Purists look away

 

 

I have to say I saw one here that I really liked and it was the one converted to .348 Winchester on page 2. That is a nice looking gun!

 

 or this .45-70.

These are fine sporting weapons.

 

Randy

 

 

Still it is not in the class of the fine Sporters pictured above.

 

I am really interested in doing a full on Sporter like the ones above.  I have been looking for a reason to do a .348 Winchester for some time and I don't want to spend $1500 on a M71 Win. and they are pretty scarce anyway.

 

It is obvious that if one has an eye and the skills, that these guns can be made into something of beauty.

 

As everybody knows the vast number of Milsurps converted to Sporting use were Mausers and Springfields, with some 1917's thrown in . Swedish Mausers make nice guns as well. I've even seen some Finish Nagants that were cool. But most of the Military Bolt action Rifles from the 1900's were not really suitable for sporterizing simply because they were so damned ugly to begin with. Still someone always cuts the stocks off and maybe shortens the barrel to make a shooter that works better than the original did for them.

 

The Enfield is  no exception to that but coming from Great Britain the home of some of the finest gun makers ever to push a file, you'd think thee would be more examples of finely crafted Mil Sporters.

 

The two guns shown above are the best looking ones I have ever seen.  We also have  a guy from NZ named Von Gruff who has recently completed two guns that are really nicely done.  The wood on both is spectacular.

 

This will always be done.  The purists can get over it.  There are plenty enough guns to feed both types of enthusiasts, and nobody should get a worked up over a beater being turned into something nice.

 

Randy

 

The gun actually doesn't look too bad but the rifling is weak and especially at the throat so it is a great candidate for reboring to a larger caliber.  I have decided to make this one a project and I plan on restocking it and redoing the metal work on the gun to a much higher level of polish than the original finish.

 

I have to say I was greatly inspired by the two guns shown above.  I think both of these are excellent examples of Demilitarized Service Rifles repurposed as Fine Sporting Rifles. I am torn between both of those calibers but am leaning towards the .348 Win. simply because I can rebore the existing barrel and reuse it.

 

It is one thing to take a nice gun and chop it up and make something that is worth lees in the end than it originally was.  It is quite another to take something that has already been defiled and turn it into something well in excess of it's current condition.

 

There were 5 to choose from at the shop I was at today, and they wanted $300 for this one, but the owner likes me so I came out better than average.

 

I can guarantee that what ever I choose to do to this gun,,, it will be worth well above what I paid for it.

 

Randy