The civilian conversion of military firearms for sporting use goes back hundreds of years. I can imagine some unknown musketeer looking at the matchlock he brought home from a long-forgotten war and thinking, "I bet I could make this darn thing a lot lighter and easier to hunt with if I just trimmed the stock up a bit here and maybe cut the barrel back a couple of inches." That tradition of modifying surplus or outdated military arms is still with us. Each year thousands of hobbyists take inexpensive surplus military arms and convert them for hunting or recreational shooting.

Conversions have been especially popular in the U.S. due to the availability of inexpensive surplus arms and the opportunity and natural resources that allow us to use 'em. This traditional activity, followed by thousands of hobbyists, may have reached its peak in the 1950s and '60s. The issues of Shooting Times from that era often contained articles on the sporterization of military arms. As a part of our commemoration of the 50th anniversary of ST, I'm working up a series of reports on how to convert a well-used bolt-action military Mauser into a sporter.

In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, a Czechoslovakian military Mauser from Century International Arms was rebarreled using a Brownells Shilen prethreaded, short-chambered barrel in .35 Whelen. During this process, the bolt lugs were lapped, the chamber was extended to full length, the rifle was headspaced, and a sporter-type bolt handle was welded to the bolt. With those steps done, a major portion of the project was completed. The next step is installation of the sights.

While it's possible and definitely easier to forgo open sights and just set up the rifle for a scope, I don't like to do that. Years ago on an out-of-state hunt I had my scope fog up to the point of being useless. Fortunately, my rifle had iron sights, and they allowed me to continue the hunt and bring home some meat. I've never forgotten that experience and generally always want to have a "back up" sight system in place. You never know when you'll need it, but when you do, you really do!

Keep in mind that this rifle is chambered for .35 Whelen, and I'll use it primarily for whitetail deer here in Missouri. Ranges tend to be short, so iron sights make a lot of sense. If I ever get a chance to hunt elk or larger game out West, I can always install a scope as I will go ahead and drill and tap the action for a Leupold one-piece scope base.

Something a bit unusual is that I also plan on setting up this rifle for a receiver peep sight. While I can, and still do, use open sights on some rifles, I really prefer a peep sight. It's easier for me to use, especially since I've had to go to bifocals. Besides, it's a great opportunity to look at some of the issues relating to installing a peep sight.

Accurate calculation of the sight heights requires the use of precision measuring tools such as a digital caliper.