Yugo model 48 mauser

GeneralChang

New member
Has anyone purchased an "unissued" one of these rifles? I purchased one from CDNN and there seems to be some slight pitting on the bolt face. Could that be attributed to a test fire with corrosive ammo? Is this normal for an unissued rifle? Other than that it looks great. Bluing is completely intact. Stock scratches/dings are almost non existent and the bore appears new. Thanks in advance for any thoughts/info.
 
I picked one up a while ago, and didn't notice any pitting on anything. It looks like you got a better stock than I did though, since mine has a number of dings. Have you shot it yet? Mine holds a nice group, despite the less than perfect sights using turk ammo. The only problem I have is that the bolt is kind of hard to open after firing. Has anyone else noticed that with the Yugos and Turkish ammo?
 
I have an "unissued" one that I got for cheap on sale at a Big5. It's pretty clear that the rear sight had been well used before. The bore, stock and receiver looked unissued, as did the bolt. General, was yours a Gun Parts Corp/Numerich import? You might consider grousing to them about the pitting - Heaven knows they have enough bolts they could send you as a replacement. (Of course, then you'd have to check the headspacing . . . .)

T-Rex, I haven't noticed the sticky bolt problem, but I've only shot NC Hirtenbirger ammo thru my 48 (it's in such nice shape, and I hate taking down a Mauser bolt after firing corrosive ammo).

Heck of a deal on a rifle, though, eh?
 
Had the same problem with the bolt being hard to lift with some turkish ammo. Next batch of the same stuff worked fine though. I've heard that some really hot batches got through (machien gun ammo?) maybe thats the problem.
 
Some pitting on the bolt face isn't unusual for a surplus Mauser. It's not dangerous - just a little ugly - unless the pitting is severe. Personally, I wouldn't replace the bolt if the weapon has all matching #s since it's just a cosmetic issue.

I would think that there shouldn't be pitting on anything they're selling as "unissued," but since everything else is in such good condition, it may not be worth grousing about.

A lot of the Yugos are *reconditioned* with new barrels, stocks, etc rather than truly being *unissued* weapons so some of the parts will show wear, pitting, etc. This is definitely the case with the Yugo M24/47s.

Erich - I don't take down the bolt after shooting corrosive milsurp ammo. Giving the bolt group a bath in hot soapy water and a good rinse should take care of all the corrosive salts.

T-Rex - I agree with Blue Duck that this sounds like the result of hot loads. The standard 154 grain Turk load develops about 2900 fps at the muzzle, and maybe you got one of the hotter batches.

As for the dings & dents in the wood, if they're not gouges (actual cuts and breaks in the fiber of the wood), they're easy as cake to remove when cleaning & refinishing the stock.

After removing the action, just clean the stock in the tub with a toothbrush, hot water and soap (you can use Dow Bathroom Cleaner, too - it really gets the grease out). Most of the smaller dings will be gone once the stock dries. Please note that I'm not saying to leave the stock soaking in the tub(!). That'll just warp the thing. Note that after cleaning the stock, the oils, grease, dirt and cosmoline will come out of the wood and the color will look more grey than the nice red color, and you'll think you really screwed the pooch, but once you refinish the wood with linseed or tung oil, it'll look sweet.

For some of the more stubborn dents, you can soak them with drops of water on the end of your finger and the wood should rise. Another method is to put a wet towel over the area (while the stock is wet) and press a hot iron to the towel. The steam will help the dent rise.

Then all you have to do is use some 0000 steel wool to remove the "whiskers" that rise up from the stock and you'll have a glassy-smooth stock. Apply oil finish and you're done.

Note that some people believe you should never do this to a collectible rifle - the dents, grease, etc are part of the "authentic patina" of the wood. So just do it to your shooters and they'll turn heads at the range.
 
I wonder how close the Turk stuff is to max pressure. I wouldn't want to damage the rifle, but it sure is cheap ammo. Plus, if it kicks half as hard downrange as it does at the buttplate, I can't wait to see how it does on boars. Now if I could just find some place to go shoot some..... :-)
 
About "unissued" - does that necessarily mean unused?

I know someone who was in the yugo army a while back and they use the old Mausers for training conscripts.

Although, technically, the rifles are never "issued" to anybody, just taken out, shot, then put away - sounded like (at least) the shooter himself was NOT responsible for cleaning it (unlike ISSED AKs for which there is stern discipline).

Battler.
 
I can't say for the Yugo army...

... but in the USMC, if an armorer gives a weapon to someone, it is signed out ("issued") to that Marine. In fact, not only rifles are issued in this manner - anything serialized (compasses, GPS, bayonet, K-Bar, etc) is kept in the armory and issued with an armory card. Otherwise how would you be sure you got them all back from the troops? I assume all armories work in basically the same manner.

And I can't imagine an armorer not requiring the troops to do their own cleaning. Would you want to clean hundreds of rifles?

I'd say that if you're selling something as "unissued" that should mean it was never signed out to or used by any troops and that if it was fired at all it would just be for the armorer's safety checks.
 
T-Rex

The batch I got is marked "FS 1943"; came on strippers in bandoliers. I inspected the last 20 cases I fired and found about a half-dozen where the primers were slightly cratered, and one with a noticeably flattened primer. Coupla split necks also. This seems to me a bit marginal. Think I'll shop for a cheap 8mm seater die so as to dump some of the powder out.....
 
Haven't had any problems with the 1941 vintage of Turkish ammo - bought 1400 rounds of it and I never see signs of excessive pressure. I have heard, however, some of the other years of production of this ammo leaves a lot to be desired. This ammo using my M48 shoots about six inches high at a hundred yards but have extremely tight groups. One hell of an accurate rifle.
 
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