jackpot who would have thought?

[bearhunter]

About 12-15 years ago, I bought a bunch of milsurp stocks from an old gunsmith that had been using them for firewood in his shop. He was one of those men that had absolutely no use for a milsurp, other than to make them into a pretty sporters. He did a beautiful job on them to. Many of them were new in their crates when he bought them, by the crate. He sporterised hundreds of milsurps and made a decent living at it.

To make a long story short, as he aged, he started selling off barreled actions and bits and pieces, like cleaning rods, screws, stock bands, sights, barrels etc. I bought as much as I could afford. He was generous with the stuff, after all, he considered the military trappings to be junk and only worth scrap prices. From his words, he had burned a few hundred brand new milsurp stocks that he had taken off the actions as well as may more that were in various condition.

I bought a dozen complete wood sets for Mausers, with all of the metal, other than barreled actions and in a few, the barrels were included, like on the Siamese Mauser and a 1935 Brazilian in 7x57. He charged me $20 for the lot. He gave me several mismatched sets of No4 and No1 wood, a Japanese type 99 stock, A couple of Reising stocks and a few of P14 and P17 stocks. He even threw in a couple of Springfield 1903 stocks, a C type, a scant and a straight grip stock. They were all complete units. To bad he didn't throw in a decent Springfield Krag carbine stock and hand guard.

Back to the topic. Just before Christmas, I bought a 1908 Brazilian Mauser, barreled action with matching bolt, trigger guard etc. Guess what I found in my stock pile. The matching stock and metal parts. The seller had bought the action and left it with the old boy to turn into a sporter but his sight got to bad to finish or even start, so he gave him the barreled action back, to do the work himself. He felt he was never going to do it and it was so pretty that he might as well sell it. I bought it for about twice what he paid for the whole rifle and thought i was getting a good deal. What a deal I got. Now I have a matching 1908 Brazilian that is complete for a very reasonable price. Considering the fellows lived 300 miles apart, the odds of the parts coming back together are astromical.

I went out and bought 20 scratch tickets and won $3. I guess the match up was my lottery.

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[xa-coupe]

hahah, well done, what are the chances ?

[Harlan (Deceased)]

That's a one in a million! It's nice to see that good things can happen for good people!

[Schwehn]

That is an amazing story. Good on you to save those stocks from becoming firewood.

[bearhunter]

You know, it's amazing the stuff you can pick up at yard sales. Especially in the country or at an estate sale where the family is cleaning out stuff and putting it in piles out front for people to look over. I haven't picked up very much that's really valuable but have managed to snag a few old milsurps, several Leupold scopes, more than a few stocks, usually only the main stock and no hand gaurds. Other than butt plates, no metal bits.
Mostly, this stuff isn't put out on the tables but if you ask politely, they will usually offer it for sale if they have it. Often as not, even though you tell them it's worth more, they just want it gone. I bought a No 5 bayonet and scabbard, along with a Candian marked FN bayo and scabbard from a nasty little lady that just wanted the junk to disappear and for $20 I could have both of them. Some of these places are real treasure troves and most people just drive past them. Of course, there are people that make a living on garage sales. They mostly have junk and I just don't bother stopping at them .
I will usually look in the local paper under the garage sale section or go online and check them out. If it's a place in the country or a new location, I'm there like a dirty shirt. I bought a 100 round box of pristine looking 7.92x57 last spring for $10. That's what the original sticker price was on it and that's what the fellow wanted to get out of it. He was glad to see it go. He never did have a rifle to shoot it. He thought it would be good in his 30-06 but his brother told him it was to big. He never even tried to chamber it. I bought the 30-06 BSA Majestic from him as well. Lovely rifle, with adjustable trigger and came with two full boxes of yellow Winchester X ammunition along with a partial box of 50 milsurp that someone had given him for target practice. He had been in the military and knew how to clean and care for the rifle and did a fine job of it. It sparkled inside and out.

This stuff is out there. If you ask and get to the sales early. Lots of stuff in hay lofts, barns, garages and basements all over the country. Some stuff you just walk away from before it bites you.

The Brazilian stock matching the barreled action was extremely unlikely. I didn't even notice it until it was all together.

[2aimtrue]

Hey Bearhunter,
Interested in selling that m1903 C stock?

[mack]

Once upon a time, this milsurp stuff couldn't even draw enough attention to sell for a few dollars. I think back to a local (in the States) K-Mart trying to sell off their milsurp stuff at the end of hunting season back in 1964 and buying unissued Jungle Carbines (No. 5's) for one-half the in-season asking price of $54. Twenty-seven dollars was considerable to a high schooler working for a few cents per hour after school, so I had to think hard about laying out for two of the rifles. My late father bought a WRA Garand for $57 on half-price that night too. My Dad always did love a good sale though.

Another time we were in a warehouse on the Southside of Chicago and looking around at milsurp stuff. The guys in the warehouse were burning new, unissued leather slings from US surplus stores to retrieve the brass fittings. I am telling you, back then these old weapons and their parts were literally kindling in many cases. Stocks were a nuisance to get rid of when conversions were in their heyday.

Glad you got a good deal and put the rifle back in original condition. I love to see a rifle restored to its proper self. Its even better when it's done at a bargain with discarded parts that otherwise would have only gone to a landfill or into a stove.