8mm rifle

[jballs918]

i know alot of you all shoot the 8mm. im looking ot pick one up and i know there are several out there. can you guys give me a review if you have one. i have no idea when it comes to these. i was looking at maybe a nice m48 i like the looks of those. thanks guys

jason

[Buckshot]

.................All the M48's I've seen were quality rifles.

...............Buckshot

[Frank46]

Jason, I have an egyptian BO, no markings. Mint bore, all serial numbers match. The action could stand a little slicking up but for the money they can't be beat. I don't think you could do worse by getting one. Frank

[XBT]

I agree with Frank46 and Buckshot. M-48’s in excellent condition are easy to find and don’t cost much. A nice gun at a bargain price, how can you beat that?

I probably should not mention this on the cast boolit board, but surplus 8MM ammo loaded with those “other kind” of boolits is dirt-cheap.

[felix]

The current 308 military rounds from India are made of excellent brass, so much so that I am willing to do a hand job on them to convert them to boxer. The same with their 8mm Mauser stuff. Their true shooting accuracy cannot be determined, however, because of the military guns this ammo is shot in. Something like 8 cents per pop, and with enough accuracy to knock off charging cans when you can see them with those crude sights. On thing I have noticed, though, is that their velocity/pressure is quite low, but consistent. Their brass is soft enough to easily obturate to the chamber dimensions without blowback. I would say offhand that the brass is Norma quality. ... felix

[bruce drake]

I have some 1972 Indian 308 that is Boxer primed. I just bought it from Century in January. nice ammo and clean brass. I was expecting to get Berdan primed cases and crap reliability. Was pleasantly surprised with this ammo. Probably a luck of the draw but I'll take it.

Bruce

[carpetman]

Frank46---You have Egyptian BO. What kind of deodarant do you use on that stuff?

[StarMetal]

As stated previously, arguments on discussion forums regarding the period of production, country of origin, and whether or not they were arsenal refinished are due to people confusing the M-48 rifle with the Yugo M-98 (refer to the section on the M-98 for more details about that rifle). All M-48 series rifles are Yugoslavian made (not German) and, unlike the 1924 and M-24, feature a turned-down bolt handle.

NO RIFLE MARKED 'M-48' WAS EVER MADE DURING WWII. ‘48’ DENOTES YEAR OF ADOPTION (1948).
All Yugoslavian Mauser rifles bearing 'M-48' markings were made in Yugoslavia at the Preduzece 44 (Zastava) factory. While it is true an extremely small number of prototypes were made during the Second World War, none of these research prototypes were ever marked 'M-48'. So far as we are aware, there are no prototypes for sale anywhere in North America - or, for that matter, anywhere else in the world - and if there were one, the asking price would be understandably quite high as a prized collectors' item - and its markings definitely different from those of the M-48 series.

These rifles are readily available in as new, un-issued condition. It is conceivable that a very small number of M-48s are arsenal refinished and some are available used, however these would definitely stand out from the rest since they would all bear unique ‘arsenal refinished’ markings. We have sold both un-issued and used condition M-48s (offering each in accurately-graded condition).

The M-48 is very similar to the German Mauser K-98 save for the much finer craftsmanship and materials used in comparison with later-WWII German rifles. Practically all parts of the M-48 are crafted from milled as opposed to stamped steel. Typically the Mauser M-48 series rifles will be offered with a Yugo-made bayonet copied from the early pattern German K-98 wood-handled bayonet (a barrel support ring was added to the Yugo version).

The M-48BO is a true early example of a 'sanitized' weapon: there are no markings present anywhere on the rifle except a couple serial numbers. They are not even marked 'M-48'! Our sources from within the (former) Yugoslavian military state the 'BO' rifles were intended for sale to Egypt, but even the paltry few thousand which were at that point ready for initial delivery to that country could not be shipped due to the onset of the Suez Crisis of 1956. No more were produced for reasons outlined in the following paragraph.

Following the Suez Crisis, most of the world's armies (including Egypt and Yugoslavia) phased out bolt action rifles in favour of self-loading (semi-auto) or fully automatic infantry service rifles. The M-48BO was thus relegated to the storehouse and left in packing crates until we discovered them in a forgotten corner of a warehouse a couple years ago.

Yugo 48BO...bez oznake=without markings It is said that these were fact extensively reworked WWII-vintage German Kar. 98ks wiped of all positive identifying markings, except for generic proof marks. The 48BO conversion went into production/sale at the same time the 48B had.

Joe

[Frank46]

Carpetman, rightguard no odor Frank