m44 m48 m48a ????

[JIMM]

I have a k98 with PREDUZECE 44 on the ring is it a model 44 or is it a model 48 or model 48a??

[lefty o]

it is a german k98k, that was taken by the yugo's after ww2. they say that the yugo armory refinished them ,but all the ones ive seen dont show any evidence of being refurbed. they stamped they're crest on the top of the reciever, and preduzece 44 on the side. preduzece 44 is the armory that did the work.

[Klaus]

It is a M48 or M48A. If the trigger guard and magazine floorplate are milled. it is a 48. If they are stamped, it is a 48A. They were made in the late 40s or early 50s after the plant was liberated by the Serbs.

[lefty o]

jimm does the gun say k98 on the left hand side of the reciever just in front of the thumb slot cutout,but behind the reciever ring. and it says in english preduzece 44 on the left side of the reciever ring. if it matches what ive described it is a german k98 mauser. youll probably also find german waffenampt's on the bolt body and various other places on the gun (waffenampt is the little tiny eagle stamp).

[JIMM]

LEFTYO along with PREDUZECE44 on the left side it has model 98 stamped there it also has a lamenated stock, bent bolt, sight hood,milled trigger guard and one heck of a kick. I have shot anything from 12ga's to vz24 to M14 to m1's and this thing hurts
like hell to shoot. I am now the owner of my first recoil pad.

[Klaus]

That is either an early M48 or a late k98 made in Yugoslavia just before liberation. I am a bit puzzled about the laminated stock, it may have been refurbished. I have not seen any Yugo Mausers produced with laminated stocks. The Serbs stamped a victory crest on captured NAZI equipment after they liberated the plant. It has a kind of wreath on it.

[colt45]

JIMM
I know where your comeing from man, I had to go buy one too.
My 48 kicks much worse than my 300 win mag. and even more than my 7mm ultra mag.
I taimed the rounds down and made them more accurate by pulling the bullet(tosed it out) re wieghed the powder out to 44grn.(surp. is about 49grn's give or take) and puting a sierra 150grn soft point back on.
It kicks alot less and is produceing 3" groups at 200 yrds.
good luck with yours hope this helps.

[Stewart]

CDNN Investments had the Yugo 98K capture Pred 44's with laminate stocks a little while back for about $109. Sounds like this is similar since you actually have mod 98 stamped on the rail.

[Mr (T)]

Rest assured, you have a GENUINE K98k, albeit shanghaied by the Partisans of Yugoslavia. They kept the best captured K98k's for themselves in second-line use, and stored the rest in original condition while they tooled up for their version of the FN Model 24 Short Rifle which we now refer to as the Model 48. Model 48A's have the stamped magazine follower. VZ-24/52C's are another leftover from before WWII from a one-time order from the Czechs.They were refurbished as well after the war, sometimes they replaced the bolts altogether, but kept the receivers as is.

I know that the Bosnians are still holding on to some VZ-24 Snipers just like what the Romanians had as well.

[Klaus]

They were not Shanghaied, they were made in Yugoslavia, and the M48 is almost identical to the K98, the most visible difference is a little more wood on the forestock. They were made at the same plant by the same people using the same equipment, just different management. As I noted in a previous post, the difference between the M48 and M48A is the use of stampings for the trigger guard and magazine floorplate. Mr. T is correct about the follower, it is also stamped.

[lefty o]

thank you gentlemen. klaus the reason the laminated stock puzzles you is because it was made in germany, along with the rest of the gun.

[Klaus]

Are you sure? Every reference I can find claims that PREDUZECE44 is the plant ID for the plant that the NAZIS built in Yugoslavia.

[Klaus]

OK, I just double checked. The PREDUZECE44 plant was in the city of Kragujevac, in Yugoslavia. All guns with that stamp were made there. A lot of "German" Mausers were also made in Austria.

[Stewart]

While they are very close the models 48 and 48A are different also in overall length (slightly shorter than the mod 98) and most notably the action. The model 98 has a feature which stops the bolt from going forward when the last round is fired. The weight of the round or a press of the finger pushes the follower down and allows the bolt to close, the M48A does not have this feature.

[lefty o]

klaus most, if any werent made there. they were just refurbed/inspected and restamped. the first preduzece i got wore an early war(mid to late 30's) laminated stock, with the flat milled buttplate. also had a gew98(ww1)triggergaurd. every part on the gun mismatched. all the yugo's did to the k98's was take piles of parts guns, and make functional rifles out of them. it wasnt till after that they tooled up for they're intermediate action copy-the m48's. the m48's other than somewhat being a clone are not the same gun. they are a shorter action, different buttplate,and barrel bands. different handgaurds- different everything, except the mauser name and thread size for the barrel.

[lefty o]

some more detail. yes preduzece 44 was probably set up by the nazi's, but there would have been no war time guns to bear the pred' 44 stamp, or crest. the only info the nazi's stamped pertaining to where, and when a gun was made was a 2 or 3 letter code, and the last 2 digits of the year. and they stamped this info right on top of the reciever ring-right where the yugo crest is now on these rifles.

[lefty o]

hey klaus and anyone else that might be interested. if you are interested in the history of the mauser rifle i would highly recommend that you pick up a copy of mauser bolt rifles by ludwig olsen- he takes you from mausers early days through the k98. all different models manufacturers calibers. info on crests stampings-the whole nine yards. you can get the book through brownells, its pricey but it is an excellent source of info on the mauser rifles. olsen is pretty much the authority on mauser rifles. just food for thought.

[Klaus]

I do not have that book. I have been hitting alot of websites, though. Despite the great interest in Mauser k98s, I am having a great deal of difficulty finding out where they were made. Several M48 sites DO say that the Pred44 plant did make k98s for the Nazis, as well as mentioning Austria as another source for NAZI rifles. If anyone knows of a good site, please let me know.

[Mr (T)]

A little information to put in-the Kragujevac Factory predates WWII. It was set-up with the help of experts from Fabrique National, and so the first product produced by the factory is a near-duplicate of the FN Model 24 Short Rifle which the Yugoslavians call the Kratka Puska 1924(Short Rifle 1924). Construction of the factory began in 1930.

It is conceivable that the Wehrmacht impressed the factory into producing rifles, but all the information I could dig up was that the factory produced ammunition and other stuff like MG34 and 42 parts; however, the technical expertise of the local smiths is not a resource that would go unused by the Germans. I do know that the copies of the MG42 produced by the Yugos come from Kragujevac.

Has anyone noticed that the metallurgical quality of Model 48's is different from any German/Austrian/Czech produced mauser? Something about the ring the metal produces when you strike it with your finger or other object. By personal preference, I feel safer behind any german mauser produced between 1933 and 1943. That quality can't be beat!