Israeli Capture, Syrian, Yugoslavian made M48BO

[Phosphorus32]

Picked up this weary old Mauser at an auction recently for very little.  It's a Yugoslavian M48BO, where BO stands for bez oznake, or without (Yugoslavian) markings.  It is all matching including the stock and has a Syrian crest on the receiver ring.  Presumably this was captured by Israel from Syria in the '67 or '73 wars, or Syrian sponsored militia in Lebanon, then imported by CAI to the US.  Despite the appearance of the weather worn stock, the metal is in good shape, with the exception of the buttplate.  The bore is fantastic, with nice deep sharp rifling and clean looking lands and grooves. It ought to be a good shooter and it's an interesting bit of history.   Anyhow, enjoy the pics.

Crest on Receiver Ring


Left Side







Right Side
Arabic Rack Number "329"






Bore



Stamped trigger guard


Serial Numbers





Import mark on the bottom side of the barrel

[Dannyboy53]

Awesome Jon, really cool looking old warrior!

[Loose}{Cannon]

I have the feeling this thing was running around with our Israeli captured SKSs.     

Very interesting gun!

[Phosphorus32]

Thanks Danny.

I have the feeling this thing was running around with our Israeli captured SKSs.     

Very interesting gun!

Yes, I would bet it was in use in the same era as the SKS's.

[Lmbass14]

Schön, sehr schön. Müssen Sie uns so bald wie möglich einen Bereich-Bericht geben. Ich bin noch nie so glücklich, so viel zu erhalten.

DannyBoy, Glad your up and about.  Do you feel 100%?

[Phosphorus32]

Schön, sehr schön. Müssen Sie uns so bald wie möglich einen Bereich-Bericht geben. Ich bin noch nie so glücklich, so viel zu erhalten.

DannyBoy, Glad your up and about.  Do you feel 100%?

   Danke.  That was way beyond my very limited German but thanks to Google Translate... I'll update with a range report when I get a chance to go out and heat up the barrel.

[Dannyboy53]

Thanks, I'm hitting on about 7 cylinders but I'm working on it!
Jon I too am looking forward to a range report!

[Phosphorus32]

Well, I haven't printed paper with it but I did take it out in the wadis/arroyos/canyons last Saturday, in other words, up in the Horse Heaven Hills.  I just felt like plinking at full pop cans and watching them explode that day   

It operates great.  5 lb 9 oz trigger pull, smooth.  POI is a bit right of POA, so I may drift the sight a little bit.  I'll wait until I get to the range to confirm and tinker with that.  The hot surplus Turkish I was shooting was quite effective at decimating those villainous cheap Shasta pop cans.

[SKhiSm 59-66A1]

That's a real nice one, Phos. Best of both worlds, the nice vintage exterior and man you weren't kidding, like new down the pipe. 

[Loose}{Cannon]

I really like this gun phos.  The arab stock markings and history is superb.   

[Phosphorus32]

Thanks SKhiSm and LC!  I should have snapped a couple more pics of it out in the sagebrush.  I think it looked more at home in the sand and rocks 

[running-man]

Neat pickup Jon! That stock is wild, I love that 329 rack number!   Is it really as worn w/ peaks and valleys amongst the grain as it looks?  Blicero's ugly betty Yugo is like that.

I'm going to have to dig out my 24/47 now, I honestly don't think the metal condition on is is better than this one, it's a beat up warhorse too.

[Loose}{Cannon]

This was used man,  this was actually used!     

Falling Down movie..  dumpstore scene.

[Phosphorus32]

Indeed, this coarse grained stock is as worn as it looks.  I'm sure it saw a lot of use, or at least was carried about a lot, and also got severely dessicated in the arid wind and sun before being captured by the Israelis.

[Worm]

Real cool find, any way to find a date on the rifle itself via serial number?

We could then possibly narrow down what war(s) it could have been used in. I'm jeally!

[Worm]

Made this, adding it to IC thread as well for future reference if needed.

[Phosphorus32]

According to Bogdanovic's book: "During the period 1957 to 1960, Yugoslavia sold the Model 1948 to Syria, Indonesia, Egypt and Iraq".  In that case it could have been used and captured in any of the conflicts.

[Loose}{Cannon]

Just like the IC sks rifles.