Yugo M48 Markings

[amadeus76]

I think that some of the confusion may creep into the Yugo post war M48 being WW2 because Yugoslavia also refurbished WW2 K98s, post WW2, and not everyone knows/is aware of the difference between the 2. Didn't some M48s use up some left over WW2 parts which adds to the confusion even further? Post war Yugo made military kit often seems, to me, to be well made but massively under valued by people in general.

When it explicitly says 'M48A' on the receiver, there's no room for confusion...

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[Aragorn243]

When it explicitly says 'M48A' on the receiver, there's no room for confusion...

Well, it's nice to believe that but with Mitchell's Mausers around advertising the things as such and plenty of people willing to give them their arm and left leg for one against all rational thought, it's going to be around.

Seriously, when someone picks up a magazine at the grocery store and they see that nice shiny ad and it tells them they can own a piece of real history, they believe it, they don't know.

[Jim]

When it explicitly says 'M48A' on the receiver, there's no room for confusion...

Actually, there's a LOT of room for confusion, just not with German Model 98s.
The Yugoslavs made M48A rifles, which added a stamped magazine floorplate as the only difference, from 1952-56, from then on, they made model M48B rifles, which added a number more of stamped parts.
The thing is, the Yugoslavs have retained the M48A rifles as the best of the breed. Therefore, virtually ALL M48A rifles in North America are in fact, M48B. Confused yet? The tell is in the trigger guard. The M48, & M48A will have milled trigger guards. The M48B has a trigger guard/magazine well made up of an assembly of stamped parts welded together. There is a rib running around both sides of the trigger guard.
In the second photo, the M48 & M48A milled guard is above right. The last image right shows detail of the ribbed guard.
I hope that helps.
One more note. The cutaway drawing in Branko's book shows an M48B but identifies it as a model A. That caption is an error.
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