4 is very cool.

Heres two:


1909 Argentine in 7x57




And a SMLE:

Now that's a Smelly!

Here's one of my favorites, a Mod.98 that had a new F.N. 7x57 barrel installed:

That looks like nice work on the SMLE, Tom. In fact, that would be ideal for a Tennessee pig hunt.

Patrick_James - that Enfield #4 looks great...is that a synthetic stock or did you just paint over the issued wooden one? Homesteader

Patrick James, NICE sporters you have! Especially the second one down. And like the others I totally dig that Smelly.

Shot this bear last fall:



With this much modified 1917 Enfield that I have had (in three different calibers now) since I was 13 years old.



Above rifle is chambered and barreled now for a wildcat I dreampt up 20 or 25 years ago that is the (then brand new) 8mm RemMag necked up to 338. My most used and deadliest rifle in the safe by a long, long ways. It took my first buck in 1974 as a 30/06, became a 300WBY and took my first bear and Elk in the 1980's and in the early 90's got re tubed and chambered to its current, and probably last, caliber/cartridge. I have loaned it out a great deal and still do. Last year it took a forst buck for a friend and then in November a kid in my church used it to take his first ever Elk. It seems to be a very 'lucky' gun if there is such a thing.

My truck guns are (alternately and sometimes both) a camo dipped CETME withh HK furniture and a still all original except for cut down stock and barrel peep sighted SMLE.

It's a fiberglass stock I bought from Brownell's.I had the Enfield parkerized and the stock painted and fitted by a guy that use to work for Browns presision. 22 inch barrel. The 303 British is a great cartridge. Been useing Barnes 150 gr. bullets

Some beautiful milsurp sporters here! Thanks all for sharing.

I have noticed that custom Springfield 03s are seldom seen anymore. Used to see them everywhere, mostly odd ball amateur jobs, every now and then a really nice one. Most 03s I see now are still in military configuration.

I just got one in a trade today. Typical ad a Bishop stock, trim the barrel, re blue and hunt it. Headed for the gun show as table fodder this weekend.

Not too custom but, I like this'03:

Joe, I like the sights on your 03. A real classic rifle.

Joe, that '03 looks like a full on custom to me, too. And a really nicely done rifle, at that. If you are ever bored of it or tired of it, PM me first, please.

Say Chui, where might one find a 5rd mag for a NO I MKIII ? I have a nice sportserized one that I would like to slim down with one.. jorge

I have a cut down Krag (Bannnerman?)that I installed a S&K scope mount. Not much to look at, but it shoots 180 gr Hornady spire points an inch or so for 3 shots.

I bought a 03A3 that had a sporter stock on it, and bought the parts and returned it to military configuration.