The collectors scurried about getting one of every variation, every factory, every SN range, every year, and carefully salted those away. Bubba wanted to hunt, he wasn't a collector, so he got a perfectly decent action for cheap and made it suit his needs. This is what pisses me off when someone decries,"Bubba." Bubba was working w/ what he had, and milsurps were significantly less expensive at the time than any equivalent hunting rifle. Tapco practically built their very successful business by offering larger magazines & larger & optic friendly stocks, b/c you could buy a perfectly functional semi-auto rifle action for under $100. Look at what happens to the SKS when it comes in by the millions in the 1990's. Until then, anyone who wanted an original condition milsurp would just mail order one & have it shipped to the house - and two others to sporterize for the grand kids. Only after 1968, w/ the passage of the GCA & the shipping exemption provided by the C&R FFL, do mil-surps in their original condition begin to become valuable. The sporterization you see after the 1st WW is peep sights, like the Marble cocking piece adjustable peep on my Remington Mosin. That comes after the 2nd WW, when optics are higher quality, less expensive, & incomes are higher. and/or everyone had new guns.Ī new Remington, Winchester, Savage, and such has been relatively cheaper and easier to buy for decades compared to buying a new hunting rifle in the late 40s, the 50s, or 60s. It sat in gun cabinets/safes as there were no grandsons, nephews, etc. His son hunted with it in the 60s/early 70s. A WWII Infantry vet with 10th Mountain Division was stuck stateside training for a few years, went over from around January to August, and brought this back.Īnd hunted with it for 7 years or so before buying a Remington 721.