tlend
Member
Hoping for a little insight on my Yugo/M48 8mm mauser. I picked this one up cheap ($150) and it was complete except for the front sight hood, which I may replace someday, but didn't figure was terribly important for the time being. I brought this baby out of its military storage status complete with cosmoline/grease wrap. I cleaned it up nice and after a thorough checkup, took it out to the range with some surplus Yugo 8mm ammo (the corrosive stuff).
With the sights all the way down (200m) I figured I'd print a little high at my 100 yard range. Here's the intersting part. My shots were hitting about 2 to 2 1/2 feet high at 100 yards. I was lucky to just see an impact on the top of the target. On a hunch, I went back to my bench and held at the bottom of the cardboard backing and hit about a 4 inch group on my target (about 2 feet high). The military ammo is 197gr FMJ and chrono'd 2400fps
I thought it might be the ammunition and so I tried some Sellier and Bellot factory ammo (196 gr FMJ) which chrono'd 2587fps. Not surprisingly, this ammuntion printed even higher on the target.
I guess I'm wondering if this is typical for an old M48 or maybe if I'm doing something wrong. Should my rounds be hitting so high at 100 yards with a 200gr bullet? I'd be happy if my rounds grouped around 5 in' high at 100 yards, which I figure would be pretty close to the 200m zero indicated by the sights. Is there a way to calibrate the sights or at least reset the zero? I suppose I could grind down the front sight (meaning have a gunsmith do it) but I don't want to modify it if I'm just doing something wrong.
Admittedly, the rifle doesn't fit me that well. I have long arms and when I'm shooting, my nose is uncomfortably close to the rear of the bolt/safety. I have to really scrunch to get down low enough to line up the sights and maintain cheek weld, which I suppose could be another issue. Maybe my sight picture is off? I have been trying to level the tip of the front sight with the top of the rear sight leaf (see attached image of my doodle and see if you can make sense of it). I usually shoot open sights with standard military ar-15/M1A so this is a bit foreign to me.
I'd like to get some more enjoyment out of this rifle, without having to tailor/handload ammuntion for it. Shouldn't it be able to shoot military ammo reasonably well? The group was fine, it was just way up high, which leads me to believe I have either a sight picture problem or a sighting system problem. Being a surplus military rifle, it did not come with any documentation. Any help at all is appreciated. Thanks!
With the sights all the way down (200m) I figured I'd print a little high at my 100 yard range. Here's the intersting part. My shots were hitting about 2 to 2 1/2 feet high at 100 yards. I was lucky to just see an impact on the top of the target. On a hunch, I went back to my bench and held at the bottom of the cardboard backing and hit about a 4 inch group on my target (about 2 feet high). The military ammo is 197gr FMJ and chrono'd 2400fps
I thought it might be the ammunition and so I tried some Sellier and Bellot factory ammo (196 gr FMJ) which chrono'd 2587fps. Not surprisingly, this ammuntion printed even higher on the target.
I guess I'm wondering if this is typical for an old M48 or maybe if I'm doing something wrong. Should my rounds be hitting so high at 100 yards with a 200gr bullet? I'd be happy if my rounds grouped around 5 in' high at 100 yards, which I figure would be pretty close to the 200m zero indicated by the sights. Is there a way to calibrate the sights or at least reset the zero? I suppose I could grind down the front sight (meaning have a gunsmith do it) but I don't want to modify it if I'm just doing something wrong.
Admittedly, the rifle doesn't fit me that well. I have long arms and when I'm shooting, my nose is uncomfortably close to the rear of the bolt/safety. I have to really scrunch to get down low enough to line up the sights and maintain cheek weld, which I suppose could be another issue. Maybe my sight picture is off? I have been trying to level the tip of the front sight with the top of the rear sight leaf (see attached image of my doodle and see if you can make sense of it). I usually shoot open sights with standard military ar-15/M1A so this is a bit foreign to me.
I'd like to get some more enjoyment out of this rifle, without having to tailor/handload ammuntion for it. Shouldn't it be able to shoot military ammo reasonably well? The group was fine, it was just way up high, which leads me to believe I have either a sight picture problem or a sighting system problem. Being a surplus military rifle, it did not come with any documentation. Any help at all is appreciated. Thanks!
