A badly worn or bubbaed 61 might be fun to customize, all right. But a nice one is just too nice a gun to mess with, IMO--the thing just about defines "ergonomics"!
Different sights, sure, especially if your eyes are going south, like mine.
RWTF, the 61M was a great IDEA! But I've never found one that shoots as well as I'd like it to. My present one shoots .22WRF pretty well. .22WRM not so well, and I've tried all the foreign and domestic makes and models, including pricey German RWS, and CA "Green" unleaded. I keep it because it's so pretty.
I have had exactly the same experiences with my M61 .22Mag- they just don't seem to have the accuracy of the std. .22LR series, whether pre-WW11, or post WW11- I've had mine for some time, and probably paid a tad too much for it, but that old "Pre-1964" fever sometimes gets aholt of a feller- Another reason I prefer the M61 over other WRA .22 repeaters- to the best of my knowledge, it was never "copied" by some cheapo Brazilian mfgr. as were the Models 1890, 1906 and also the M63--
