Confession of a former "Bubba"

vstar650ca

vstar650ca

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Guy,s I confess back in the 80,s and 90,s I and my Dad could of easily ruined 50 Swedish mausers,Enfields and south american rifles by bobbing the barrels restocking and bending the bolts:redface: :mad: ,but at the time they were cheap and I never thought of future collector value.I rembember M96,s going for $89.00 M38,s at $119.00 I could of bought Swedish snipers for $299.00.If only I put them away and left them as is,Just a ramble I know but a good future investment I pissed away.I remember Dad and I bought 10 M38 Swedish mausers in one order from Centry International Firearms chopped them and sold them for $150.00.Now I find myself busy trying to track down as many of these as possiable to reverse my sins and restore them,
 
Did you ever consider that by 'sportering' so many, you increased the value of the remaining un-sportered ones? Perhaps had you - and others like you - not done what you did, these would still be as common as dirt and priced accordingly?
 
Did you ever consider that by 'sportering' so many, you increased the value of the remaining un-sportered ones?
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Shame shame for your horendous acts :p However I do agree with the above statement. You might have ruined several fine guns in your days but the destruction of those guns probably increased the value of those that weren't touched.
 
I don't understand this ''purist'' attitude about not ''sporterizing''military weapons.After the war many veterans came back and the only economical firearms they had were military rifles-and they used them to put food on the table.I still think far more moose fell to the venerable 303 british than any of the ''sporting rifles''.As these became scarcer,and people had more money they bought more expensive sporting weapons with scopes.Sure-today I would not butcher a fine military weapon-there's plenty of bubba'd ones out there for around $100 or less,and any one of them will drop a deer or moose just as effectively as any 308 sporter but I think back to my first 303,$8 out of Sears catalogue,and the many happy hours I spent ''sporterizing ''it and the many happy hours carrying it deer hunting with my dad.So-no apologies real or imagined.Sometimes I wonder if we have ''elitized''the shooting sports instead of remembering the real reasons we participate-clean healthy good times with family and friends
ps-my favourite deer rifle is my ''sporterized''$69 65x55 swede,tack driver too
 
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If those rifles hadn't been bubbaed, they would be worth less today than what you paid for them originally, It's only the current interest trend and lack of availability that makes them valuable. If gold were plentiful, it would be worth the same amount as lead. bearhunter
 
I think that the value issue is being overthought. Its not as much about the greater value of a non bubba mauser/enfield/ross, but the idea that the gun looks exactly the same today as it did to the soldier it was issued to. Its also fun to try and figure out the gun's path by looking at the stamps and marks in the wood and metal. that can prove hard if half of the rifle has been chopped and tossed.
 
Still, there are often ridiculous prices being asked for the bubbaed rifles, as if they were mint.

I won't give any specific examples, but you can see them every day.

They are $89.00 rifles with about $11 worth of labour put into them with a hacksaw.

I wish they were for sale for $100, but they're not.

I'm not hacking up my M96 or M38 Swede, but I'd like to have one somebody else did it to.
 
As far as I am concerened I like a sporterized milsurp as long as it was done
well. The only rifle I currently own is my Parker Hale and other than a rimfire for gofers it is the only gun I need(want is another story). I would be happy with a nicely done swede or mauser sportster that someone put some real love and gunsmithing skill into. A horrible hack job is a completly different story though.
 
My first 303 I got when I was 15,they were a dime a dozen,I didn't use a hack saw on it , but I did ''redo'' the wood,spending many happy hours .Today I own a very fine Parker Hale, virtually mint condition.I have my swede that I redid the walnut stock,but the bolt was cut and rewelded professionally, as was the barrel cut and crowned and the reciever drilled and tapped for my 4x leopold compact.Its a very lightweight , efficient and accurate hunting rifle and I've shot a lot of blacktails with it-I have absolutely nothing against preserving history,or collectors-more power to them but I enjoy my guns,hunting and carrying them in the field.
Now-as to a fine military rifle-I think if I got the chance,I'd probably like to carefully restore a nice swede-they are a very fine rifle,well built,well finished ,pleasant to shoot and accurate.
 
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My first big game rifle which I still have is an original Bubba from goodness knows when, probably somewhere between 1919 and 1960. A 1910 Ross 303.

Hacksawed uncrowned barrel, front sight re-mounted on the shorter barrel, sawed off forend, an attempt at checkering (they gave up) on one side of the forend only, a piece of a cardboard matchbox cover for a shim under the tip of the forend and the barrel, which I left in place, and it killed deer, even with a pocketful of random mixed ammo.

It hung in the local bachelor's floathouse for years until the owner of the shack gave it to me, the local paper boy when I was 13.

"It's on the wall there, just go in and take it," he said.

I even had it pointed at me prior to that when one of the local bachelors was on a drunk and imagined my friends and I were attacking.

If it could only talk...
 
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Nothing wrong with sportizing a weapon! :D

They were ment to be used hard by there users in battle feild conditions so the real shame I think is having several peices at home which arnt being used because you don't want there value to drop! :p So if someone sportizes the gun to make a "improved" version (not a rough hacksaw job) which people will find easyer to use for shooting and hunting I say go for it! :)

Dimitri
 
The only Bubbaism I approve, is the one that can render the rifle back to it's original state, ie changing to synthetic stocks and putting a non drill rear sight replacement scope or anything of that nature. Like that you can revert easily back to the original configuration if wanted without permanently altering the rifle.

If you have a bubba disease, this is the cure.
 
I wonder how many of the features we take for granted on modern factory produced sporting rifles owe their beginnings to a ''bubba'd'' military rifle?Gunsmiths ,both amateur and professional have been experimenting with various configurations and improvements as armies upgraded to new technology ,releasing large quantities of reasonably priced basic rifles onto the market.And-a lot of guys were able to go hunting with a bubba'd army surplus rifle when they simply couldn't afford a factory sporting rifle.How many guys first ''deer rifle'' was a bubba'd 303?Conducting a poll might be interesting.....maybe someone would pose that question-''was your first deer rifle a ''bubba'd army surplus?-yes or no.I think the answears might be age related-those under 40 and over 40,with the over 40 group predominently answering ''yes''to their first deer rifle being an army surplus
 
IMHO The sad part is there is ZERO benefit to hacking the milspec parts off a rifle.
It is done for cosmetic reason.
With the only exception being adding a scope, but even then milspec scope mounts were made for just about every battle rifle ever made.
 
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