Counter Bubba

While being all down on Bubba, I need to admit there's a light side to the slaughter.  (And you can't spell slaughter without laughter!)

If you hit Gunbroker and search for "Krag Sporter" you'll get hits for some very nicely modified guns.

In the way back when these guns were literally dirt cheap some very skilled folks did the work.

There're some impressive rifles out there made on all the various Mauser actions, some you can't tell didn't leave the factory like that until you notice it's got Waffenampts.  Or a Chilean crest, or whatnot.

The burr on my saddle is from the rest of the hits.  There are some guns where you WISH a chimpanzee with a dremel tool had done the work instead of what was done.

Related is the whole supply issue.  The price on milsurps tends to drag a bit behind the actual supply.  By the time the market notices they've all dried up and been bubba'd it's too late to save many in their original condition.  The less than scrap value that many of these guns carry when they're plentiful also leads to a shocking level of neglectful treatment.  After all, why take care of something that didn't cost anything?

I tell you what, potential Bubbas, search for some of these old warhorses at gunbroker.  Look at the prices they sell for intact and compare that to the prices of even a masterfully done sporterizing.  That Krag carbine I mentioned?  $1,500 or so for an original; $500 for a sporter.

Don't make mods you can't reverse, save those parts you took off!

Today's market for Mosins provides all manner of drop in parts that don't hurt anything and can be reversed should originals ever be worth anything.  To me that's great!