There are probably as many reasons to build a mauser sporter from a military rifle/action as there are people.  Some folks want to save money on a hunting rifle, others want to make a rifle that is "their very own", and still others just want to do it to prove to themselves that they can. This article is not a primer on how to build a sporter, but, rather, a guide to help you determine whether or not you really know what building a sporter entails, from the  financial, required work, and collector standpoints, so you can make an informed decision BEFORE you buy that new barrel and stock. First, we'll define a sporter for the purposes of this discussion, then  we'll explore what it takes to build a sporter, and whether or not you can really save any money.

Before we begin, I'd like to bring up something for you to consider...what is it that you want to sporterize...is it a bad headspacing old beater, or a pretty decent  rifle that could be restored/collected by someone who enjoys the old military rifles just the way they were built? If you don't know exactly what the rifle is that you are about to sporterize...take it to someone who does...there are plenty of  actions, barreled actions and rifles requiring too much work to restore them that you can sporterize without using a rifle that still has some collector interest.

What is a Sporter?

     Some folks consider any milsurp rifle that is no longer in its military configuration to be a sporter. Others don't consider it a sporter unless it's a full blown custom job. For the purposes of this discussion, a sporter will be defined as a military rifle that has had the following modifications performed on it...New barrel/caliber,  sporter stock, scope and mounts,  bolt handle replaced for  scope mounting, and refinished metal. Other options such as an aftermarket trigger, aftermarket safety,  recoil pad, etc. are not  included in this definition.

What does it take?

   Many folks decide they want a rifle for hunting, plinking, ect., and think it would be neat, and save them some money if they sporterized an old military rifle...sometimes you can save...sometimes you can't. If you already have the rifle, that may be a benefit, however, it depends on exactly what that rifle is. Some rifles are easier to sporterize than others.  Some Turkish mausers, for example, have odd barrel shank diameters...rebarrelling requires lathe work on these rifles...something we want to avoid in a simple home sporter project. OK...to build a rifle we'll need some special tools...some of them can be made at home, some can't...I tried making an action wrench with little success...bought one from Midway...a really good investment.

All prices are from the September 2000  Midway dealers catalog (if you have your C&R liscense, contact Midway  1-800-992-8312  to get dealer pricing).

Action Wrench........................................$29.99
Barrel vise ..............................................$39.99
Drill & Tap Fixture (for scope mounts).....$38.99
Chamber Reamer.....................................$80.00 (average cost)
Go & NO-GO Gages..............................$32.00

OK...so far we're at about $222....now we need a stock and new  barrel...first we'll look at a synthetic stock...Midway has a barrel/stock  combo using a Corlite synthetic stock and Adams and Bennett barrel, in either a sporter weight or varmint weight barrel for $153.99...a pretty decent price for a stock and barrel.

A wood stock can be purchased in any form from a blank, which is a large chunk of wood that can be carved into a gunstock, to a finished, drop-in stock that only requires that you rasp-in a channel for the bolt handle. Prices range from about $50 to over a thousand...but we'll go with Midways finished drop-in "Warsaw Sporter" at $99.99, and an Adams & Bennett barrel for $89.99, for a total of $189.98.  If you buy a semi-inletted stock from another company, you can save some money (or spend more), and do the finish work yourself...the quality of the finished stock will depend on your patience and woodworking skills.

The barrels in both the synthetic stock combo and the  barrel for the  wood stock version are "short chambered" barrels. This means that the chamber has been only partially cut to allow you to properly headspace the rifle using a chamber reamer, GO and NO-GO gages.

Unless you're a very experienced welder, you would be well advised to farm  out the bolt handle work to a  good gunsmith. If you provide him with a Midway economy handle, the work will total about $50 to $70. You may also want him to polish and blue the rifle, about $100 if not much polishing is needed.

To help keep the costs down,  for a scope we'll go with a Tasco 3X9X40  Pronghorn  for  $45.99, and a set of  Millett steel angle lock  base/rings for $22.99, for a total of  about $69.
OK...let's see what our investment is so far...         .
                   Synthetic Stock                                       Wood Stock

Tools......................$222                                                      $222
Barrel & Stock.......$154                                                      $190
Scope & Mount.....$ 69                                                       $  69
Bolt Handle Work..$60                                                         $ 60
Polish and blue........$100                                                      $100

Total....................$605                                                      $641

The $  totals to this point can be reduced if you do the polishing and finishing yourself...how much they are reduced will depend on what equipment you already have, such as buffing wheels, bench grinder to mount the wheels on, etc.

Additional  modifications  that you may choose to make, and that will add to the total cost, include: low scope safety, recoil pad, bolt jeweling, stock checkering, custom engraving, a nice sling,  aftermarket trigger,  replacement bolt shroud, etc.

Another consideration is the caliber/case length of the new barrel...30/06 class case lengths will not fit/feed through a standard length '98 action without extensive magwell, and possibly siderail,  modifications.

Economies can be made in some of the areas discussed, such as renting a chamber reamer, rather than buying, making or borrowing  some of the required tools, etc., but this gives you a general idea of what is involved...if you still are interested...get a copy of  "The Mauser Bolt Actions", A Shop Manual, By Jerry Kuhnhausen....read up before you start....and build your new rifle exactly the way you want.

I hope I haven't rained on your parade, but lots of folks buy a new barrel and stock and think they'll just "stick a new barrel and stock on my old '98 and make me a sporter"...it's not quite as easy as it seems...shoot safe!....wiseguy