24 inch barrel CMP converted Model 1898?

Sporterized and unofficial modified Krags
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Cat Man
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Re: 24 inch barrel CMP converted Model 1898?

Post by Cat Man »

Thinking about the term "sporterized" sometimes makes me grit my teeth. I like to reserve that term for higher end professionally customized hunting rifles. My father always said he preferred to think of the not so well done rifles as simply "modified".

Having said that and having looked a piles of "Modified" Krag rifles over many years, a Krag in the correct DCM pattern is probably a legitimate collector firearm today. If someone's project Krag is too modified to return to full military configuration, then why not configure it as a "depression era" hunting rifle from the DCM?

I'm all for preserving original pattern military firearms. But I can see a place for a well restored DCM sporter as a legitimate historic arm sold that way from government inventory.
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butlersrangers
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Re: 24 inch barrel CMP converted Model 1898?

Post by butlersrangers »

My spell-check doesn't like "sporterized", either.

The term has never bothered me, because I have never thought of the label in terms of quality.

In my mind, there are some military pieces that have been nicely "sporterized", showing quality workmanship and an attractive appearance.
Most altered or "sporterized" military arms are not so nice and many are downright ugly.

Years ago, the Williams Gun Sight Company published booklets to assist gun owners in altering military rifles into handier configurations for Hunting.
The booklets were titled "How To Convert Military Rifles".
(I didn't like that title, because many military rifles were officially "converted" or underwent "conversions" by government arsenals, during service use).

The Williams publications also referred to the completed hunting alteration of a rifle as "sporterized", as in "The Sporterized 30-40 Krag".

I guess, I just internalized this as a clearly understandable term, years ago, and preferrable to using "converted", which implied an official change.
To each his own (quirks)!

I do prefer 'unofficially altered' military guns being given an approximation of the appearance of a military carbine, as long as no one is fooled or cheated.
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Cat Man
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Re: 24 inch barrel CMP converted Model 1898?

Post by Cat Man »

I have that Williams booklet in my reference collection also. Thank you for highlighting Williams term,"sporterized" in print.

I went looking for that term in a few older volumes. Townsend Whelen wrote of "Custom Rifle Makers" and "custom rifles" throughout his book "The Hunting Rifle" written in 1940. I could not find he ever used the word sporterized. He does by the way, an excellent job of explaining the evolution of American gunmakers from colonial days to the custom gun shops of the 1940's. Other authors of that vintage all seem to use the term Custom Rifle.

The term Sporterized may well have been coined by Williams and picked up to become common usage in the 1960's and is a now a household word at least for todays gun owners.

Cat Man

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