[Feanaro]

I've been wanting a Mauser for a little while and found some on impactguns.com . I have three questions.

Is the M48A worth buying? I've heard several people say so, here and in other places but I'd like to hear more if possible.

If so, is an "excellent" condition M48A with bayonet, scabbard, leather frog belt hanger, full field cleaning kit, leather ammo pouch and a complete rifle sling worth $155 plus shipping? Sounds like it to me.

And finally has anyone had any experiance with Impactguns?

Thanks in advance and sorry if I asked something already answered(I searched and didn't find a lot).

[BHP9]

If you do not have a 98 Mauser you will probably want to buy one of these Model 48's.

The good points:

1. They are accurate and soundly built weapons

2. Most are in very good condition

3. Most have new or like new barrels.

4. The 8mm is an easy caliber to find ammo for.

The bad points:

1. These guns which include the M24 Yugo, M48 and M48A were not up to the fine fit and finish of early war Mausers as made by Germany, Belgium and Czechoslovokia. Expect a lot of machining marks on them. But on the other hand yor not paying $800 to $1,000 for a super Mauser either.

2. Many of the Model 24's were rebuilt using parts that had pitting on them and then were reblued over the pitting.

3. Model 48A's had stamped sheet metal floor plates and butt plates while the M48 had milled floor plates and the Model 24's hand milled floor plates and milled butt plates.

The price over the comming years will go up slightly on them but no where near the wild jumps in prices that have taken place in regards to early war Mausers as made by the "Big Three".

These Yugo guns will rapidly become very scarce in the excellent condition they are now in because most will be destroyed immedietly by the use of cheap corrosive military surplus ammo. So get one now in excellent condition while you still can.

All in all I would say they are a very good value for the money just don't expect a super Mauser with smooth as glass like workmanship of the early war guns or contract Mausers..

[Feanaro]

I'm looking for a Mauser that looks fairly good and will shoot. I don't believe in display guns.

[JohnKSa]

Kiesler's Wholesale has them for 139.99.

I think that's with everything you listed, and they are listing them in "as new" condition.

[Jim K]

This has been said before, but note that the M48/M48A is not a standard 98 Mauser. The receiver is shorter, which means that standard 98 scope mounts, sporter stocks, turned down bolts, etc., won't fit.

Some ads have been touting them as German, Mauser 98's, WWII vintage, historically valuable, and K.98k's. They are none of the above.

What they are are good solid, 8mm rifles, not as smooth as a VZ24, but decent guns.

Jim

[firestar]

I just ordered one from CDNN Investments for $70.00, I let everyone know how it is when I get it. CDNN says they check headspace on all of them so I am not afraid to shoot it. I plan on useing the cheapest surplus 8mm I can find so I don't want a mint one.

The only mint C&R gun I have bought has been my Yugo SKS but that was only $150 including shipping so I shoot Wollf ammo in it. These guns were made to be shot so I buy the ammo I can afford. There is no way I am spending more on the ammo for one days shooting than the gun. You could easily do this with the name brand new ammo for the 8mm.

[Okiecruffler]

I got my M48A in exc cond, with all matching #'s for $99 at a local gun shop. Beat the price I could get with my C&R even. I noticed very good accuracy from the start with surplus ammo, so I ended up putting a B-square scout mount and a TC scope on it. Now it will do 2'' groups at 100yrds all day long. Great gun for the money, and the stamped parts haven't seemed to bother me any.

[Feanaro]

Thanks for the advice. The general consensus is that it's a well built rifle, yes? That's what I'm looking for.

I'm aware of the various differences but thanks for the warning.

I don't plan to put any corrosive/cheap ammo through mine. You get what you pay for... although I might need to take up reloading. :)

[surfinUSA]

Use the cheap corrosive ammo. Its hot, it works and its cheap just like the gun. Clean the gun and move on. This is no big deal.

[RUT]

>>Use the cheap corrosive ammo. Its hot, it works and its cheap just like the gun. Clean the gun and move on. This is no big deal.<<

Amen to that!!

[BHP9]

I don't plan to put any corrosive/cheap ammo through mine. You get what you pay for... although I might need to take up reloading.

I strongly recommend you take up reloading. You can shoot just as cheaply with handloaded ammo and as icing on the cake you can create super accurate loads not the pedestrian accuracy you get from cupro-nickle clad steel jacketed corrosive ammo.

Creating your own ammo is more than half the fun of shooting. And if the gun doesn't perform as desired it can often be made to shoot accurately by tayloring the handloads to the rifle. I have done this many, many times over the last 35 years.

I noticed one poster was very happy with 2 inch groups that he got with his ammo. If you are a handloader you could get groups as small as 1/2 inch and do it even cheaper than a lot of the super damaging inaccurate cupro-nickle steel jacketed corroisve stuff.

I just hot back from the range today and I easily shot 3/4 inch groups using cast bullet loads I made myself. The were actually traveling at 2,100 fps and I also shot some loads at a milder 1,700 fps all with the same outstaning accuracy. These mild loads are easy on the barrel because of the mild charge of powedr that you use and lead bullets are a lot easier on the barrel and contrary to popular belief they are alot easier to clean than getting out cupro-nickle that is found on most steel jacketed corrosive military ammo.

Despite the stories that people tell you , if you use corrosive ammo you will eventually damage the gun. Its just that many people do not know what to look for or do not even care to look.

Corrosive ammo gets into everything in the guns mechanism and it is just about impossible not to occasionally miss a spot when cleaning and then you are finished , the gun is damaged. It gets on the muzzle and into the firing pin hole and onto the firing pin and it gets into the bolt lug raceways , it gets underneath the extractor. Short of power washing the gun down after a complete strip down I really do not know what else could be done to prevent the weapon from being damaged. The barrel is often destroyed withing seconds on a humid day and no one but one can break out the cleaning rod fast enough to get the raw salt (Chroide)out of the barrel in time to preven bore damage.

I have never seen any weapon that was fired with corrosive ammo for any length of time not suffer some form of damage to it despite the owners claiming it never damaged their weapons. They just did not know what to look for or did not care to look too closely knowing full well what they would find.

I once thought of buying up a lot of the really cheap stuff and breaking it down and saving the bullets and powder (its the primers that are corrosive not the powder) but thinking the future project over I decided that trying to get out all of the cupro-nickle deposits from the bore not to mention the wear on the bore that is caused by the steel jackted ammo I decided just to stick with cast lead bullets and an occasional bulk buy of modern jacketed bullets. Both of which will give outstanding accuracy and cause no devastating damage to the weapons bore or action.

[Feanaro]

Thank you for that long post BHP9. I pretty much assumed corrosive ammo would screw a gun up. Because there is always that ONE time when you miss a spot or something pops up and you don't have time to clean the rifle up. And I really don't like the idea of putting anything damaging your a rifle of mine, even if it was cheap.

[Swampy]

Feanaro wrote:

"I pretty much assumed corrosive ammo would screw a gun up."


HORSE HOCKEY !!!

I've purchased numerous milsurp weapons in the last few years, mostly WWII M1 Garands, some pre WWII Mausers, which have all had umpteen thousands of rounds of corrosive ammo fired through them.

These are fine rifles.... even the ones with the original WWII barrel and factory finish. Very good to pristine bores with no sign of rust due to corrosive ammo which MUST have been fired through them as the US did not convert M2 ball to non-corrosive priming until the early 50's. The Europeans were still making corrosive 8mm until the 70's.

If US soldiers can be trained to keep a gas operated weapon like the M1 clean of corrosion, then there's no reason a civvy can't keep a bolt weapon clean of it as well... all you need is the proper cleaning technique and the mindset to do what is necessary.

I still shoot corrosive milsurp through my Mausers..... Take it home, clean it, no rust, no problem.

Just my 2 bits,

Swampy

Garands forever

[Okiecruffler]

Case after case of the stuff. Haven't noticed any problem yet. Of course I am one of the few people who actually enjoy cleaning guns. At $4/70rds, I don't think I could reload 8mm any cheaper, and yeah, 2 inch groups with a 50y/o rifle and ammo keeps me perfectly happy.:D