It would be a shame to drill yet another Mannlicher Schoenauer, since post-war guns with clean receivers are getting very hard to find. Hence I vote to pass this one on to another enthusiast who wants iron sights, and find one that is already drilled (hopefully you can also get with the mounts that go with it). Caliber .308 Win is not that common for a M1952 in the USA (most are .30-06 or .270 Win) so you should have no problem finding a buyer for yours.

I look forward to seeing pictures once they are up.