please don't ban me for asking....but

Mausers of course are top of the list. Springfields, or US Enfields also make great sporters. I have also seen some really nice looking British SMLE sporters. To me, spending a lot to make a Mosin Nagant into a really great looking sporter is like making a fancy sows ear out of a cheap purse! Not that they are bad for what they are. They are a great example of Russian arms manufacturing, and great rangeshooters. I have several variants, and enjoy them just as they were issued. I would never waste my money trying to make a sporter out of one.
As far as being banned, or ridiculed about building a sporter, resurrecting an old classic military arm that has had it's collector value ruined by a bad bubba job into a fine sporter is an honorable endeavor.:D
 
on the lookout for a good deal on a rifle
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The best deal would be buying a commercial rifle, I doubt you can still find a good deal on a mil surp and convert. It is fun to build your own but not cheap anymore.
 
So I guess I am looking for a reasonably low cost project.
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Then forget sporterizing one. Just having the scope mounted will cost at least 10 bucks per hole and then having the bolt handle replaced so it will work with a scope and then having the safety replaced so it will work with a scope. etc etc etc.
 
I would define sporterizing as turning a military rifle into the equivalent of a contemporary sporting rifle. Anything less is just a hacksaw job.

Sporterizing (my definition) makes sense if 1) the rifle is free*, 2) the owner can do a lot of the work himself, and 3) the cost can be spread out by taking on one aspect at a time.

*No cost except months of slogging through mud, rain and snow, being shot or shot at, wearing the same clothes for weeks, sleeping in a foot of water in foxholes, etc.

Jim
 
I'm on board with that Jim K. I'm in no hurry, I have several good rifles for hunting so time in not a concern and cost can be spread out as needed. Now where to find that free gun?????LOL.
 
Another vote for the Mauser 98. We were required to sporterize one over the course of three semesters. First semester we turned, chambered, headspaced and crowned a barrel. Second semester we bent the bolt (or cut it off and welded a new one on), modified the shroud to take the Chapman swing type safety, made a new floorplate release button, sporterized the trigger guard (made a plug for the anti-walk screw holes, milled the sides of the guard itself to trim it down), removed any dents on the receiver (except serial # and make) and trigger guard and polished everything and in the third semester, made a wood stock for it.

Skizzums - how is the rear portion of that scope mount secured on the Moisin?
 
I can never really understand why people that have access to milling equipment will fight with some hokey scope base when they can just make one to fit what they need. If you are worried about crappy machining on the receiver, screw blanks on and machine the bases ON THE RECEIVER. That "Cantilever" base pictured should have had a "Dog leg" on the rear left side to sturdy it up. Whatever. It is not a major investment if it does not work out for you.
 
probably a Mauser K98 type rifle, the german models are all but gone from sporterizing but the turkish rifles are plentiful everywhere I look. enfields aren't the prettiest and require a LOT of special fitting. mosin nagants rarely turn out very accurate unless it's one of the Finnish rifles and you'd probably be hunted down and beaten with a rake if you chopped up one of those. surprisingly, the most gorgeous sporter I've ever seen was an Arisaka, but that would take a lot of work on your part.
 
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