Which Yugo is this?

[smac61]

I have a Preduzece 44 Mod 98 that I would like to know more about. Purchased in the late 60's. Is this an M48BO German scrub?

I couldn't get close ups of the very few proof marks left on the rifle, but they are the like this: (not with this specific number, can't read one and the other is tough)
Attachment 19188
The bolt release has a crown over an E and "38"
The bolt has "23" and one of the above marks that I cant read the number on
The bayonet assembly has one of the above marks over maybe 625 and "89" alone on the opposite side

Heres the rest, let me know if theres anything else I can take a picture of, or measure, or ???

Thanks,
Sean
Attachment 19182Attachment 19183Attachment 19184Attachment 19185Attachment 19186Attachment 19187Attachment 19189Attachment 19195Attachment 19191Attachment 19190

Information

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[Jim]

Howdy. What you have there is a Yugoslav Refurbished German manufactured model 98 rifle. Preduzece 44 was the primary Yugoslav arms works in Kragujevac. Your rifle was refurbished in or prior to 1950. The stock is laminated so is an original German made stock. The rifle is not "bo" unmarked, since it has Yugoslav armory markings. But it very well may have been intended for export to another country, since they applied Latin script markings on rifles intended for export, thus the absence of a Yugoslav crest.
Another thing. I couldn't be sure from the photos, but I didn't notice and circle "BK" stamps as those were Yugoslav military acceptance marks. The should be a crest on any rifle so stamped.

I hope that helps you out some.

[mike webb]

Maybe I am mistaken but I thought the Yugo M48BO was an entirely postwar product built for export from Yugoslav manufacture parts. If your 98 has WaA markings on it it is a scrubbed German K98k. The BO stands for Boz Ozneke(spelling?) which in Serbo Croat means "without markings". I think Syria bought a pile of these among others. The M48 also is an intermediate length action, a little shorter than a 98k. Try a 98 bolt in one and you will notice it is too long.

[Rob]

You have a K98 that was captured from the Germans and scrubbed of the German marks most of them were stamped with the Yugo crest some like yours were not

[smac61]

You have a K98 that was captured from the Germans and scrubbed of the German marks most of them were stamped with the Yugo crest some like yours were not

Since posting this I have found out quite a bit. Yes, that is the consensus on this rifle, apparently pre 1950 for it to be so marked.

Thanks for checking it out.

Sean

[DaveN]

This was all good for me to as I'm delving into the world of Mauser.

[Jim]

bo- "Bez oznake" meaning unmarked or without markings is a general term applied to a type, the sanitized rifle. The first rifles the Yugoslavs refurbished after the war, beginning in 1946 were the surplus German weapons. They also provided a ready means of cash. Weapons intended for use of the Yugoslav military had crests and other appropriate markings applied. Other rifles intended for sale were simply refurbished and left unmarked.

Concerning difference in standard and intermediate action lengths, it's about a quarter inch (1/4").

The original M48bos were, as mine is, a regular service rifle that was scrubbed and refinished "bo" and given a contract letter prefix to the serial number (a new number for the contract. That is why Yugoslav serial numbers post WWII are generally worthless for dating the weapons.)
It wasn't until 1956 the the model M48bo was established as a dedicated production model. This was concurrent with the conversion of the assembly line to the M48B and those bo models were also configured as model B's. Any first model M48 will have been scrubbed and refinished.
I have never seen or heard of an M48bo in Model A configuration. For that matter, I cannot remember the last time I saw a true M48A, that is with stamped floor plate only. The ribbed trigger guard is indicative of a Model B.

To return to the Mod.98, it is identified as a pre-1950 rifle by the lack of a /48 which was applied to the German rifles left side rails behind the Mod.98 stamps beginning in 1950. The /48 might be applied behind the original German stamp or the rail may have been scrubbed and remarked completely. You can generally tell by comparing the fonts. As a rule, Yugoslav fonts will not exactly, or even closely, resemble the German applied fonts.
Concerning the scrubbing of German markings, removal of waffenampt just varies, likely as a result of individual carelessness in the rush to turn out rifles. Those were desperate days for the new, post war Communist Yugoslavia.

My 1st model M48:
Attachment 20005 Attachment 20006 Attachment 20007 Attachment 20008

[mike webb]

Thanks for the info, Jim. There is not a lot out there on Yugo Mausers.

[Jim]

Thanks for the info, Jim. There is not a lot out there on Yugo Mausers.

Try the book, Serbian & Yugoslav Mauser Rifles by Branko Bogdanovic, the Zastava historian and researcher for the Military Museum in Belgrade among his other qualifications.
Paper back published in 2005, it can be had for under $20 and is the single most comprehensive work on Yugos out there.

Look for the 5th edition of MMRotW. Amazon says it'll be released in August. This edition will be a paper back (at least is what Amazon is offering.) I know the Yugoslav section has been a debacle but I know the publisher wanted that section (among others) updated and extensive corrections were submitted with some new pictures. What actually will be in the book I have not yet seen.

You can check out this site- http://milsurpshooter.net/forums/84/...n-Mauser-Forum It is Parallax Bill's Yugoslav Mauser Rifle forum. The moderator there has set up a number of stickies that contain a wealth of knowledge, some of it not published elsewhere. The above mentioned Branko visited that forum and has corresponded with us frequently there. He's provided a lot of info that, as noted, some isn't in print anywhere else.

You can also check some back issues from, 2008 I think it was, of the Military Rifle Journal. There were a string of 4 or 5 articles about Yugoslav rifles. http://militaryriflejournalbookstore...ts/back-issues

I hope this helps.