Help, I've got the milsurp bug?

Question

I just bought a Yugo M48 Mauser. Anything special I should know about these. The stock and bluing are great, but it did have a little pitting in the bore under a ton of cosmoline. Hopefully it will shoot ok. The numbers match on the bolt and receiver. The stock and floorplate have matching numbers as well, but different from the bolt and receiver. Is this normal? What kind of accuracy do you guys get with your M48's? I've heard they shoot about the best of all the Mausers, probably won't hold a candle to my K31, though. What is the cure for the milsurp bug. I was feeling out the paper work on the Mauser, and I was still eye balling a half a dozen other milsurps on the rack. Is there a cure for this addiction (I think a M1 Garand might cure it, but my wife's not so sure)?

Answer 1

No, the Garand won't cure anything.



I started on one $50 Turk Mauser about 15 years ago. More followed, as some of these shoot very well. Then any other Mauser I could find, German, Czech, Yugo, Spanish and South Americans, then Enfields, then Carcanos and Steyrs, the Swiiss K31, Arisakas. Then I found Mosins and I have no less than two dozen of those now.



The Garand was always the big ticket item, so it came later. Solved nothing, because of course I needed a 1903 and a Carbine. Then a 1917. Then a Krag. Then a trapdoor Springfield. Then a Garand for match shooting.



This doesn't even count the pistols. A great uncle had left a Remington Rand 1911, then I found a Nambu, then a Luger, then another, then a Webley revolver...



I knew I had a problem when I sold off a few of my hodge-podge collection of safes to pay for a Vault door and a reinforced 12x12 concrete "bunker" in the basement, complete with wall racks, free-standing racks and even racks on the ceiling.



I also have an electric Cosmoline oven in the garage, made from an old metal file cabinet and 200 watt light bulbs for gently melting the grease out of wood stocks. Another friend/addict has a reloading factory in his garage that I helped pay for. A third built a Parkerizing tank.



Did I mention that I regularly drive the highways, stopping at small town pawn shops and leaving my card in case they get anything milsurp in? All the Estate Sale professionals know to call 'The old gun guy" to come over and identify and value any unknown firearms from poor Uncle Joe's estate, and I've gotten some nice rare items that way, but mostly old hunting guns I then sell or trade to feed the milsurp addiction.

Answer 2

Mismatches are not all that uncommon in these guns.



The gun will be more accurate than you. The primary problem is shooting over iron sights. I doubt that it will beat out your K31, the Swiss like to drill holes.



As to the cure for the milsurp bug, liberal applications of new hardware will keep the symptoms to a minimum. The problem is, there is no known cure, but from what I understand, the problem will resolve after eighty or ninety years.



Do get the M1, just be careful when loading, they have been known to bite.



A small though, if you are truly afflicted, there is something that will at least reduce some of the cost, go get a 03FFL (C&R). That way you can shop for these things in the comfort of your own home. The goodies come straight to your door, and you don't need bother with those pesky 4473s.



http://www.atf.gov/firearms/fflc/index.htm

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/curios/index.htm



Good luck.

Answer 3

Welcome to the milsurp group therapy session. I have a German 8mm GEW 98 Mauser, an Enfield .303 British SMLE, a Russian M44 Mosin Nagant, and a Czech CZ-52 pistol. My safe is beginning to look like a miltary arsenal.

I had a .30 cal M1 Carbine, but I never shot it, and sold it to a collector friend for enough money to buy all the above guns, plus a shotgun and lots of time at the range. But now I miss the carbine. So of course, the next gun on my list is either another M1 Carbine, or a Garand, assuming the right numbers come up in the lottery.

Answer 4

My two cents:



The cure for your milsurp bug is definitely the M1 Garand. The problem with that solution, though, is that you will then be diagnosed with the M1 Garand bug.



In all seriousness, get a Garand regardless. That thing is such a piece of history in itself that you could probably go to the public library and check one out in the "WWII" section. I'll be shooting one over spring break and am very excited about it.. My semi-auto Browning is in .30-06 too but I am still going to pick up a Garand sometime in the future, near future hopefully. Need to grab my Rem. 700 5-R Milspec first though.

Answer 5

There is no cure, only treatment.



The treatment is to keep buying milsup guns. Depending on the severity of your condition, treatments may be bi-annual, or required weekly.



The great news is, you can buy an awful lot of milsup guns for the price of a few new guns. Be sure to push this value-added aspect of your addiction at all family meetings and interventions.



You might consider renting a second apartment under an assumed name. The storage space requirements can mount pretty rapidly, and other family members are known to resent sacrificing their closet space to your collection.



If you haven't already, go to the BATFE website and download the application for a Type 03 FFL (C&R license). This will shave $$$ off of each purchase, another fact you can use for self-defense at subsequent interventions.



Haunt gunstores. Drive hours to every available gunshow. Subscribe to Shotgun News. And don't be afraid to buy 10 guns and qualify for the volume discount! You can always pretend that you intend to sell off 9 of them.



Don't worry, though... as long as you continue your regular treatments, you can live a life that looks normal from the outside!

Answer 6

You don't really have the bug unless and until you're looking for Mannlicher-Carcanos in 6.5 and 7,35, or 8mm Lebels. Then, you're officially hopeless.

Answer 7

get the m1. Even if you need to trade your wife to get it, nobody will blame you.

Answer 8

yay