MAS 36 restoration, undoing sporterization butchery

[RooftopKorean]

So here is where I am at with my restoration project.

The stock is a little darker than the forend and handguard. Do you think I should stain it darker overall to make it match? I'm also waiting on threading tools, sling and bayonet to arrive.

 

[repete]

I dunno, it's looking pretty good. If you go a bit darker I'd just go with a couple drops at a time , once you go to far it's hard to come back.
Are you going to polish off the jeweling and reblue or leave it?

 

[RooftopKorean]

I dunno, it's looking pretty good. If you go a bit darker I'd just go with a couple drops at a time , once you go to far it's hard to come back.
Are you going to polish off the jeweling and reblue or leave it?

I think I'll leave the jeweling, it gives it a unique touch.

 

[kev74]

I think I'll leave the jeweling, it gives it a unique touch.

#me too!

if you want to try to darken the front more, you can thin out the stain to make it easier to go just a little at a time.

 

[RooftopKorean]

#me too!

if you want to try to darken the front more, you can thin out the stain to make it easier to go just a little at a time.

Thin it out? I was just thinking of getting a darker stain and putting a drop or two of that into a bowl with the current stain I use.

 

[kev74]

Thin it out? I was just thinking of getting a darker stain and putting a drop or two of that into a bowl with the current stain I use.

It depends what color you want to end up with. If you want to make the front match the back, you've already got plenty of red color in that fore end. Its going to need more of a darker brown. If you thin out the darker, browner stain, you can do several coats to see how it plays out. If you use one coat of full-strength stain, you might go too dark. Its easy to put more on, but its hard to take it off.

 

[RooftopKorean]

Received my bayonet yesterday finally after sitting in customs for almost 3 weeks.



I also received my threading tools from Carolina Shooters. The pilots for the threader and annular cutter seem a little too big diameter wise so I'm having to use sandpaper wrapped around it to drop the overall diameter a few millimeters. Once I get that done I can thread and attach an nice flash hider which should restore approximately 2.5" back to the barrel length. It not ideal but it's better than having to buy a new barrel and I get the benefit of a flash hider and a threaded barrel for other devices if I so choose. The flash hider is at the bottom of the picture.

 

[Jsmegs77]

Boy, that looks good

 

[meketrefe]

That sporter version is not that bad.
It was a pretty common practice when men came from war to keep their rifles and to modify them
to hunt with them like shorter more logical barrels and lighter stocks.
A lot of great service rifles gave birth to civilian manufactured versions following that need that
also introduced barrels in new chambers.
It is not for shortage of them and as soon as it is done well it should not be a problem.
In fact some resulting guns can be much better calibers and more effective rifles.
It really depends on what the objective and/or need of the person is.

 

[meketrefe]

I am surprised the TAT pilot is not brass.

 

[RooftopKorean]

That sporter version is not that bad.
It was a pretty common practice when men came from war to keep their rifles and to modify them
to hunt with them like shorter more logical barrels and lighter stocks.
A lot of great service rifles gave birth to civilian manufactured versions following that need that
also introduced barrels in new chambers.
It is not for shortage of them and as soon as it is done well it should not be a problem.
In fact some resulting guns can be much better calibers and more effective rifles.
It really depends on what the objective and/or need of the person is.

Your stance has merit to it but my opinion is it should never be done to any WW2 rifles.

 

[kev74]

Your stance has merit to it but my opinion is it should never be done to any WW2 rifles.

50 years ago, those guns weren't valued. I remember seeing garands and M1 carbines being sold from barrels when I was a kid.

The French and Italian guns were even cheaper.

I just watched a Jerry Miculek video where he talks about his father in law complaining that $11 was to much to pay for a surplus 1911.

 

[Robin]

The father of a friend of mine was a gunsmith and made a career turning 03's and Mauser 98's into sporter's.

 

[meketrefe]

Your stance has merit to it but my opinion is it should never be done to any WW2 rifles.

First of all, your rifle looks awesome so congrats with that.

I would think (and hope) there are firearms that are so rare and exclusive that it would be a good idea to keep them as original and perhaps even as collection and valuable items.
But there are firearms that have been so popular or in such bad shape that perhaps sporterizing them is the only chance they have to get a new
life before they are discarded or decay and rust away somewhere in a basement.
After WWII we have korea, then vietnam, cold war, Iraq, etc... and at some point in the future firearms of today will also be history pieces.

Many people who fought in the wars re-chambered out of necessity to make it more suitable to help put meat and potatoes
on the table and they did with the best they could with love for the same firearms that one might have helped them defend
their lives and freedom. Of course they were not thinking 60 years down the road people might be interested in collections when they
had more real and pressing needs and they could take advantage of what they had at hand at the time.
That is the same way many wildcats were also developed from service rounds to make them more versatile and
economical. I met a lot of widcatters in my life and seen veterans rechamber to 35 whelen, 338-06, 358 winchester, etc..

Like for example, a mosin that is in such bad shape that the bore is not fixable, bolt has a problem and many other issues.
One can take one of those and w/o sacrificing other guns to work as parts donors, make a gun that one is going to appreciate
and enjoy like these 45/70 carbines for hunting season. They are not true "mosins" and never will be again but the spirit of the mosin
lives in them. Millions of these were made and they are not really great rifles in the first place so a new life is something
good IMO.



Sporterized Mausers like k98 of all types were very popular with European and all over the world hunters..
They continue to be a very nice action and great for those mid-action calibers like the awesome 284 winchester
and this way loaded with longer bullets/coal.





I would agree if one is going to do a conversion make sure is safe and not a total bubba hackjob...

 

[meketrefe]

The father of a friend of mine was a gunsmith and made a career turning 03's and Mauser 98's into sporter's.

If the actions were good I have seen turn total junk into some high end pieces. of course we are talking the works in
terms of walnut wood, parkerizing, duble trigger, etc...

 

[RooftopKorean]

First of all, your rifle looks awesome so congrats with that.

I would think (and hope) there are firearms that are so rare and exclusive that it would be a good idea to keep them as original and perhaps even as collection and valuable items.
But there are firearms that have been so popular or in such bad shape that perhaps sporterizing them is the only chance they have to get a new
life before they are discarded or decay and rust away somewhere in a basement.
After WWII we have korea, then vietnam, cold war, Iraq, etc... and at some point in the future firearms of today will also be history pieces.

Many people who fought in the wars re-chambered out of necessity to make it more suitable to help put meat and potatoes
on the table and they did with the best they could with love for the same firearms that one might have helped them defend
their lives and freedom. Of course they were not thinking 60 years down the road people might be interested in collections when they
had more real and pressing needs and they could take advantage of what they had at hand at the time.
That is the same way many wildcats were also developed from service rounds to make them more versatile and
economical. I met a lot of widcatters in my life and seen veterans rechamber to 35 whelen, 338-06, 358 winchester, etc..

Nothing wrong with sporterizing to save a gun that is badly damaged but to take a perfectly fine gun it's an entirely different story.

On another note, those 45-70 Mosin's look insane. They look like portable cannons

 

[meketrefe]

Here is a mosin salvaged as a 45/70 scout rifle. I don't like it as much but it is done well.

 

[RooftopKorean]

Finished threading the barrel and modifying the front end cap.

The M1 style flash hider definitely restored back the length that was chopped off during sporterization and I gain some functionality as a side effect.

 

[Jsmegs77]

Finished threading the barrel and modifying the front end cap.

The M1 style flash hider definitely restored back the length that was chopped off during sporterization and I gain some functionality as a side effect.

View attachment 75447

That looks amazing!! I am now combing my possessions to see what I can sell to fund a nice WW2 bolt action. Anyone want a P25 radio or 6?

 

[RooftopKorean]

In all the excitement of not failing my first time threading I forgot to post the progress pictures.

It took me 35 minutes from start to finish.

After the annular cutter


Threading complete

 

[kev74]

How was that threading set-up to use?

 

[RooftopKorean]

How was that threading set-up to use?

Very very easy. I'm a noob when it comes to machining and I was able to do it.

 

[Jcp123]

Good for you! Looks mighty nice. I actually don’t mind the short look of that rifle, looks kinda butch. Thanks for trying to preserve a bit of history!