Is this a surplus action?

Cabelas had a bunch of these M48s and I bought one. What I have seen on their racks are different mixes of sporter barrels, military stepped barrels, D&Td and not, milled & stamped floorplates, M48 & M48A receivers, & various stock designs yet all are beech. Looks to me that Zastava was getting rid of any actions and parts left from the military M48s. Or maybe getting rid of the last of the M48s by reconfiguring them as civilian sporters. No buffing & scrubbing on the ones I saw and the finishes looked as new.
Mine is just a simple new mauser M48 in a factory sporter beech stock with a like new barrel. A using rifle vs a piece of expensive furniture.

This is a civilian Zastava M98 rifle. They are mentioned in the Zastava manuals. Many such rifles are popping up for sale recently in the USA. Probably several importers (Foxtrot, ATI, etc) found crates of seized from various Balkan area gun clubs after the Yugoslavian breakup when gun laws were tightened in the countries after the breakup. The M98 differs from the M70 as noted: safety on the bolt instead of slide safety, no trapdoor on magazine, stripper clip notch, and so on. These used M48 actions mated to sporter style stocks instead of military stocks, sold to civilians.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10h4q_XU2Gi0DqRJORI1yR1CKaUuCYKpP/view?usp=drivesdk

They are most certainly M48s reconfigured into sporters, most with new barrels (both military stepped and sporter taper) and almost new receivers. The stocks can be converted stock military or new sporter with some military features such as the rounded grip and grasping grooves.
Barrels are marked "Cal 8x57 JS" not in cyrillic script which might indicate they were intended for the western market.
Bolt handles are mostly military however some are sporter on the D&T receivers
I shopped around quite a bit, both online and the local Cabelas rack before I found one with features I wanted - or didnt want.

The actions are unlikely to have ever resided in M48 military rifles, this "intermediate length" action was used in parallel for both new M48 rifles and new civilian Zastava M98 hunting rifles at those points in time. No conversion needed to have taken place from M48 to M98, some obviously were though.

I disagree. As I said, they WERE military M48s as evidenced by the majority having stepped barrels and military sights along with the Yugo crest and either M48 or M48A on the receiver ring. Some stocks are actually converted military with the butt sling hole filled. Think what you want, but I know what I've seen and what I have and it aint no "civilian"

And you want everyone to believe you have seen 100% of such rifles ever manufactured?

Did you personally inspect all the similar rifles sold on Gunbroker.com this year as well? Here is a recent example, one of many. This one is in .308 Winchester caliber.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/845886601

Another, with "Made in Yugoslavia" marked in English, curious for a supposedly "military surplus only" piece, it is in 8X57mm JRS Mauser.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/843709559

A nice full stock recent sale.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/842440797

And all these?

https://www.gunbroker.com/Guns-Fire...va&Sort=13&IncludeSellers=1401459&PageSize=48

I've purchased several of these rifles: two 7X64mm 24" barrel, one 7X64mm 20" barrel full stock, and one .30-06 Sprngfield, all with twin triggers, this year. None of my purchases show any evidence of military heritage. With my own eyes, in my own posession.

Of course I will both think what I want as well as believe info from someone currently living in Croatia who grew up in the former Yugoslavia, and is both a competitive shooter and hunter, with a family history with Zastava going back to his grandfather.

I've spoken with a guy who's worked as an apprentice at Zavasta, they bought up tons of surplus mausers and converted them to civilian actions by taking a belt sander to them free hand.
All the old stamps and numbers were removed and new ones put on.

The rifle is d&t for scope mounts but those mounts will probable never line up properly due to the free form sanding, be wary!

Cabela's only had a smattering of these rifles available for sale that I've seen so far this year compared to multiple sellers on Gunbroker.com. I did not purchase any of the ones offered by Cabela's as they were of lower quality & condition relative to the majority of these rifles available from other sellers. Here are the two 7X64mm rifles I recently purchased (notably not from Cabela's).

Full stock 20" barrel
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/845909106

"Pig Back" stock 24" barrel
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/834605134

I don't anticipate any problems mounting scopes on my purchases. I plan on replacing the "pig back" style stock with a Monte Carlo style, the "pig back" just doesn't really grab me personally. I really like the full stock style for a Texas brush gun.

Being wary is always a good thing IMO.

With the relief cut for the thumb on the left side of the receiver you would think it almost would have to be a surplus action. Everything else, bolt, finish and proof marks appears to be commercial. My guess is that the factory had some military receivers, probably unused and unissued, that they decided to use commercially. Just a guess but that’s what I would put my money on.

There is risk in each and every pre-owned item whether a firearm, motor vehicle, home appliance, scuba gear (anotger hobby of mine) vs a factory new item. Caveat Emptor even applies with factory new item purchases as how well any company stands behind a product is quite variable these days.

Known facts:

The M48 was entirely post-WWII production, the "48" signifies the model year of the design.

Not all M48 actions were fitted to military bolt action rifles as the were manufactured.

This model year designation system explains why there is a Zastava M70 bolt action rifle, a Zastava M70 AK-47 style rifle, and a Zastava M70 semiautomatic handgun - all of those different firearm models began in 1970.

There were Balkan wars in the last years of the 20th century if that's a true concern.

So exactly which "war" you're referring to @Slamfire, needs to be more unambiguously specified.

FWIW I picked up my 7mm-08 22" barrel Zastava rifle from having a Sig Sauer Whisky 5 2-10X42mm Hellfire Quadplex scope mounted & bore sighted from my local FFL dealer on Friday. Zero issues with the alignment of the receiver D&T scope holes, just as I expected. However a prior owner had the rear 2 fittings D&T to a larger diameter and fitted with larger diameter screws, which only became apparent after removing the Leupold two piece scope bases & rings that were on the rifle when I purchased it. It now has a one piece EGW scope base which facilitated a nice low-as-possible scope mounting of the Whiskey 5. Which 100% proves any preowned item purchase involves some element of risk. Those larger screws were re-used in the rear 2 holes in the EGW base. So the holes still all lined up perfectly even though some prior owner changed the diameter of 2 of these vs when that receiver left the factory, for who-knows-what-reason. My best guess is a prior owner cross-threaded and forced the original 2 rear screws and holes, and then took it to a gunsmith to do what could be done to correct this. And since this is a M70, and in 7mm-08, the odds of this rifle being used in any war are astronomically low.

https://www.egwguns.com/scope-mount...g-picatinny-rail-scope-mount-0-moa-commercial

This will now be my primary deer & feral hog rifle.

Personal judgement includes personal responsibility IMO, but that's certainly far from a universal viewpoint, especially these days.

Here's a full stock example for those who are into 8X57mm caliber. That cartridge has never floated my boat. But I wouldn't run screaming doom from it either. I don't care for "pig back" stocks either. Note the flat "spoon" bolt handle.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/848007275

And another, this one with a "spoon" bolt handle.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/847332246

Both these are examples are what a Zastava M98 consists of, primarily produced for civilian use within former Yugoslavia, exactly as I stated, and pointed to reference of such in the Zastava M70 and M85 factory owners' manual. Both these have hinged magazine floorplates, somewhat different from the Zastava M98 rifles I've seen offered at Cabela's. Perhaps indicating a higher feature model, along with the shorter barrel and full stock, for a different market segment

If this doesn't illustrate the objective truth of my position regarding the Zastava M98 or even M98-ish if you prefer rifles offered for sale by Cabela's vs other sources, nothing will.

I would certainly run any questions I might have down to what I deemed an acceptable level, like any other such durable equipment purchase I make. And if I still found anything questionable after the purchase, I'd have everything checked out by a competent gunsmith (which I am not and have never claimed to be). No different than having scuba equipment checked out by a certified equipment tech IME.

Here are some Zastava M98 examples that are not full stock, FWIW. They do not all have hinged magazine floorplates; much like a motor vehicle, there were several levels of options per my colleague who now lives in Croatia, and grew up in that same geographica area when it was part of a nation named Yugoslavia, that no longer exists. Plus individual owners can have used a gunsmith to make modifications as per that owner's tastes.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/843709559

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/845886601

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/844132217

Prior to the M48, Yugoslavia manufactured the M24 bolt action rifle for military use, in 8X57mm. The M24 had a straight bolt handle as one quick identifying clue. Here's an example.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/848302875

Some of these were upgraded to M24/47, after WWII but prior to the wars involved with disintegration of Yugoslavia as a nation. Here are a few examples.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/847351373

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/847910112

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/847914827

Some Yugoslavia M48 military rifles manufactured for military export were designated M48BO, with no national crests of Yugoslavia nor of whatever nation these rifles were exported to for military use. Here's an example.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/847717146

None of this info is secret to any degree that I've found FWIW.

Zastava also offered a military-style-appearance M63 with 17.5 inch barrel that Mitchell's Mausers dubbed "Tankers Model" solely for civilian market and solely for export in .243 Winchester, .270 Winchester, .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, and 8X57mm. Note the same action is used whether a member of the .308 Winchester cartridge family and cartridge case size, 8X57mm, or .30-06 Springfield family and cartridge case size. There is no "short action" version, same as the Zastava M70, Interarms Mark X, and Whitworth bolt action rifles. The Zastava M63 was never used by any military force, and was manufactured exclusively for civilian export market via Mitchell's Mausers.




https://www.tactical-life.com/firearms/tank-tough-m63/

The thumb cutout on the M63 is visible in a photo here. Keep in mind the M63 was solely manufactured solely for civilian use, and for export solely through Mitchell's Mausers.

https://forums.gunsandammo.com/discussion/37887/used-rack-strikes-again

Here's a M63 currently offered for sale.

https://www.armslist.com/posts/9868918/evansville-indiana-rifles-for-sale--yugo-m63-mauser-8mm

The M63 design most likely used the M1924CK Yugoslavian "Chetnik Mauser" for a starting point. The M1924CK was not manufactured for use by military armored vehicle crews nor civilian sporting use. However there no specific documentation showing a link between the M63 and the M1924CK to my knowledge.

https://simpsonltd.com/yugoslavian-24ck-chetnik-mauser-carbine/

So to sum up a rather important set of bullet points:

1. The Zastava M98 rifle was never manufactured for military use. The Zastava M98 was manufactured solely for civilian use, alongside the M70 bolt action rifle.

2. The Zastava M98 bolt action rifle was chambered exclusively in 8X57mm as this rifle used the same intermediate action as the M48 military rifle. There are variations of features in Zastava M98 rifles. As a side note, if one wants to change caliber of a Zastava M98 bolt action rifle the "X57mm" part should be taken into account for magazine box size. Calibers like 6.5X57mm, 7X57mm, 9X57mm, 9.3X57mm come to my mind.

3. The Zastava M63 has a thumb cutout in the receiver. The M63 was manufactured solely for civilian use, and solely for export through Mitchell's Mausers.

4. The M63 was manufactured in multiple calibers never used by any military (.243 Winchester, .270 Winchester) as well as several calibers that have been used by military forces .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, & 8X57mm).

5. The Zastava M98 bolt action rifle is in no way a military design & issued Gewehr 98, KAR98, VZ24, etc. rifle.

5. None of this information is in any way secret, as demonstrated by multiple hyperlinks.

Before I make a purchase, I like to spend the effort to make as well-informed and as little misinformed decision to my level of satisfaction. Some folks extrapolate a whole lot of stuff on their own instead of seeking additional factual information. I have done my best to answer the OP's question using external links as easy access factual material. The pics in the OP's initial post certainly resemble the three hyperlinked .308 Winchester caliber Zastava M98 bolt action rifles, the first 3 hyperlinks in this post.

To each his own.

Since these Zastava bolt action rifles were solely manufactured for 8X57mm cartridge use, these aren't where to look if you want a Zastava bolt action rifle in a caliber other than 8X57mm.
M1924 and its variants - military use
M24/47 - military use
M48 - military use
M98 - civilian market

If you want a Zastava manufactured bolt action rifle with a military "look" but manfactured solely for civilian market, in a variety of calibers where 8X57mm is one choice but there are choices other than 8X57mm, then the M63 is where to look. However M63 production ceased a while back and if you want to avoid any and all risks associated with purchasing a preowned firearm, the M63 is probably not for you. You might find a New Old Stock example somewhere within some time frame, but odds are not in your favor.

If you want a Zastava manufactured rifle with a sporting "look" that was not manufactured for military use, in a vareity of calibers where 8X57mm is a choice but there are choices other than 8X57mm, look at Zastava M70, Interarms Mark X, Whitworth, Remington 798, and some Charles Daly models. It's probably worth mentioning here FN commercial (civilian) Mauser bolt actions use the same bolt release design as the Zastava M70 bolt action rifle. Defining this bolt release system as "military style" kinda doesn't match manufacturer history of these commercial actions. Scope bases etc for a FN Large Ring Mauser receiver will also fit Zastava M70 and other bolt action receivers listed in this paragraph. Also Spanish Santa Barbera Large Ring Mauser receivers.

If you want a Zastava bolt action rifle with a sporting look that was not manufactured for military use, in a variety of calibers where 8X57mm is a choice but there are choices available other than 8X57mm, and you absolutely positively cannot tolerate any risk associated with a preowned firearm, look at a factory new Zastava M70 bolt action rifle.

Atlantic Firearms has more inventory advertised of brand new Zastava M70 bolt action rifles, but there are other such sellers in the USA.

https://www.atlanticfirearms.com/taxons/zastava-arms-usa?criteria[manufacturer]=203&criteria[availability]=in_stock&limit=999999999

Note these examples have Monte Carlo style stocks instead of the popular in Europe "pug back" style stocks.

And this organization ought to be able to answer any questions an interested purchaser can have, to the best of their ability anyway. That's been my experience FWIW.

https://zastavaarmsusa.com/product/sporting-rifle-lk-m70/

I predict I'll be quite pleased with my most recent pre-owned Zastava M70 bolt action rifle purchase when it arrives. A .300 Win Mag rifle with Monte Carlo walnut stock, rich satin finish blued (not cheaply blacked or painted) steel construction for $334 to my local receiving FFL dealer, who gets $20 from me to make the transfer.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/847918973

YMMV, as always.

Zorg

Ryden said:

I've spoken with a guy who's worked as an apprentice at Zavasta, they bought up tons of surplus mausers and converted them to civilian actions by taking a belt sander to them free hand.
All the old stamps and numbers were removed and new ones put on.

The rifle is d&t for scope mounts but those mounts will probable never line up properly due to the free form sanding, be wary!

Click to expand...

Here's a discussion thread about how Mitchell's Mausers had Zastava do what you say for the MILSURP market - not the civilian market. Lots of hard feelings from milsurp collectors about this, not anything for civilian sport hunters.

https://forums.gunboards.com/showth...users-Tankers-a-new-take#/topics/34351?page=1

It also references several other 17.5" barreled military production Mausers for police forces in Indonesua and such - in addition to the M1924CK "Chetnik Mauser" I previously mentioned as the likely (but not proven) starting point for the M63. But when I searched for info on those other model numbers, I couldn't find any reading material linking those models to being manufactured in Yugoslavia.

This certainly provides context for the activities @Ryden posted, and their lack of applicability to the civilian Zastava M98 rifles. And as the OP posted he saw no such rough treatment on the rifle with photos in the first post on this thread. I would estimate odds of that pictured rifle having an extremely low probability mounting a scope due to poor D&T for such on the receiver, same for the other examples I've posted links to here. This linked example in 8X57mm and these two in .308 Winchester (51mm case length). I previously indicated all these three were .308 Win caliber, in error.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/843709559

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/845886601

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/844132217

This article discusses the primary military models and milsurp Yugoslavian Mausers, and also discusses Mitchell's Mausers involvement in and controversy in the milsurp market. Also discusses the "intermediate length" actions used in these military rifles as they were exclusively manufactured in 8X57mm.

http://armedbutnotdangerous.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-last-mauser-yugoslavian-m48.html?m=1

Thank you for your service. I respect those that served, volunteer or conscripted. My father was in the USAAC and was sent to North Africa shortly after the Torch landings. I'm certainly conversant with general events of that time period even though I was born 20 years later.

My mother's baby brother was sent to Europe too late to participate in that war, and was assigned as a border guard in Germany with forces from the USSR as opposte numbers directly across a line drawn. He was allways bitter about that as he explained his draft notice had the phrase "for the duration".

My maternal ancestors left the area that would become Yugoslavia in the 19th century, leaving Europe before my grandmother's contemporaries called The Great War.

I appreciate your cautionary tale posted available to everyone here to use. During my career in petroleum refining, I have witnessed incidents and near misses caused by less than stellar materials science both at locations I worked and lessons learned shared by other such facilities, in capitalist democracies as well as other forms of government. When Germany reunited, many suddenly inherited former Soviet facilities of this nature were the equivalent of Superfund sites here in the USA. Both systems have demonstrated equal capacity to try to plumb the lowest depths of community citizenship when not held accountable during operation. The Hanford nuclear cleanup here will employ legendary levels of cost across multiple generations of civilian contractors led by Fluor as stereotypical testament to Eisenhower's discussions regarding the military industrial complex.

I never drove a Yugo but it probably isn't a much different experience vs the 1976 Pontiac Sunbird that was once my daily driver. That vehicle chewed up clutch throw-out bearings like Homer Simpson with a bag of potato chips, among other things.

It's absolutely not an area to be given short shrift.

My only experience with Kobe steel is a pair of 100 foot-ish tall and 10-ish foot diameter hydrocracking reactors, 9" thick steel walls of chrome moly steel with an internal weld overlay of 347 stainless steel, erected and put in service in 1993, still running fine. I was the turnaround coordinator with overwatch on conditions to minimize the possibility of nickel tetracarbonyl, OSHA PEL 1 part per billion for 8 hour time weighted average, at least at that time, during cooldown of those reactors in prep for personnel entry to remove the catalyst, a nickel-moly material on an alumina substrate, the size of rice grains and prepare for loading with fresh catalyst.

The spent catalyst is pyrophoric, can self-ignite in the presence of oxygen. Then ensure all the reactor internal surfaces were washed down with a soda ash solution so the particular residual organic sulfur compounds were neutralized, to prevent those compounds from reacting with oxygen, initiating corrosive attack of the 347 SS overlay and 9" thick vessel walls. Once that was done, reactors were safe to have the internal surfaces exposed to oxygen in the ambient air, fully inspected, then loaded with fresh catalyst to operate another 3 years converting a particular waxy portion of crude oil, too heavy to use as diesel, too light to use as asphalt, loaded with organic sulfur species and organometallic nickel and vanadium compounds as a legacy of crude oil being derived from life that engaged in photosynthesis, to clean burning ultra low sulfur transportation fuels and petrochemical derivatives, operating well above 600°F and 2500 PSI with a lot of hydrogen gas in contact with that petroleum fraction and catalyst.

Thus far, no failures of those reactors to safely contain those chemical processes during operation. Although it's been many years and I've performed many more projects, up to $3.9 billion in cost (in the private sector mind you), knowing I set the template of those activities for others to follow is something I've been pleased with.

There are other facilities that have experienced catastrophic failure during such operation, causing both fatalities and injuries, both before and after that phase of my career. I don't have the names of any especially renowned or prestigious halls of acadeia to name drop. I obtained myBS ChE degree at a university in the town of Kingsville Texas, and that was enough for me.

Anything can be built to a price point. But it can be extremely variable as far as the quality of an item built by different organizations to that same price point. That's where the concept of value comes to the fore, with different parameters weighted differently by different organizations and individuals IME. While a Zastava M70 bolt action rifle is in no way a Blaser R8 for example, the safety elements in the quality of the Zastava rifles I own, with manufacturing dates going back to the 1970's, is no less than any commercial FN Mauser action and / or barrel used by FN, Husqvarna, Weatherby, and other "labels". Interarms Mark X, Whitworth, and Zastava don't especially have name cachet, but to me as someone who chooses CRF actions, are worth more than the Steyr Mannlicher Pro Hunter rifle I bought last year, brand new. That rifle has had more incidences of missed feeding and double-feeding of any bolt action rifle I ever owned, not only in my hands but also in the hands of others.

I started hunting with my dad using a milsurp Carcano carbine and milsurp FMJ 6.5X52mm FMJ ammo, as that was all that was available, with my dad using a milsurp SMLE .303, no scopes or other non-OEM optics. I specialized in skull and neck CNS shots, and still do albeit aided by scopes as my eyes have nothing like the vision qiuality I had as a 10 year old. My Carcano carbine never let me down in any way, and my modern Steyr Mannlicher Pro Hunter is not taken to the range nor field by me. Instead, my Zastava M70 bolt action rifles have and continue to provide me with rock solid reliability. I wouldn't swap my Remington 798 with Zastava action for any Remington 700 or Remington Model Seven, but that's just me.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/remington_798_799_rifles.htm

https://www.chuckhawks.com/subscribers/product_review_page/remington_798.htm

Don't worry @Slamfire, no taxpayer funds were used in my pursuit of a college education. I worked my way through as an independent custody transfer inspector for primarily marine cargoes, and semester-by-semester small departmental scholarships from public corporations including, Amoco, Exxon, and Mobil among others. It took me 10 years after graduating high school to complete my university degree, but it was Summa Cum Laude with 3.83/4.0. I was fortunate the primary focus of the faculty was that a bachelor's degree was to prepare students to enter the work force as a primary consideration, preparing students to enter graduate school was a secondary focus. I don't have special certifications in metallurgy nor corrosion engineering, but I have a high degree of mechanical aptitude among folks with my same degree, so I wound up having a lot of assignments that involved those elements, pun intended, during my career from my first assignment after graduating.

Here's a brief overview of polythionic stress corrosion craking with a pointer to API RP 571, since you appear to have some interest in such things.

AFAIK, there's no shop in the USA left that could fabricate such pressure vessels with wall thickness greater than 6", and that's probably still the case. The Kerosene Hydrotreater Reactir in the Marathon Garyville Major Expansion Project has 200mm (approx 8") thick walls, and wasn't designed for cracking operations. As the kead client Process Engineer on this part of that project, I ensured the unit wiuld produce product not only for commercial Jet-A, but also Jet-A1, and milspec JP-8, the most stringent specs. Perhaps you've traveled in a vehicle or aircraft powered by fuel produced from one of my design projects.

https://www.nola.com/news/business/article_04be809a-1393-5b9c-871c-3d82158580dd.html

This was the largest construction project on the North American continent when it was in progress.

https://www.fluor.com/projects/marathon-refinery-engineering-construction

Ryden said:

I've spoken with a guy who's worked as an apprentice at Zavasta, they bought up tons of surplus mausers and converted them to civilian actions by taking a belt sander to them free hand.

Click to expand...

I'm very sorry, but I misled you.
It was Voere, not Zavasta, that cut corners (quite literally) on the Mausers.

Happy holidays to one and all!

Thanks for the updated info! Looks like Voere targets a much more affluent market demographic than Zastava.

http://www.voere.com/en/rifle-technology/hunting-rifles.html

It's no secret though that Mitchell Arms used a bunch of "silly" for a polite term marketing stuff for their Mauser-style rifles, and still do. Their certification of "collector grade" status and paperwork is meaningless as one glaring point.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/846444455

http://www.mauser.org/mitchells-mausers/

Mitchell's Mausers even contracted Prvi Partizan to package the standard PPU 8X57mmJS FMJ ammunition under their label as something "Premium".

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/850919585