Yugo 98k's ?

[flmason]

Hi All,
   What's the Cliff notes on these. Didn't realize they existed until recently. Are the parts interchangeable with the German manufactured examples?

Have always been impressed with the German made ones. And the Argentine 7x57's as well. How do these stack up? Are they more/less "historical" than the others?

Would the one's you see at the Cabelas, Big 5's etc. have gone out to other countries and come back, or were these something Yugoslavia made for themselves? What conflicts might they have been in? Are they usually decent shooters?

[tacklebury]

Reviews I've seen place them above the Spanish/turkish variants and below the german/swiss variants.  Pretty good overall. 

[M'issippi Bruce]

The actual 98K's are WW2 capture/reparation guns that the Yugos refurbed for their troops - my 2 started as a 41 byf and a 43 bnz. They are pure mod 98 rifles with a mixture of German, Czech, and Yugo parts. Most of the Nazi markings and the year/factory stamps have been scrubbed - some better than others. Mine can be identified only in the correct lighting and at a certain angle.
The 24/47 rifles are refurbed vz24 rifles ( intermediate length actions ) and are done to the same standards as the 98k's.
The M48/M48a rifles are post-war yugo-manufactured intermediate length action rifles that are some of the best built military mausers ever.
Of the parts - intermediate length bolts and firing pins won't fit a 98k action and vice versa nor will the stocks interchange. The others - triggers, shrouds, screws, etc seem to mix-and-match pretty well.
The M48 and 24/47 shoot just as well as my one 98k that has a good bore ( the other was bought for the action only) - all group 2" or so with the battle sights and my poor eyes and S&B 196gr ammo at 100m.

Finish of the refurbed 98k and 24/47 is not up to the standard of the M48 - but those guns were "rode hard and put up wet" in the later years of WW2 and cosmetics don't seem to have been a concern in the refurb process, just servicability.

[1911crazy]

My first 8mm mauser is a yugo model 98 preducci 44 8mm mauser (karbiner/carbine 23'' barrel)  Yes its a real german 98k mauser with the german markings ground off and the yugo markings stamped on it.  It looks exactly the same as  a german 98k cause it is.  Your actually buying a german 8mm mauser at a yugo price. The smoothness of the german bolt is another dead giveaway too.  Mine has all the orginal parts along with a laminated stock too.  Its a really purdy 98k too.
 
Watchout about the south american arg 7mm too there 7,65x53.  I seen the dealers here mark them 7mm mauser too. To me the south american German manufactured mausers are thye top of the line in quality.  To me the fit and finish seems to be a tad higher quality over all the other mausers.

[budman46]

all the south american 7x57's i've seen are chilean m1895 mausers made by ludwig and lowe.to my knowledge,  they're inferior to m98's in how they handle a ruptured cartridge's gases, not in strength, and they cock-on-closing...an arguable advantage/disadvantage.

along with the original spanish m93's, brazil is supposed to have had some 98's in 7x57, too. my czech or yugo(?) vz24 in 7x57 isn't all that pretty externally, but shoots very nicely.

argie's are different - they were issued in 7.65x53/54 belgian/argentine mauser caliber (same cartidge). the m1891 rifle/carbine models were earlier, cock-on-closing, split-bridge actions with protruding, single stack magazines, while the m1909 rifles/carbines were true m98's.

i don't think you'd go wrong with any of them.
 
budman

ignorance is fixable...

[Mikey]

There is also the Yugo (Czech) VZ24 and VZ/CZ24/52.  Both wear the straight bolt handles and it has been said that the VZ24s were the smoothest of the 98s ever made for the military.  The VZ/CZ24/52 is a rebuilt VZ24 (new barrel, fitted bolt, and a stock with two different syltes of sling attachments.  I have owned both and they are excellent rifles.  I also have a M48A that is about the 'funn-est' bolt rifle I own. 
 
And what all the other guys say about them times two. 

[prairiedog555]

So, a Yugo marked Mod 98/48 is a K98?

[blackpowderbill]

I got one years ago. I dont know who made it and can only firnd the remains of one or two waffenampts, but it shoots within the original specs as described in Olsens book and despite looking pretty rough the bolt and trigger are slick as glass. It has a laminate stock and all the furniture is late war stampings.

[1911crazy]

The yugo 98k that says Model 98 on the side rail is a captured german 98k 8mm mauser.  Its a twin to the german 98k's. Mine has a laminated stock too. And the smoothest bolt out of all my 8mm mausers. To me the finest german manufactured 7mm mausers were made for the south american countries.  There were czech vz24's in 7mm too.  The 98k brazilian 7mm mauser is about as good as they get. But don't leave out the quality workmanship on the chilean 7mm mausers too the '93 and '95's were awesome too.  Heck i like them all.

[JPShelton]

Would the one's you see at the Cabelas, Big 5's etc. have gone out to other countries and come back, or were these something Yugoslavia made for themselves? What conflicts might they have been in? Are they usually decent shooters?

I dunno...   But I have a pristine-looking M-48 that I bought from Federal Ordinance in So. El Monte, CA  in 1992 that was supposedly rebarrelled with a new 7.62 NATO barrel in Israel with the idea of then being issued to IDF personnel.  They wound up in storage rather than being issued.  At least, that is what I remember the guy at "Fed Ord" telling me when I shelled out the $80.00 that I paid for it 20 years ago plus a few days.  I bought this as a gift to give my dad for Christmas.  Some of his hunting buddies liked to shoot milsurps in the off season up at our hunting camp once the chores were done there, so I thought he'd get a little use out of it and it'd let him "be one of the boys" with something he could find ammo for on a whim.  He never shot it.  He re-gifted it to me, along with some other guns I had given him over the years, with the original hang-tags from Fed Ord still on it, as well as the little plastic baggie with the fired case from Fed Ord's test firing.
 
Yeah, the chambering is "all wrong"...   And having the Yugo crest and M-48 on the receiver ring and "7.62 NATO" stamped on the receiver rail forward of the thumb cutout on the left side of the action is wierd...   But .308 ammo is a lot easier to get via "brick and mortar retail" than 8mm Mauser is, so historical incorrectness does have its benefits.
 
The story I was told about how this rifle of mine wound up with a 7.62 NATO barrel on it is probably B.S.   Could be something that Fed Ord just made up, like the "Tanker Garands" they sold for a while.  I dunno.  Still a cool rifle, one that looks like it just rolled off the assembly line.  Perfect, deep blued metal...  Walnut with no dings or mars.....  Butter-smooth action...  Heck, even the trigger feels decent.  The bore is pristine. 
 
I was going to use it as trading fodder at a gun show, but it is kind of cool and my son basically has latched on to it as his.  He is interested in WW-II type small arms.  He's more recreational shooter than hunter, and shoots a sporterized (By Elwood Epps in Ontario, Canada) Long Branch No. 4 Mk 1 and carries it around the woods during the deer season when he decides to come huntin' with me.  He's looking forward to getting some trigger time with this 7.62 NATO M-48.  I am, too..   It's actually a nice, handy little rifle that seems to have gone for decades without being fired.  Something wrong about such a nice piece not getting shot....
 
JP

[flmason]

So, a Yugo marked Mod 98/48 is a K98?

Is my belief on this wrong... I thought that "Mauser 98 Model M48" speak or whatever was a Mitchell's Mausers bit of advertising talk.

I mean the gun is either the M48, M48A, M48B, or M48 BO... or it's a captured K98 that may or may not have been scrubbed, refurbed, etc. True?

I mean here's a quote from Mitchell's site..."A genuine Mauser 98, the Model M48 is a strong, good example the original bolt-action Rifles."

Sounds like they are trying very had to work the number "98" into the marketing BS...

Am I wrong to say... a 98 is a 98 and an M48 is an M24 derivative...

OK, you can look at it and see it's a 98 derivative... but to best of my knowledge things like bolts do not interchange because, well, the 24's and 48's are shorter actions.

[bcraig]

Hi,once you get interested in The Mausers its a hard to get enough of them !
I have a couple of 98 both double set triggers 8mm JS guild rifles ,a Swedish 96 6.5x55 sporter and a 1891 Argentine 7.65x35.
Like Budman said ya cant go wrong ,I have yet to shoot the 1891 but it is very finely made.Just like budman said but they dont have a split bridge.
Only thing is unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure what the rifle is chambered for have someone do a chamber cast to make sure as alot may have been rechambered or rebarralled for a different cartridge.
Craig

[Mikey]

OK, here's what I know or think I know.  The 98K, the rifle used by German troops and other Axis powers before and during WWII was a 'intermediate length Mauser 98 action in 8mm (actually, 7.92x57mm).  This rifle is referred to as the K or Karibiner Model as it was shortened from the 29" bbl of WWI rifles to the 23" barrel for WWII along with some stock changes.  These 98Ks also have bent bolts, and probably a few other cosmetic changes.  These rifles were perfectly designed to handle the 57mm length rounds such as th 6.5x57, 7x57, 8x57, 9.3x57, etc.  They can also handle the 62mm length cartridges like the 30-06 but not with the same ease and magazine capability of the shorter 57mm round.  The 51mm round like the 308 often gives these rifles cycling fits as the round just seems to be too short to cycle either rapidly or effectively.  The 55mm length round of the Swedish M96/38 Mausers cycles just fine in the intermediate actions.  Apparently, 2mm shorter in length will work much better than 6mm shorter in length through these actions.
 
The long(er) Model 98 action was built for the longer German hunting cartridges of the time, like the 8x68, 9x63s, 9.3x74, or the heavy British African cartridges. 
 
As for the Yugo Mausers:  The VZ24 is a intermediate length 98 Mauser, same as the 98K action length and designed for the 8mm round.  Any of its variations that went through the Preduze 44 ( Factory #44 actually, either the Brno or Zastava factory, or maybe they are the same) are the same length action as the 98K.  Straight bolt handles and different stocks but the same action and problably the smoothest of all wartime guns.  The VZs include the VZ24, the VZ24/47 (refurbished by Preduze 44 in 1947) and the VZ/CZ24/57 (refurbished in 1957).  Refurbishing means new barrels, newly fitted bolts and new mil-spec stocks with any number of different sling swivels. 
 
The M48/48A is a 98 action that was also made at the Preduze 44, but is a slightly shorter action length than the VZ24 or 98K (I believe) but perfectly designed for the57mm round and probably the easiest handling '98' rifle.  I have both a VZ/CZ24/57 and a 48A and in comparison you can see the differences, small but significant.  Trigger assemblies may interchange but the bolts won't.  I also have a straight (bubba-ed) VZ24 that is the same as the VZ/CZ refurb and both those rifles have the same length action as my Husqvarna (Swedish) made 98 sporter. 
 
The M96/38 Swedish Mauser is about the same action length as the M48/48A and is designed around the 55mm case length  6.5mm Swedish Mauser round.  Both are simply excellent rifles.  Both are Mauser actions, with the Swede being a 96 and the Yugo a 98.
 
Just like Craig said, once you start it is hard to get enough of them.  I prefer the Mauser over the Springfield, which was pretty much a copy, any day.  I like my Winchesters because they feel like a Mauser to me.  Two of my immediate 'go to' sporters are my M38 Swede in 6.5 and my Swedish 98 in 8, unless I'm using a lever action.....

[AtlLaw]

What Mikey said; Yup; +1; couldn't a said it better myself; succinct statement of fact!!!