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glock40man wrote:

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Milsurps,like people,are a product of the times. True,this rifle has no value as a collectible.But they were all most a "dime a dozen",a long time ago. Some one just could not afford that brand new Winchester at the general store. So they bought this rifle for a song and made a sporter out of it,just to get into the game of shooting and hunting. Money was tight back then. {This sporter seems to have been done by some one who knew what he was doing}Of course we know better today,not to defile a curio and relic. It is,what it is. Be glad that it"s here and did'nt find it"s way into a scrape yard. I'am sure flatapple will enjoy this rifle in the years to come. It's a keeper.

Sorry it still disgusts me, the "dime a dozen" thing is the same thing I usually hear from the bubba apologists when a bubbafied Mosin Nagant shows up. Commonality doesn't excuse the destruction of history, nor does it reduce it's importance. I once had some clown tell me that just because they were common the Mosin Nagants HAD NO history, and thus were unimportant, and fine to bubba. That of course it patently WRONG. This particular rifle is actually a pretty good example of the folly in Bubbas thinking, things like Mosin's Nagants, Lee Enfield's, M-95's, Yugo SKS's, and Mauser's, and the like are all common now, but what about 80 Years from now? A sportorized version of any of the "dime a dozen" rifles around now will be just as much of a travesty as that bubbaed Krag above. Every time a military weapon is bubba'ed a little bit of history is lost, and there's one less original example to go on to the future generation of Collectors, and us to for that matter. Every time I see any of bubba's handy work I get mad, seriously. Now in regards to why this particular one was destroyed (and yes it's as good as destroyed) it still doesn't excuse it, yes it may have been all someone can afford, and I respect that, and they may have needed it to put food on the table, and I certainly respect that, but what I cannot respect, or condone is what was done to this rifle, it would be one thing if it were unnecessary for it to perform it's new job, and that it's performance of that job were literally essential to survival, but it wasn't, there is nothing wrong with a Krag in stock condition, hacking down the barrel, and the stock, and polishing, and reblueing it, don't make it more accurate, and the stock sites are perfectly capable of enabling you to hit your game just fine. If anything the modifications only made it worse, the Krag in stock conditions was designed for war, it had to be built tough enough to withstand the rigors of battle, and still perform, modifying the Krag, or any other military weapon can only serve to compromise there strength, they were built the way they were for a REASON, you think the Military LIKES the weight of that "extra" length of Barrel, and Stock, for example?, no, it's there because it has to be, if bubba's configuration were the best the Military would have designed it that way in the first place, why do you suppose we went to World War 1 with M-1917's, and M-1903's instead of Deer Rifles?. The Polishing, and nice shiny Finish will reflect lite, and possibly give away your presence, and scare away the game, the Rubber Recoil pad is unnecessary, and adds weight, the new Rear Sight is Fragile, and slow to acquire, and the whole process ads cost to the finished product, and we are assuming that this rifle was originally purchased, because the original owner couldn't afford something better. We must assume then that the original owner was either stupid, or simply wanted to have a project/make it "pretty", and as much like a Remchester as he possibly could, when he should have just bought one in the first place if thats what he really wanted, and save some time/money. That's true for the depression, and it's true today. Also as a side not that thing is Ugly as sin, the Rear Sight doesn't look right, and the stock looks hideous in that configuration, the only Rifle that looks good with a Full Length Stock to the end of the Barrel like that that I can think of is a Lee Enfield Number 1 Mark 3.