the yugo mauser question

Its well known the ruling government had the basic rifle/carbine design hammered out for them in 1924 by one of the best companies making mausers outside of Germany.

Now, in 1947 yugosclavia did the whole rearm program, and the guns were repaired and given new parts as needed. making the 24/47 nomenclature.

In 1948 they started making the entire rifle to the same dimensions as the 24/47


So why does everyone insist on calling the model 48 an entirely new and final production version of the mauser rifle

It is a new model for the Yugoslavs. Featured a bent bolt (M24 and M24/47s didn't), sight hood (M24s didn't), and the later ones started going for stamped parts instead of milled.

There was countries adopting new models of Mausers after that point as well such as the Brazilian M954. I personally wouldn't say when the final Mauser was adopted, as there is always some new variation that someone else could pull out.

The yugos had several mausers with difference designations, all of them being in K98 configuration with and with out minor variations. The numbers just specify which Mauser it is between the handful of different ones they had on hand. Look at the tag on the side of a crate of yugo 8mm ammo, it will says in serbian script: Ammo for M24, M24/47, M48, m48A, M52C, M63. all of these are pretty much k98s, the exception being the m63 which is just a really short mauser.

The bolts are shorter than the K98.

Primarily because the M48 took enough notes from the German K98k design that it was considered a separate model due to product improvements, namely the bent bolt handle and changing the stock configuration to mirror the K98k stock. Differences then increased further when the Yugoslavian government tried to make the design less expensive to produce by replacing many of its milled parts with stamped parts (M48A, M48B, M48BO).

I bought my Yugo M48Bo some years back and the stock wasn't finish sanded like many military Mausers. All milled parts and mint condition barrel. Tried some Sellier & Bellot Czech 8mm mauser with the 196 grain bullet. Shot way high at 100 yds. Evidently the sights were configured for a 150 or so grain bullet. Mauser stocks as used by the Swedish could vary with different types of wood. Two I have are walnut. One is a blonde wood maybe beech or birch. The remaining two are maybe elm and my M38 is also possibly elm. My Persian 98/29 long rifle is a beautiful piece of what looks like european walnut, they really did themselves proud on that stock. Frank

The sights are not for a 150 grain bullet , just the Yugo version of the sS 198 .

To answer the op's question directly and in detail; He is correct in that the Yugoslavs acquired the FN-model1924 to the number of some 100,000 rifles along with the license and wherewithal to manufacture their own.
The biggest distinction between the M1924 and Mauser M98 models was the length of the bolt. The M1924 was an "intermediate length" action approx. 1/4" shorter than the M98' "standard length" action.
The "rifle" had a straight arm bolt. The Yugoslavs also manufactured 2 M1924 "carbine" versions. Chuck out what you think you know about "carbines." In this case, what made a "carbine" was the sling arrangement. Sling swivels mounted on the bottom made a "rifle." Sling attachments on the side of the longarm made it a "carbine."* As noted, they made 2; designated as "type I and type II by collectors for convenience, the type I was for cavalry and had a bent bolt. The type II had a straight bolt and was intended for all other mounted troops. There was no difference in size amongst these weapons. All were the same length.

* Combination sling arrangements such as found on the Czech vz24 and the K98k were considered "carbines." also. In fact, that's what the prefix "K" in K98k is for, "karabiner."

The m1924 became the foundation and first choice of the Royal Yugoslav army. Come April 1941 and the Nazi invasion. The war that followed found many Yugoslav soldiers armed with K98k's taken from their enemies and they found some assets to their liking.
Come 1948 when they had recovered their industry sufficiently to manufacture a whole firearm, they 'designed' on for their service. The M1924 and it's intermediate length action was at the heart of it. But, they adopted the bent bolt arm as universal. The M48 bolt differed from both the M1924 type I carbine's bolt as well as the K98k's. They also adopted the K98k's simplified barrel to H-band's spring arrangement as being more practical the the M1924's double fixed spring arrangement.
The M48's 'battle sight' was 200m as opposed to the m1924's 100m minimum sight. The M48 attached a sight hood which the M1924 had not. The sling arrangement; The Yugoslavs had decided that they did not need separately arranged carbines and like the Germans made a single arrangement suitable to all services. This is noted by M24/47s with plugged stock holes where the side swivel had been on "carbines." The carbine's front band had been arranged with a sling loop on the bottom and on the side as well. The M48 installed a sling loop on the bottom line of the butt stock and a sling loop only to the side of the front barrel band. That's the major differences. Just off the top of my head, I can't swear they're the only things.

So as you can see, the M48 was a new design altogether even though it was primarily built on one existing design and borrowed from another.

Images from top;
1. Yugoslav made M1924, type II carbine
2. M1924 comparison between type II carbine and M1924 rifle
3. M24/47
4. RC AX41 K98k (I know the sling is crap. It was a temporary arrangement.)
5. M48B
6. Sling swivel comparisons

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