1st Yugo modified

I have a very close friend who was in Bosnia for 2 complete tours and I asked him many questions about what people were killing each other with over there. I just finished the first of what will be 3 Yugo representative rifles as he' has described to me. Let me explain a little of what he told me. Unit markings and names were frequently carved in even though it wasn't protocol, even art work was seen on many rifles. The strangest thing was non-issue scopes of any kind were put on by local smiths or the solders themselves as a means of increasing there hit potential. Now with that said one of his assignment over there was destroying any and all available small arms not in use, one that he told me about was a Spandau, MG-34 serial#2, completely mint condition. He explained to his CO it was a historical item and the CO told him to go tell Bill Clinton! Needless to say the fact there are so many 24/47, M48 and M48A'S in circulation is astounding. His thoughts are they were the reserve weapons not the battlefield pick-ups, Hum. Could explain the lack of available sniper rig's. I hope you enjoy the picks-SDH

Pretty neat, sdh.:thup: How did you mount the scope rail? Could you post a pic of the receiver side with the scope dismounted?

Sure hopefully tomorrow, I have to repair what used to be a nice Remington 870, very early that some yahoo tried to wrap around a tree. Might take a little while, but, as soon as that is done I will comply. Its a neat little base made in Belarus with no instructions and three 5mm screws. The rest is up to you. You need a good 90 degree plate to hold the action to and indicated the exact line to put the screws in. I measured the hole span and threw it on the bridgeport and drilled it right there. After mounting it I placed the action in the stock and marked out the spot, then milled it out also. I was going to give it a full action job, but am going to wait till after I shoot it, might do just fine as is, Every thing was pretty square and true. Sorry for getting long winded on you, been a long day, put the picks up soon, best regards-SDH

Did the stock come pre-carved? Looks nice. Also, is the scope offset? If not, are you going to bend the bolt?

Well guys, pics will have to wait a little while, I switched over to Lenuix and with my limited amount of available working brain cells are giving me great difficulty getting pics in the right place. I did the art work and crude Cryillic for effect and to hide some of the crap on the stock. On a more positive note it was one of the 24/47's made for in country use, not for export. The mount came from up by you guys, East Wave products is the name of the place if you'd like to see one they are on line. At first I bent the bolt just enough to clear the scope, But, I think I'm going all the way with it, looks a little silly. The scope is offset about an inch. I have to decide weather to put a cheek rest on it or perhaps something a little more steady, But, I'd like to see something that came from that area and how or even if they did anything. My buddy is back on tour but should be back home in March, I'd like to ask him directly. His present MO doesn't give him E-mail access. If you guys have any idea's or pics I'm all ears, many thanks-SDH

Your' buddy's description is dead on of the situation over there, 1911. There were countless field expedient mounts, scopes, etc. I've seen pics of 24/47's and M48's using RPG sight mounts and other equally weird things, I suppose you have to use what's available. I find the various stock carvings to be really interesting as they tend to give a bit of insight to the persons using the weapons, possibly different situations that they were used in. It's a shame that so many historic pieces were destroyed. The nice thing about the 24/47's and the M48's is that you can pretty much add on anything to them from that region and be accurate in terms of restoration. The other thing that I like about those series rifles is the interchangability of the bolts between the models. I have 4 24/47's that each have both an original and a bent M48 bolt. They all headspace and shoot awesome.