[OniKoroshi]

I may catch some flak here but wondering how folks in this subforum feel about Bubba. Coming from car forums (classic and new) I know about "period correct" and "resto mods".

Would it be better to put down the old war horse or "tastefully/period correct" restore it? If restored of course I would keep all parts.

 

[stuart_482]

i suppose it depends, if it is a run of the mill high wall refurb i dont think there is mutch of an issue foolin with it, especilly when its a high quality update into something practical. on the other hand any non refurbished rifle is best left alone if for the preservation of its value than anything else

 

[ij70]

Restoring Russian and Soviet rifles is very easy because very few parts have serial numbers. Just get the part with right factory logos and you are golden.

 

[pcrc11]

If its your gun its nobody's business but yours what you do to it. The only person you need to be asking is yourself, will I be happy with what I end up with. If your happy with what you have created why should you care what anybody else thinks. There are many here who will feel you are destroying history or disgracing the fine craftsmanship with what these guns were made with. IMO there is no history to a gun that you can not document as to where it came from. If you bought it from an Importer as far as I am concerned the guns history starts and stops there. I am much happier with the history I am creating when I build or restore or rifle myself. And as to the people who mass produced them, I think they would be laughing at us with all the fuss we put into them.

 

[Lancebear]

Oni,

Garand and M1 carbine guys do it all the time, and it seems to be accepted by many of them. I don't condone it but people will do what they want. I try to find rifles and carbines in good non-Bub'd condition. Just clean them.

If you want an all matching M91/30, it's possible to find a Finnish one or a SCW piece. Look on GB and have some patience. An ALL matching Spanish 1937 Tula will sell tonight. Do what you will and good luck. I don't swap parts, I buy rifles that are fine just the way they are.

Richard in NY will probably pay you a visit here. He has the same opinion as most here, leave it alone. If a rifle isn't in the configuration you would like, pass and keep lookin'. One will show for you if you are persistent.

LB

 

[mdmosin]

For me the markings make a big difference, I have had a couple of rifles that were complete EP matches, no stamped parts at all. Since EP rifles seem to already be red headed stepchildren, I really didn't think twice about altering them. One was an ex-sniper that I resnipered, and the other was coverted into a modern scoped hunting rifle.

 

[OniKoroshi]

I like to keep my mosins in "as is condition" but its hard to find parts sometimes. I recently had an extractor break on my hungarian M44 which I finally took out to test fire. Now I'm on a hunt for an "02" extractor. While I'm searching for the correct extractor I'm using a spare.

 

[themosinator]

For me, because I am not a TOTAL purist, I like to lean towards rifles that are "as exported"...

...I realized, after much studying here on the boards, that MANY Mosins were re-arsenaled (whether by the Finns, the Soviets, the Chinese, some other E-bloc country, etc., etc....)...so, to me, an 'as is' Mosin also includes all of these re-arsenaled Mosins from Finland, Ukraine, etc., that were subsequently sent abroad (typically to the U.S.) as exported firearms...

...so...if it were me, I'd try to find an all NON-matching Soviet refurb'd m91/30 to make Bubba projects out of...or, take an already Bubba'd project and rescue it and turn it into your very own private Bubba project...

...because, to me, even most refurb'd Soviet Mosins have a particular history about them that shouldn't be altered...



...bottom line, it's YOUR firearm...do with it as you see fit...

 

[OniKoroshi]

I plan to try to make a project one day soon as I see barrels and receivers pop up for sale every once and a while.

 

[writerinmo]

I guess I have to admit that I have one that purists would consider "bubba'd" although not in the conventional manner that we usually see. I bought a "no-numbers matching" Chinese Type 53 from Omega that keyholed every shot at 25 yards due to the fact it had absolutely NO rifling at all, the barrel was a total sewer pipe. I removed that barrel and replaced it. Anyone who knows anything about the T53 will back me up that good used barrels are non-existant, so now this thing is wearing a barrel that I picked up from Numrich that came off a 1946 Russian M44. People who have seen the markings on the stock say it must be from an M44, as it has a Ukraine refurb mark on it, although I never changed it, and no way of knowing if Don at Omega did or if it was something done elsewhere. There are some other small parts on it that are from my bag of spare 91/30 parts too. No plastic stock, no scope mount, no barrel cut, but overall I'm sure it would cause heart attacks in a lot of the collectors out there.

But it sure shoots sweet now at least! :thumbsup:

 

[Richard in NY*]

If its your gun its nobody's business but yours what you do to it. The only person you need to be asking is yourself, will I be happy with what I end up with. If your happy with what you have created why should you care what anybody else thinks. There are many here who will feel you are destroying history or disgracing the fine craftsmanship with what these guns were made with. IMO there is no history to a gun that you can not document as to where it came from. If you bought it from an Importer as far as I am concerned the guns history starts and stops there. I am much happier with the history I am creating when I build or restore or rifle myself. And as to the people who mass produced them, I think they would be laughing at us with all the fuss we put into them.

pcrc:

A breathtaking post. I'll be back with a hopefully equally breathtaking retort.

 

[LVSteve]

pcrc:

A breathtaking post. I'll be back with a hopefully equally breathtaking retort.

No surprise about his statement given his avatar.

 

[7mmMagic]

Being a car,antique and gun junkie alike,I know exactly where you are coming from. With antiques(ie;furniture,glassware,art,etc)I am a purist. I believe that all original and unrestored is best. You restore,modify,or disturb the natural patina,you destroy the history and value of a piece. When it comes to cars I like HOTRODS. Particularly resto-mods that keep some of the original character of a muscle car but is modified,customized,and built to my liking. It's art,technology,and science coming together to create something unique and your own. Though I like modified cars I also like and respect a concours restoration where a car is brought back to be as close as possible to the day it left the assembly line. A well preserved car that is all original or only has NOS replacement parts is great to preserve the history. "They are only original once". Out of respect for that,when choosing a project car I would not start with an original Hemi Cuda,or Boss Mustang. Instead I'd go looking for a plain jane model. Preferably one that might be destined for the junk yard or has little chance of being of interest to a restorer or collector. When it comes to guns I apply the same rules for myself as I do to cars and antiques. While anything I own is mine to do what I want with,I still feel I have a duty and responsibility as a collector and history enthusiast to preserve a collectible piece. Be it rare or fairly common. So if I were choosing a milsurp gun for a custom project or mild bubba job I would go looking for something as common as possible. I would look for a barreled action,something with a broken stock and shot out bore,or something missing a lot of parts or in over all bad shape(so long as it has the parts I need for my project). There are tons of parts guns out there and I wouldn't hesitate to pick up a few to draw parts from for a project. These guns would likely never be restored and if they were they would still not have much value as a collectors piece. Why not put them to good use? Build a a hotrod....er, I mean custom rifle.

I haven't been too fond of most cut cut up bubba jobs that I've seen.I like my milsurps original and nice as possible. I have seen some nicely done hunting rifles built on military mauser actions. I owned one that we built from a '98 Czech action. It came from a well worn VZ24 rifle that was missing a lot of parts,had an ugly stock which was severely cracked forward of the barrel band on the forend,and the barrel was counterbored and had some pitting and chamber/throat erosion. I(along with 2 friends) rebuilt it into a nice hunting rifle. We ordered a 22" lightweight sporter barrel in .243win. One of my friends did a nice welded bolt handle,cut and modified the stock with a small pistol grip extension. My other buddy fitted the barrel and finish reamed the chamber,lapped the lugs,polished the bolt,and drilled and tapped for scope mounts. I reshaped and finish sanded the stock,bedded it,and spent weeks giving it an awesome tru oil finish.I also polished the barreled action and trigger guard assemblies and blued them. It got a timney trigger too. It turned out real nice. It handled and shot well. I had it for a while until someone gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. He bought it and uses it for his coyote rifle. We all learned a lot from the project and put a parts rifle to good use.
I haven't seen many Mosin sporters I liked that much. There have been a couple. Not long ago I saw one up for auction that I thought was really well done. I liked it so much I snagged a picture to use for a guide in case I ever want to build a hunting rifle from a Mosin action. The 54R would make a nice hunting round. I see a lot of barreled actions for sale these days. It shouldn't be hard to find a nice worn out one for cheap. I see nothing wrong with giving one a new life to make something like this(see the pic):

 

[shjoe]

nicely done, 7mmMagic. caliber change also? i have been thinking about one in 6.5 Vostok.

 

[painterjohn]

If you look for just one week either on the auction sites or your local pawn shops you can find a poorly made bubba and use it for your sporter..there really is no need to chop up another.

The rifle pictured is gorgeous!!... if you can produce something like that from a sporter and some parts you are no Bubba but an artist

Bubba does work like this:

One of my main collecting interests are the Serbian and Yugoslavian Mausers..I would never drill and tap one..but lo and behold I did find a pristine M24 at auction that someone else had already sportered (D&Ted, stock)..Now I have a scoped M24 that makes bugholes at 100yds

...Heck I even put a Swede sling on it ; )

There are so many ugly hack jobs out there that you can restore..not to Military specs as the damage often precludes it from ever being original again..but you can restore its dignity and make it an attractive functional tool.

 

[Davis]

"I am much happier with the history I am creating when I build or restore or rifle myself. "

It can be a true joy for those who live in worlds of fantasy shaped and molded by their own hands. Frolic in the world you created...and its history.

 

[pcrc11]

pcrc:

A breathtaking post. I'll be back with a hopefully equally breathtaking retort.

Cant wait. I would love to hear what you do with your guns as long as you dont tell me what to do with mine.

 

[7mmMagic]

The Mosin sporter in the pic is not my work. Wish it were. I would like to do one like that. The only sporter I've done was a Czech Mauser. It did turn out nice but it wasn't a solo project. Since you bring up caliber change; I've always wondered what one could do necking the 54R down to 7mm and using a heavy 160-180gr boat tail.

 

[7mmMagic]

If you look for just one week either on the auction sites or your local pawn shops you can find a poorly made bubba and use it for your sporter..there really is no need to chop up another.

The rifle pictured is gorgeous!!... if you can produce something like that from a sporter and some parts you are no Bubba but an artist

Bubba does work like this: View attachment 519084 View attachment 519085

One of my main collecting interests are the Serbian and Yugoslavian Mausers..I would never drill and tap one..but lo and behold I did find a pristine M24 at auction that someone else had already sportered (D&Ted, stock)..Now I have a scoped M24 that makes bugholes at 100yds
View attachment 519086 View attachment 519087 ...Heck I even put a Swede sling on it ; )

There are so many ugly hack jobs out there that you can restore..not to Military specs as the damage often precludes it from ever being original again..but you can restore its dignity and make it an attractive functional tool.

Love that M24!What a beauty. I cringed at the bubba bolt on the Mosin. Great idea on rescuing the bubbafied ones and making them into something nice.

 

[mstrbtg]

The number of "Pro-Bubba", or at the very least, wishy-washy "it's your rifle", responses never ceases to amaze me on what is supposed to be a Collector's Forum. And asking a bunch of "Collector's" if it's OK to bastardize a collectible firearm is another mystery to me.