A Kinda Sorta MilSurp?
 

I had wanted to get a K98 to add to my sorta WWII "collection". I've got an M-1 Inland carbine that's dated 1944 on the barrel, although it has the typical arsenal rebuild identifiers, an M-1 Garand from the CMP that has a Springfield receiver that by serial number date 1943, but it is their CMP Special so it has a new barrel and wood and refurbished or newly manufactured internals. So I am not ironclad on WWII authenticity. Heck, I couldn't afford it!

So when I got an e-mail from AIM selling those Yugo M48's for a really reasonable price ( less than what we usually drop on a trip to Walmart), I threw the dice.

I was really very pleased with the rifle that arrived about a week later at my FFL. It is an M48 with milled trigger guard/floorplate/barrel bands. Bluing is quite good for a military type gun. It seems unissued...no dings or nicks or signs of abuse you would see on a rifle issued to troops. Full of cosmoline of course. My first real experience in cleaning that stuff off of a gun. :omg:

It seems really well made. I know it is a "mauser variant" not a Mauser. Its has a slightly shorter receiver, probably not manufactured with the skill or finesse of the (early anyway) wartime Mausers. But for the money? I am well pleased.

Gee. We really need a Happy Dance smilie. :)

Congrats! My father -- an U. S. Navy Korean War vet -- was a great believer in the use of gasoline to remove the cosmoline guns get dunked in. But other stuff works too.
Enjoy that new rifle!

Thanks, Tommy. I will.

I read (and have heard) about gas and kerosene, but I'm going with mineral spirits. I'm more than a little accident prone. :)

Pics or it didn't happen.

Before and after (cosmoline removal) would be cool.

I've already done a job on a lot of the cosmoline. Sorry, Mike. :(

But...I am having a dickens of a time getting the barrel band(s) off so that I can completely remove the barrelled action from the stock. That little spring (it's kinda like the one on the M-1 carbine) that locks in the forward most barrel band just won't compress...at all...even a little. I've seen some YouTube videos where some big c-clamp type pliers and thick leather strips for padding are used, but I don't have anything like that around the house.

Can anyone tell me just how bad it would be if I can't get the barreled action out of the wood? I've sprayed the lockwork pretty thoroughly with Gunscrubber, and of course I have been cleaning the barrel (which appears pristine by the way) for several days. The wood itself I have been scrubbing with mineral spirits and wiping off. You can at least handle it without going "eewww!" The bolt I strpped down totally and soaked and scrubbed.

And it ain't like I plan on shooting a few hundred round a day (or even a year) through the rifle. Maybe no more than a couple boxes a year.

A lot depends upon condition before storage and how well cosmolined. Waaaaay back when, we got a shipment of Columbian Mausers and pulled them out of the stocks. Good thing we did, about half had rust pits halfway through the barrels on the underside. Apparently, GI Jose wasn't trusted to put it back together again and/or maintenance wasn't a high priority.

Try gently tapping the barrel band back toward the receiver before trying to depress the spring latch. If someone was having issues getting the band on there, they probably drove the band into place and there may be existing tension. You may need to file down a brass punch to get the end piece to depress.

The Yugo 48s were quality production and probably saw little if any actual use. They made a slew of them for Turkey too. Those will have the crest on the front ring.

I had a chance to buy one of "Mitchell's Mausers" K98's a few years back.

Everything the lady was selling of her retired park ranger husband's was 300 bucks.

I had enough cash for 2 pieces - a P38 and a Weatherby Vanguard in 7MM.

Thanks, Mr. Moore. I will continue trying. I had no trouble with the bolt, floor plate, trigger guard assembly, one stubborn screw on the cupped butt plate, but that spring holding the forward barrel band...well, let's just say I exhausted a rather extensive knowledge and use of some very exotic vocabulary during that half hour or so. :censored:

The rest of the gun is in such good shape, the thought of rust underneath the wood never came to mind. Which is kinda why I like it here. Y'all point out the obvious I seem to miss. :)

Sure can't say you did bad there, Walt. ;)

I looked at Mitchell's, even sent them an e-mail. They immediately pressed for the $500 Yugo. Decided to go with AIM for MUCH less dinero. I'm am happy so far. I'll let y'all know once I (or someone) gets the wood off.

Gee. That almost sounds like a dirty joke:bolt:

A lot of those M48s are in excellent condition. It sounds like you got a good one. They are quality weapons.

Well, let's see if I can get this photo attached...and Mike, this one is for you.:)

Nice looking rifle. Hey ...nice looking everything.


BTW, is that cap & ball revolver a fire-able repro or one of those Denix potmetal repros?
I have a ginormous collection of black powder C&B revolvers. A fun hobby that goes back 25 years for me.

Tommy, it WAS a functioning Italian replica a long time ago. I picked it up for a song at a yard sale about 20 years ago. Never shot it. I have an Italian copy of a cap and ball Remington in much nicer shape. Hangs on the wall in my office. I keep saying I'm gonna pick up some supplies and shoot the damned thing one day, and never have.

I don't know why people think that just because it was made in Yugoslavia or somewhere else that the rifle isn't a Mauser. It is still the Mauser design and therefore IS a Mauser. Just as a Hi-Power is a Hi-Power no matter who manufactured it. It may not be a MAUSER MAUSER, but MANY 98K mausers weren't made by Mauser. So quit trying to call it something else.

Wow...nice. Great work on the cleanup!

What is that sword on the mantle over your fine looking Mauser? It looks vaguely Japanese. I have several real Japanese Katanas.

The M48 most certainly is a Mauser, but the action is slightly shorter. And build quality is excellent, much better than a wartime Mauser, and bordering on pre-war manufacturing quality...you have a first rate military Mauser there that will still be going strong a good 300 years from now.

Using gasoline is dangerous. Best to do it outside on a semi-windy day. But I will say this, I've never seen anything cut through Cosmoline better than Gasoline. I have a fiberglass water tank that's used in hot bluing. I fill that up with gasoline, drop the rifle in there and walk away for 30 minutes. It literally dissolves all the Cosmoline and you don't even have to disassemble the rifle. When I come back, I dump the tank over (I do this on the grass, well away from any structures), water everything down, then take the rifle into the shop for a good detail cleaning with normal cleaning products.

Fantastic, that's a good looking rifle. I love that Yugo teak wood; very distinctive.

You'll find in warm weather the stock will "sweat" old Cosmoline. You can soak it in Acetone, spray it with Easy Off and let it sit in the sun, then clean. Or use Brownell's "Old Fashioned Whiting" which is just Calcium Carbonate in a convenient brush on format. That stuff works pretty well.

Then re-finish as per your taste. On teak stocks I like to add a little stain to darken them just a touch, and I add in a touch of Sedona Red to give it a slight red tint, then follow up with several coats of Tung Oil. Finally, I'll matte the finish down with 0000 steel wool so it looks like a proper military rifle.

My father & buddies were on the deck of a destroyer off of Korea when they cleaned off the weapons......guess that qualifies as "outside.";)
And anyway people back then we're not so conscious of health hazards as we are now.


Well, except for speeding bullets.....bombs.....you know, THAT sorta thing. :mrgreen: