Fitting K98 stock to Yugo M24/47 ?

[Cerwyn]

Hello all, thank you for accepting me into the Forum.
I have acquired a Yugo M24/47 for target shooting and Re-enactment events. To be honest I couldn't really afford a genuine K98 Mauser in good shooting order but the Yugo rifle was a particularly good buy. It appears to have spent all or most of its' life in storage. The barrel is in really good shape and the action nice and crisp. Matching numbers throughout too.

I am considering swapping the Yugo wood stock for a genuine Mauser K98 item, purely for looks. There's nothing wrong with the Yugo stock apart from not looking quite right! I can live with the straight bolt handle for the time being.

Does anyone know if the Yugo's Mauser action and barrel assembly will fit into a German Mauser K98 stock please?

Thanks in advance,

Cerwyn

[bnz41]

Hello all, thank you for accepting me into the Forum.
I have acquired a Yugo M24/47 for target shooting and Re-enactment events. To be honest I couldn't really afford a genuine K98 Mauser in good shooting order but the Yugo rifle was a particularly good buy. It appears to have spent all or most of its' life in storage. The barrel is in really good shape and the action nice and crisp. Matching numbers throughout too.

I am considering swapping the Yugo wood stock for a genuine Mauser K98 item, purely for looks. There's nothing wrong with the Yugo stock apart from not looking quite right! I can live with the straight bolt handle for the time being.

Does anyone know if the Yugo's Mauser action and barrel assembly will fit into a German Mauser K98 stock please?

Thanks in advance,

Cerwyn

Hi & welcome to the forum,

Can I ask how you have arranged to be able to target shoot live ammo and use the same rifle at re-enactment shows, I did not think you could use it for both, I recently sold a live fire rifle to a re-enactor who was not permitted to buy/fire live ammo only blank, different Sec1 certificate to be able to use for public events.

Reference the stock not sure but I think they are not interchangeable, someone else may know different.

[WelshShooter]

Hi Cerwyn, congrats on buying a great rifle. The reason why Yugoslavian Mauser's are typically in good condition is because they were made during the 50's and kept in storage, slathered in lovely cosmoline. They eventually went onto sale to the Civilian market, some still in the original cosmoline and pretty much all having matching serial numbers. I have a Yugo M48 and the bore was in pristine condition, and it's a great rifle to shoot too.

However, there are subtle differences between the Yugo mausers and the original German Mausers. The Yugo version has an intermediate action compared with the German's, so the stocks are not interchangeable between them, sorry to say. Stocks for the M24/47 and M48 are interchangeable, I believe, as the action sizes are the same. You'll also notice that the Yugo's top handguard comes up to the edge of the receiver whereas the German stocks end just at the front of the rear sight. If you're looking to get replacement wood you're going to have to look over in the USA. I know this as I was trying to look for a replacement upper handguard since mine had a crack in it. I couldn't find a full matching stock (I didn't want the aesthetics of different wood on the same rifle) so I went ahead and tried to repair the stock.

Pictures related, my Yugo M48. Notice where the crack was in the upper handguard, between the receiver and the rear sight.

EDIT: Fixed some typos.

[Cerwyn]

Hi & welcome to the forum,

Can I ask how you have arranged to be able to target shoot live ammo and use the same rifle at re-enactment shows, I did not think you could use it for both, I recently sold a live fire rifle to a re-enactor who was not permitted to buy/fire live ammo only blank, different Sec1 certificate to be able to use for public events.

Reference the stock not sure but I think they are not interchangeable, someone else may know different.

Hi bnz41, thanks very much for the welcome!

To date I haven't taken the rifle to a Reenactment event so haven't come across any problems. My FAC permits me to buy live ammunition for target shooting at approved ranges.
In the past I've spoken to reenactors that use their rifles for both live firing and Reenacting. They either bring their own Blank ammo or buy from suppliers at the events. I understood that event organisers have armourers on site to check weapons and ammunition for safety.
I understood too that it is possible to acquire an FAC to buy and keep a live fire weapon as a "Collector". This type of FAC doesn't permit purchasing live ammo however, but Blanks would be allowed.
I'll certainly check with Reenactment event organisers to be sure.
Thanks for your input, it's much appreciated

[Cerwyn]

Hi Cerwyn, congrats on buying a great rifle. The reason why Yugoslavian Mauser's are typically in good condition is because they were made during the 50's and kept in storage, slathered in lovely cosmoline. They eventually went onto sale to the Civilian market, some still in the original cosmoline and pretty much all having matching serial numbers. I have a Yugo M48 and the bore was in pristine condition, and it's a great rifle to shoot too.

However, there are subtle differences between the Yugo mausers and the original German Mausers. The Yugo version has an intermediate action compared with the German's, so the stocks are not interchangeable between them, sorry to say. Stocks for the M24/47 and M48 are interchangeable, I believe, as the action sizes are the same. You'll also notice that the Yugo's top handguard comes up to the edge of the receiver whereas the German stocks end just at the front of the rear sight. If you're looking to get replacement wood you're going to have to look over in the USA. I know this as I was trying to look for a replacement upper handguard since mine had a crack in it. I couldn't find a full matching stock (I didn't want the aesthetics of different wood on the same rifle) so I went ahead and tried to repair the stock.

Pictures related, my Yugo M48. Notice where the crack was in the upper handguard, between the receiver and the rear sight.

EDIT: Fixed some typos.

Hello WelshShooter, thank you for your response.

Agreed, these Yugo M24/47 & M48s are really nice rifles to shoot. Your photos show a really good looking rifle !
Thanks for letting me know the German K98 stocks aren't interchangeable. I had toyed with the idea of using the M48 stock and possibly modifying the top handguard to improve sight picture at 100 and 200 yds. As you'll know the rear sight lies very low and sighting isn't always easy. The sling mounts on the M48 are the same as the K98, all that's missing is the metal disc in the German stock for stripping the firing pin.
But as the swap isn't as easy as I'd hoped, maybe I'll use the cash I'd put aside for a stock to buy ammunition instead :)

Thanks again

[ovenpaa]

That is a good looking rifle Welshshooter and welcome to the forum Cerwyn. I have an FN M1930 Mauser which sadly has had the receiver scrubbed at some time however it is in superb condition and a handy rifle to shoot.

[WelshShooter]

Hello WelshShooter, thank you for your response.

Agreed, these Yugo M24/47 & M48s are really nice rifles to shoot. Your photos show a really good looking rifle !
Thanks for letting me know the German K98 stocks aren't interchangeable. I had toyed with the idea of using the M48 stock and possibly modifying the top handguard to improve sight picture at 100 and 200 yds. As you'll know the rear sight lies very low and sighting isn't always easy. The sling mounts on the M48 are the same as the K98, all that's missing is the metal disc in the German stock for stripping the firing pin.
But as the swap isn't as easy as I'd hoped, maybe I'll use the cash I'd put aside for a stock to buy ammunition instead :)

Thanks again

Yeah, I have noticed that with the sight set to 200m (which I think is the lowest you can set it?) the upper handguard does disrupt the sight picture a tad. The other issue with the upper handguard is that the edge of the wood, just at the recevier, has a barrel clamp which is screwed into the underside of the handguard which holds the back end of the wood against the barrel. It was one of these screws most likely caused the split in my handguard, overtightening over time maybe. With the kar98 I think that the back of the upper handguard wood had a small ridge that slides under the rear sight, so I don't think you can even swap the upper hand guards.

With the ammunition, if you're going Privi/PPU or Sellior & Bellot make sure you buy 8x57IS rather than 8mm Mauser. The former is designed for .323 bores whereas the latter is for .318 bores. I found out the hard way, the 8mm Mauser shoots fine out of the M48 but I need to whack the sights up to 600m to get on paper at 100m!! The 8x57IS responsds correctly to the rear sight adjustments. I've never shot surplus, only factory and handloads.

[GeeRam]

Hi & welcome to the forum,

Can I ask how you have arranged to be able to target shoot live ammo and use the same rifle at re-enactment shows, I did not think you could use it for both, I recently sold a live fire rifle to a re-enactor who was not permitted to buy/fire live ammo only blank, different Sec1 certificate to be able to use for public events.

To date I haven't taken the rifle to a Reenactment event so haven't come across any problems. My FAC permits me to buy live ammunition for target shooting at approved ranges.
In the past I've spoken to reenactors that use their rifles for both live firing and Reenacting. They either bring their own Blank ammo or buy from suppliers at the events. I understood that event organisers have armourers on site to check weapons and ammunition for safety.
I understood too that it is possible to acquire an FAC to buy and keep a live fire weapon as a "Collector". This type of FAC doesn't permit purchasing live ammo however, but Blanks would be allowed.

Correct.......or was back in the late 90's when I used to be involved in a bit of re-enactment. Plenty of guys had FAC's for live firing and just used to bring their own blanks ammo or buy as needed at the event (keeping your FAC on person with your 'period' paperwork such as the AB64 or Soldbuch etc) In those days I seem to recall some guys had .410 smooth bored & round restricted rifles that could be owned back then on a SGC instead for running blanks through at events??

Our club has just had a guy enquire about being joining with a view to getting a full FAC, as he is a re-enactor and has had a P14 on a re-enactors ticket for a number of years, so only allowed to buy blacks for registered events.

[450 Martini]

As I have mentioned previously I have had no trouble with using my section 1 firearms for re-enacting and target shooting. All that is required is a extra condition along the lines of
" the firearms may also be used with blank charges or ammunition in connection with displays, battle reenactments and demonstrations under the supervision of the officers of the loamshire regiment re-enactment society"

303 and 7.92 rifles bored out to 410 and with restricted magazines used to be popular with reenactors in the 80's and 90's due to the fact that they could be kept on SGC, recently their use has been discouraged because they disintegrate the round of blank ammunition on firing and can discharge fragments of cartridge case.

[Cerwyn]

Yeah, I have noticed that with the sight set to 200m (which I think is the lowest you can set it?) the upper handguard does disrupt the sight picture a tad. The other issue with the upper handguard is that the edge of the wood, just at the recevier, has a barrel clamp which is screwed into the underside of the handguard which holds the back end of the wood against the barrel. It was one of these screws most likely caused the split in my handguard, overtightening over time maybe. With the kar98 I think that the back of the upper handguard wood had a small ridge that slides under the rear sight, so I don't think you can even swap the upper hand guards.

With the ammunition, if you're going Privi/PPU or Sellior & Bellot make sure you buy 8x57IS rather than 8mm Mauser. The former is designed for .323 bores whereas the latter is for .318 bores. I found out the hard way, the 8mm Mauser shoots fine out of the M48 but I need to whack the sights up to 600m to get on paper at 100m!! The 8x57IS responsds correctly to the rear sight adjustments. I've never shot surplus, only factory and handloads.

200m is the lowest setting on the Yugo M24/47 rear sight. Not the best sight picture but mine seems to shoot in a straight line at 100m (longest range available around here). The ammunition I use is Privi Partisan PPU 8MM Mauser Match. Looks like I might need to check diameter and bore of round and barrel respectively to ensure I've a size match.

The front sight adjuster I ordered should be here soon, it'll be good to get it shooting at point of aim too rather than off to the left.