Syrian Mauser

[Calfed]

I glommed a Syrian Mauser at an online sale recently. There were only a few pictures and a slim description...but nobody was interested so I got it dirt cheap.





Description advised

SYRIAN MODEL M.48 BOLT ACTION MAUSER RIFLE, 8mm Mauser caliber, 23 1/4" barrel, blued finish, hardwood military stock and hand guard, adjustable rear sight, bayonet lug, metal butt plate, import marked "K98 YUGO 8MM", Syrian crest, serial #V48977

[PhillipM]

Looks good. How much did you pay?

[Calfed]

Looks good. How much did you pay?

$90, plus a 17% "buyer premium"--call it $105

[PhillipM]

Good price! I'm not familiar with these, but it seems you have a rare rifle in the US.

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?394623-Syrian-Contract-Yugoslavian-M48BO

[Calfed]

Thanks for the link, Phil.

I've been on the lookout for a Syrian for a while now. A few years back I got an Iraqi M48 with the Hashemite crest on it. This is a good companion piece.

[jon_norstog]

Man, Syria wasn't even a country until after the Great War, and then it was a French "protectorate." I'm surprised the French let them have guns at all, let alone a non-French arm in a non-French caliber. Is it a VZ?

jn

[Calfed]

It is a Yugo M48

[Fred Pillot]

That wood looks just like the wood on mine. A very oily very hard wood. Mine is known as a Mystery Mauser, no crest and definitley not scrubbed. First seen in Syria during the Syrian crisis.

[Calfed]

That wood looks just like the wood on mine. A very oily very hard wood. Mine is known as a Mystery Mauser, no crest and definitley not scrubbed. First seen in Syria during the Syrian crisis.

How's the bore on yours, Fred?

[mike webb]

That wood looks just like the wood on mine. A very oily very hard wood. Mine is known as a Mystery Mauser, no crest and definitley not scrubbed. First seen in Syria during the Syrian crisis.

Probably a M48BO. They are Yugoslavian pretty much identical to the marked M48 rifles. The BO stands for Bez Ozneke(spelling?) which means "without markings" in Serbo-Croat. Made specifically for export to countries that perhaps they were not supposed to supply arms to.

[Fred Pillot]

Calfed, Bore was really bad but I found an excellent Persian Mauser Barrel at 24 inches rechambered to 8mm-06 Improved so I put that on and sporterized the stock. That's when I found out how hard and oily the stock was. The rasp wanted to skate across the wood.

[PhillipM]

I have a K98 that was scrubbed, according to a dealer at a gun show, and he pointed out the remnants of the German markings are not completely ground off and noted the plumb colored trigger guard. What nomenclature did the Yugo's use for this rifle?

[Calfed]

Probably a M48BO. They are Yugoslavian pretty much identical to the marked M48 rifles. The BO stands for Bez Ozneke(spelling?) which means "without markings" in Serbo-Croat. Made specifically for export to countries that perhaps they were not supposed to supply arms to.

I think you are right about that, Mike. I'm pretty sure that is the same for my Iraqi Mauser

I have a K98 that was scrubbed, according to a dealer at a gun show, and he pointed out the remnants of the German markings are not completely ground off and noted the plumb colored trigger guard. What nomenclature did the Yugo's use for this rifle?

I think Mike pretty much nailed it...M48BO

[Calfed]

Calfed, Bore was really bad but I found an excellent Persian Mauser Barrel at 24 inches rechambered to 8mm-06 Improved so I put that on and sporterized the stock. That's when I found out how hard and oily the stock was. The rasp wanted to skate across the wood.

Sounds like it came out well, Fred. Can you post any pics?

[mike webb]

I have a K98 that was scrubbed, according to a dealer at a gun show, and he pointed out the remnants of the German markings are not completely ground off and noted the plumb colored trigger guard. What nomenclature did the Yugo's use for this rifle?

The Yugos took a lot of captured German K98k rifles and refurbished them. They scrubbed the German manufacturer codes from the receiver, put new stocks and barrels on many and marked most Preduzece 44 on the side rail. They differ from the 48 as the 48 had an intermediate length action about a 1/4 inch shorter than the K98k.