I've seen some Mod 82s in close to 100% condition. I've never seen one go for more than $225.
Another thing you need to consider. When was the rifle civilianized?????
I can remember them stacked in the Army and Navy on a table in anywhere from VG to as new condition. Take your pick for $5.
Back then, that wasn't cheap but it was about 1/3 of what a Cooey Mod 60 cost from the same store.
Also, back then there was a completely different attitude towards any ex military rifle. Lots of people hated them and what they represented with a passion. Even the men and women that carried them in uniform felt that way about them. That doesn't mean they didn't respect them though or understand what they could do.
It became the accepted pastime of many vets and nimrods to take it upon themselves to transpose their appearance and take as much weight from them as possible.
The practice of turning ex military firearms into fine sporting rifles started before the turn of the 20th century. Black Powder weapons were being dumped onto the world markets at scrap metal prices. Bannerman's was one of the major purchasers and sold these weapons to poor governments and firearms enthusiasts all over the world. They were one company of many.
They had everything that a nation needed to equip an army. Cannons, rifles, clothing, tack, web gear, ammunition etc. They had warehouses full of everything in all condition grades. They had so much stuff on hand when WWI and WWII started that the US/Can/UK governments bought a lot of the stuff back to make up for shortages of similar but more modern equipment. It was after all was said and done, perfectly suitable for training and rear echelon purposes.
Of course, after WWII was over everything that survived, was sold off to just about anyone that could afford to buy it. Scrap iron was worth about a penny a pound and that is what the buyers paid for the surplus arms.
The pieces were considered ugly in military garb. It was considered to be in poor taste to take a full dress milsurp into the field to hunt with or even plink with.
An hour with a hacksaw would cut the stock to acceptable length and some judicious sanding etc would shape the fore end into an appropriate configuration.
This went on for years. It wasn't until the late sixties to early seventies that full garb military rifles started to become acquired for purposes besides turning into hunting rifles.
There was a whole industry rooted in supplying after market accessories such as stocks, sights, triggers, trigger guards, mag wells, slings and the tools to make it all fit. Some of that stuff is still floating around and some people still search it out.
I saw a lovely Mod1935 Brazilian Mauser that had started life as a new in wrap milsurp and was converted into an absolutely beautiful sporting rifle. That was just a few months ago. The old fellow that did the work had bought the rifle from a local shop about 35 years ago. He squirreled it away in his closet, until he finally retired and had the time on hand to do a decent job. Took him about a year and he only worked on it when the mood was right. After all, he wanted to do a good job, which he did.
He is hoping to take his deer and maybe even an elk with it this fall. By the by, he kept the original barrel chambered in 7x57.
He couldn't have cared less that the rifle and its all matching accessories were worth close to a thousand dollars. He paid $50 for it and thought it was ugly as is.
He knew that I was into milsurps and gave me the stock and bands. He kept the bayonet and sling though. He wants to make a nice hunting knife out of the bayonet.
That is how and why people civilianize milsurps.
Many of those people, were responsible for the hunting rights we have today. Back then, only the wealthy could afford new commercial rifles to hunt with.
They wanted to emulate the people in the magazines with their bling and glitz. So, they chopped, hacked and sanded those pieces into their idea of beauty. There were even a lot of commercial outfits that did similar things, Parker Hale, Globe and many others.
Even today, there are several gunsmiths that use milsurp rifles as the basis for fine sporters. It's pretty hard to beat the reliability of a Mauser bolt rifle or a Martini or even a Krag or Lee Enfield. The milsurps from other nations were pretty good as well.
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