What MTDan said. Building a sporter from a military rifle was a traditional way to a nice sporter rifle in the 50's and 60's when donor guns and upgrade parts and gunsmith labor were relatively inexpensive. Two approaches: 1) Send your action/donor rifle off to a competent gunsmith and get your checkbook out, or 2) put together a Finn Aagaard sporter (alter bolt handle to clear scope, drill and tap for scope mounts, trim down military stock, replace barrel if original has bad bore) a bit at a time. The latter is considerably more entertaining and satisfying to a DIY guy but requires lots of gun show visits to pick up the various bits and pieces starting with an action or a donor rifle. Even with careful shopping this will still set you back more than a good secondhand commercial rifle and almost as much as a new Tikka. You will need a new bolt handle welded on, scope base holes drilled and tapped, commercial trigger, possibly a new/used barrel, and eventually a sporter stock. I've put together several starting with Czech VZ24 (M98 large ring) actions from $100 surplus donor rifles(now $250 or more), $75-100 bolt handle replacement, did my own scope base drilling and tapping with a Brownells jig-otherwise $40 to the 'smith, installed Timney trigger $60-80, install scope-clearing Buehler safety $30, replaced barrel ($150 or more) and gunsmith installation (
$100 or more), and Boyds/Hogue stock(? $175 and up). Educational and rewarding experience, and pay as you go. If lucky, good used/takeoff barrels and sporter stocks can be found for less....but it might take 2-3 years poking around guns show and one man gunshops and there is no guarantee a used barrel will shoot well. I've had one ringer, several OK, and a couple that shoot better than I do. Most recent project is a VZ24 large ring with a new Brownells 6.5 x 55 barrel in a secondhand Bell and Carlson glass stock. Working up loads to see how it will shoot before investing in blueing. My least expensive Aagaard style sporter was a VZ24($80), altered bolt handle($50), surplus new Israeli .308 barrel ($35) which headspaced without gunsmith attention, and VZ24 stock cut down and inletted for new bolt handle clearance. But you cannot find the bits and pieces for those prices anymore.
Now, yesterday the Dundee, MI Cabela's had several Yugoslav commercial mauser sporters in 8 x 57 JS for, IIRC, $329 in the used gun rack with nice stocks, low bolts, drilled and tapped. Similar night be available at other Cabela's. Just the prospects for rebarreling to 6.5 x 55 or 7 x 57....or just shoot 'em in 8 x57.
