Serbian Mauser at Gun shop

[DaveN]

Nice looking Mauser at my other local gun shop. looked original to rifle but wood was brand new. Told on consignment and it was a Serbian never issued from Mitchells Mausers. Also told mitchells had crates of these unissued Mausers. Can anyone tell me when these where made and for whom. Were these the weapons used in the 90's with the Serbs and Croatians. Or much earlier. Anyway as much as I would like to some day own a collectable Mauser(of the 98 caribiner group)I do have a fondness for new looking shooters. They were asking $395 + 15% commission.

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[Jim]

That won't actually be "Serbian." Serbian, in connection with old Mauser rifles means pre- WWI. From the end of WWI there was the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes but the region was already referred to as "Yugoslavia. That kingdom was replaced in 1929 by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Post WWII was the communist nation of Yugoslavia until its disintegration in the 90s.

The rifle you are referring to is most likely a Yugoslavian series M48 rifle. From Mitchell's it will look new, may even be new. They have been known to market parts guns assembled for them in "Yugoslavia" (maybe Serbia, Maybe Bosnia, maybe other, who knows) from old parts. But in any case, it will be overpriced and never truly "collectible" because they sand them an polish them blurring edges and markings and they have been known as well to scrub and remark their rifles to make a non-matching rifle matching. They do the same thing to a greater degree with their "K98ks." Those were originally RC98s but mitchell's worked their magic and now you can have a brand new looking, matching German K98 rifle and can even have the markings you want. Yeah. Right!

Another thing about Mitchell's. They'll offer to sell you a valuable accessory package for a hundred and something dollar "value." Well, you can get that same accessory packet from Samco for $24.95 with rifle purchase.
I don't recommend you do business with Mitchell's. They have a long history of false advertizing and price gouging.

In fact, I suggest you check out Samco Global Arms (no. I don't get anything from them for this plug.) You can get a Yugoslav M24/47 with a new stock and probably new barrel in "excellent" condition (and it will be) for only $219.95 and "very good" for only $189.99. For $34.95 you can get the accessories in new condition or used for $24.95.
The only real gripe with Samco is that it can take them a couple weeks to ship. It's worth the wait. Believe me.

[kar98k]

Never buy from mitchell's. they are a company based on lies and deceit. they don't have "all matching rifles". they force match and replace parts.

this is especially true of their German 98ks. i hate that company to no end

[Calif-Steve]

The Big 5 chain out West carries the rifles all of the time. Try some big chain stores.

[DaveN]

I recently bought some Mauser slings from Samco. So the Yugo Mausers from them have been in the back of my mind. Thanks for the heads up.

[Patrick Chadwick]

crates of these unissued Mausers

Dear Mauser fans. Maybe I'm just cynical because those crates of all-matching unissued Mausers don't exist here in Mauserland, but remember that stamps are cheap when the cost is spread over a crateful of rifles, and draw your own conclusions.

Patrick