I bought another 8mm Mauser today

[Buckshot]

.............I had run out to drop some stuff off at the PO, made a swing by the Whoppertorium and then was heading back home and thought I'd stop by Big5 to see if they had any of the M95/34 Steyrs left that they'd had on sale ($119) last week. The guy said they only had 2 at this store, and some stores only had one. He said his were both gone the first day.

As we were talking we were walking back toward the hunting (gun) dept and I spied this really outstanding looking Mauser in the end of the rack and it had a sale tag on it. I didn't see it in their add by the front door so I asked to see it. Man was it gorgeous! It is a VZ24/47 and must be a re-work as it looks like new. It was lightly covered in cosmoline but I pulled the bolt and while the bore wasn't clear of preservative, I could sure see some nice sharp lands, and right up to the muzzle.

The stock didn't seem to have any dings or dents, metal is solidly blued and the piece is tight. The price was $99. Of course, this being Kalifornistan you have the DROS fees, have to buy a *&(#% lock (another one for the junque drawer) sales tax & etc so it ended up $149 and change. It comes with a bayonete (cool) a stinky leather sling and a smelly canvas pouch with cleaning junk and an oiler.

I get to pick it up after noon 5-25. I'll get some pics of it up after it gets cleaned up.

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

[StarMetal]

Outstanding Buckshot, you done real good. Amazing all the extra costs you had though. Even with TN's high 9.75 % sales tax it would have only come to about $110 rounded off.

Joe

[NVcurmudgeon]

Way to go, Buckshot! Without being able to go to NCBS, you richly deserve a "new" rifle.

[Abert Rim]

Rick: I recently bought a Yugo 24 47 in similar condition for $99 and $10 NICS check from my Big 5 (no sales tax here in Oregon) , except mine had a lot more cosmo than yours. Got some condom loads ready when I can get to the range. Mine has a very nice trigger. My understanding is that most of these were built either at FN or under FN tutelage and on FN machines in Serbia before WWII. Nice workmanship. Is yours Czech?

[Buckshot]

...........Hey Abert! I feel like a doofus. I can't tell you much of anything about it other then it looked new and was very attractive. There in the rack it sucked my eyeballs right to it. I'm sure you know what I mean? I'll be able to get pictures and all the data up on it by next Monday at the latest. I pick it up Friday and have to work Fri, Sat, Sun so it's me Monday before much of anything gets done with it. I definately plan on getting some cast loaded for it Monday to shoot Tuesday.

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

[6pt-sika]

I had a Lyman 8mm HP GC mold that would be nice to try in one of these. Wish I had kept it:???:
If memory serves , it cast about a 180 grain bullet . Would have made a pretty decent deer bullet .

[mooman76]

I bought one of those a few years ago when Big-5 was offering the unissued ones for $179. I wish I had the foresight to pick up a couple more!

[Buckshot]

..............I checked my pickup tag. Regular price was $199, and it's a Yugo M24/47.

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

[Buckshot]

..................Oboy, I get to pick it up tomorrow!

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

[Buckshot]

..............I had this big idea to take it to work to clean it up but second thoughts kept me from it. I'd have to do it in the back office and it's a Friday before a holiday weekend, and also pretty much end of the month shipping. I knew every 3 minutes there'd be a driver at the window. Besides, I'd have the whole place smelling of carb cleaner.

The rifle is matching with the action, bolt and stock all carrying the same serial number. The bolt number isn't forced. There is some rust pitting on the bolt shroud and a bit on the end of the safety flag, but it is old and not active. I'm guessing these may have been reblued as it's too nice to have not been re-done. Appearances at the muzzle seem to indicate the bore is blued too. The rifling is very sharp and the grooves exceedingly smooth, but it doesn't shine and the bore at the muzzle looks blued.

It appears to have a nice trigger for a milsurp. A smooth takeup and crisp release, so that's nice. The bolt is full of cosmoline. When you pull the trigger you can hear it squish as the striker falls :-). I don't know what kind of wood the stock is made of. It's not beech or birch I don't think. At first I thought it was walnut but with it at home and closely looked at it's something else. It's very straight with very few marks and no scratches. It's stained a very nice armory reddish color. There is a wooden plug which extends throught the wrist crossways.

This seems as if it were to plug maybe a sling swivel or something, as there are no cracks or splits it would possibly be a repair for, or so it seems. The left rear of the handguard has a chip about the size of a dime missing, but it's not cracked. It's a bit noticeable due to the missing stain color. All the metal that is supposed to be blued is so, and looks like 'as-issued'.

Along with the rifle came a stinky leather sling, a pair of stinky leather ammo pouches, and a small stinky canvas kit bag holding cleaning gear (oiler, etc). Then a 4" x 3/4" blued metal capsule with cleaning rod additions . Finally a rather nice bayonet that is unsharpened, in a blued steel scabbard sans frog (if it is supposed to have a frog). I obviously have no use for the bayonet, but it's cool anyway.

While I was there I noticed they had a superlative looking Austrian 1895 Straight Pull in the rack with layaway papers attached. Just amazing some of the wood they put on those old rifles! The conversion I made to one, turning it into a 30-40 Krag worked out so well I had been kind of halfway toying around with the idea of converting one to 40-60 Maynard (30-40 blown out and slightly trimmed back), or 35-40 Krag. One problem is if the M95 I bought was a gem I would have a hard time reconciling the idea of messing with it. All I need is the action and triggerguard really.

I have a beautimus M95 and a M95/30 already that are great shooters, so I really DON'T need, nor can I really afford to buy another to have 'as-is'. But I REALLY would like to have one of these in 40 cal. A real quandry eh? HA!

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

[Four Fingers of Death]

A real dilemma! Its always a shame to mess with complete original rifles. I gave a rifl to a friend who was down on his luck. It was a 42' built Oberndorf, remade into an Israeli Mauser. Not a real milestone in rifle history, but this was brand new from the rebuild. I don't think it was ever fired after being refurbished. We were both shooting military action. He decided to make a 'target' rifle out of it, cut the last bit of the wood off at an angle, ground the charger clip off and fitted scope. Bugger. He sold it soon afterwards and I have it again. It's staying this time. He went on to buying an Arisaka in completely original trim (he heard that old chesnut about it being the strongest mil action), bubbered it bad, fitted a heavy stainless steel Bbl and a scope. Naturally that didn't last long and it has been languishing on the shelf at the gunshop in my home town. Fool. We can't all be smart I suppose.

[Shepherd2]

Buckshot - The stock on your Yugo M24/47 may be elm. I'm pretty sure that is what the stock on mine is. I think there was a link here on the Milsurp board recently that stated that most of the M24/47 stocks are elm. IIRC it was a statement from someone that had a hand in building them.

I hope your Yugo shoots as good as mine.

[Buckshot]

..................Shepherd2, it very well could be Elm. I hope it shoots well to! That's always a real fear taking one to the range for the first time :-). I found out while doing some cleaning on it before going to bed yesterday morning. You really REALLY don't want to take the front sight hood off! That is, not if you want to put it back.

...............4fingermick, I'm no milsurp Nazi and if a guy buys a rifle and wants to do the "Hack out a sporter" routine, who's to say otherwise. Yet if a person has a very fine specimen with no issues and it shoots, why not enjoy it like it is? I know all the dedicated Swedophiles would like to burn at the stake the people at Kimber who did wholesale slaughter on the M96's and M38's turning them into plastic stocked, see through scope mount sporters.

Reality was that while they were a fine rifle, and no doubt about it at the time they were a glut on the market. They just weren't moving fast enough so there ya go. But that was then and this is now. Those M96's selling at $59 wholesale and $96 retail go for $250 to $325 apiece. I guess those gonzo's who are so upset now should have bought a couple dozen back then. Anyway, I'm sure the Kimber sporters were bought as first time or loaner sporters by a bunch of people.

You can see the same thing with the SMLE and all the crazy different things done with them. The 45-70 conversions, the faked Mk7 Jungle Rifles and a couple more I can't recall at the moment. Plus those sold by Century and others that had just been slapped into plastic stocks.

The only real reason I don't like to see a really nice milsurp fooled with is because I like them just the way they are. It's obvious a lot don't.

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

[Hackleback]

The 24/47 was the very first rifle that I purchased with my C&R. It did not look like much andthe price was right. It's a shooter to boot. I have been able to take starlings at 75+ yards with it (thats good for me, your milage may vary).

ALL 24/47's are rebuilt rifles (model 24) of Yugo or Belgum orgin. The recivers were scrubbed and the stocks shaved during the rebuilds, though if you look close many times you can see remnents of the original SN on the stocks or the FN banner on the left side of the reciever. I have another one that you can clearly see the crown cartouche of Peter the II, the king of the area right before WWII. In my mind, these rifles have alot of intiresting history. I have found surplusrifle.com site to be a wealth of information. tThere are several individuals that prowl the Yugo rifle portion that can answer most any question you have.

[waksupi]

The 24/47 was the very first rifle that I purchased with my C&R. It did not look like much andthe price was right. It's a shooter to boot. I have been able to take starlings at 75+ yards with it (thats good for me, your milage may vary).

ALL 24/47's are rebuilt rifles (model 24) of Yugo or Belgum orgin. The recivers were scrubbed and the stocks shaved during the rebuilds, though if you look close many times you can see remnents of the original SN on the stocks or the FN banner on the left side of the reciever. I have another one that you can clearly see the crown cartouche of Peter the II, the king of the area right before WWII. In my mind, these rifles have alot of intiresting history. I have found surplusrifle.com site to be a wealth of information. tThere are several individuals that prowl the Yugo rifle portion that can answer most any question you have.

They must have missed a few. Mine has the serial number intact on the stock, very clear, with an inspectors mark near it. The reciever hasn't been scrubbed, and the crest is very distinct. Glad I got one that wasn't boogered with!

[Hackleback]

During the rebuilding process, some rifles ended up with new stocks (yours is likely one of these). Many, if you look closely at the SN on the stock, you can see the old "ghost" SN behind it. The crest on the reciver (the wheat stalks around the "shield" ) is post WWII Soviet. The 24/47 is a rebuild of the model 1924 that started in 1947, thus the designation. I will try to get some pix posted that shows some of the things I have described.

As with all mil surp rifles, odd items show up all the time, you may have some variant. I just ordered three Yugo 48's from Century; all were different. one had no crest, another had the end of the barrel threaded for a AK style granade lancher, the last was what you would expect from a typical 48. Mil surps have a lot of history, I think that is one of the reasons I like collecting them.

[waksupi]

I took the 24/47 out for some exercise today. First order of business, the front sight had a decided tilt to one side. Following Starmetal's advise, I removed the sight blade, unscrewed the set screw, and heated it with a torch, followed by some light taps to turn the sight band. First time, went the wrong direction, wouldn't you know it! Took a couple more tries, going the RIGHT way, to get it centered up well.
Then, I loaded up some 220 gr. Lyman SPGC, starting at around 49.5 gr. WC 860. Not bad, went about 5 inches at a hundred yards. I upped the powder charge, finally ending at 55.5 gr WC 860, slightly compressed. This sucked the group down to around three inches. Considering the coarse sights, and my eyes, I think this is pretty good.
Then, when I went to load a batch, I managed to stick a case in the Lee sizing die. I had an extractor, so did the drill and tap thing. Lifted on the handle, and took the whole bench off the floor. So, keeping some upwards pressure on the lever, I tapped the seating stem with a mallet, and it came out. BUT, I did bugger the decapping pin, and can see no way to remove the remaining stub. Can still neck size, though. So, I am going to have to use a separate die to decap, until I can get a replacement.