So, this is probably a silly question...but I will ask it anyway.
My grandfather owned this 1938 S.238 Mauser that had a sporter stock when he bought it. Some time later, he had it re-barreled and converted into 30.06 which is as it sits today. This was long before I was born. He hunted with it for years, then my father did. Now, it's my rifle having hunted deer with it as a child. I don't hunt much anymore...I'm more interested in target shooting and plinking.
I have no illusions of turning the rifle into anything other than it already is...a sporterized Mauser. I plan on refinishing or replacing the stock and putting a new trigger in it (trigger is horrible in this rifle).
As a child, I always, hunted with iron sights...never put a scope on the rifle. Even then, I just couldn't bring myself to drill and tap the receiver...even though nothing about the gun was original. I liked the history of the gun and didn't want to further damage it.
I haven't shot it in forever...and I was thinking it might be a fun rifle to rebuild and start using for some of the 300 yard events at the local range. Something modern...but with some history. But, to be competitive I need to put a scope on it. I pulled he rifle out of the safe the other night...for the first time in a long time...and looked it over. As far as I could see (didn't dissemble it)...not a single piece of the original German parts have matching numbers. It's a total mis-matched rifle that has been sporterized. But even still...there is a small part of me that doesn't want to alter it further by drilling and tapping it even though doing so makes sense. Am I crazy for thinking this way? I know that in it's present state it has virtually no collector value and it never will. Do I scope it and use it...or do I let it sit in the back of the safe forever as is?
I do want to pick up a real original WWII Mauser 98k someday. I purchased a Mitchell's rifle a number of years ago (I knew what it was and the price was fair...and I wanted one I knew would be a good shooter and it is)...but I feel like a nice original would round out the set one day.
My grandfather owned this 1938 S.238 Mauser that had a sporter stock when he bought it. Some time later, he had it re-barreled and converted into 30.06 which is as it sits today. This was long before I was born. He hunted with it for years, then my father did. Now, it's my rifle having hunted deer with it as a child. I don't hunt much anymore...I'm more interested in target shooting and plinking.
I have no illusions of turning the rifle into anything other than it already is...a sporterized Mauser. I plan on refinishing or replacing the stock and putting a new trigger in it (trigger is horrible in this rifle).
As a child, I always, hunted with iron sights...never put a scope on the rifle. Even then, I just couldn't bring myself to drill and tap the receiver...even though nothing about the gun was original. I liked the history of the gun and didn't want to further damage it.
I haven't shot it in forever...and I was thinking it might be a fun rifle to rebuild and start using for some of the 300 yard events at the local range. Something modern...but with some history. But, to be competitive I need to put a scope on it. I pulled he rifle out of the safe the other night...for the first time in a long time...and looked it over. As far as I could see (didn't dissemble it)...not a single piece of the original German parts have matching numbers. It's a total mis-matched rifle that has been sporterized. But even still...there is a small part of me that doesn't want to alter it further by drilling and tapping it even though doing so makes sense. Am I crazy for thinking this way? I know that in it's present state it has virtually no collector value and it never will. Do I scope it and use it...or do I let it sit in the back of the safe forever as is?
I do want to pick up a real original WWII Mauser 98k someday. I purchased a Mitchell's rifle a number of years ago (I knew what it was and the price was fair...and I wanted one I knew would be a good shooter and it is)...but I feel like a nice original would round out the set one day.
