Eric needs help with ID an usual rifle~~

danielsand · 05-22-2015, 08:30 AM

If some of you want to go into depth of the Yugoslavian weaponry, you should find a book "Yugoslavian and Serbian Mauser rifles" written by retired JNA Col. Branko Bogdanovic.

Branko is active on several mil surp forums, and participates in discussions. After he retired from the military, he searched archives in Belgrade, and Zastava factory in Kragujevac, and wrote a very accurate book about these rifles.

I never had a chance to read his book, and my knowledge on this subject comes from what I was told in school (in Yugoslavia), and my personal experience with most of the Yugo weaponry in the field. The parts of Branko's book I've seen posted on the Internet, and his information is VERY accurate.

As far as TEAK stocks...........I don't know if any of you remember so called "Mitchell Mausers"? Mitchel is known for "embellishing" with fancy words (tales, half truths, and outright lies) everything they sell. They imported THOUSANDS of nice condition M48s, refurbished them, reblued, etc. and called them "Mitchell Mausers" with teak stocks!!! The teak tale then transferred to later imported weapons like M76, M70 and variants, and thousands of people believe yugo rifles have teak stocks!

They don't. The wood is Yugoslavian Birch, and/or Elm. Both type of woods were used, and covered with BLO and cosmolene, they are indistinguishable from each other.

American company by the name "Ironwood" produces replacement stocks for Yugo weaponry, and they made them out of Teak believing the tale started by Mitchell. Then they analized the wood closely (these people KNOW wood, that's their trade!), and couldn't tell the origin from the composition.

To be honest,.....if you put one stock made from teak by Ironwood, next to Zastava original, you can't tell the difference! If it makes people feel good to believe their stocks are teak,....let it be. Teak is VERY expensive wood, and M48s (and everything else made in Zastava) were mas produced in the Communist country "on the budget". Quality? Yes. Exotic/expensive (which Teak is!)? Definitely no.

rolandtg · 05-22-2015, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielsand

Exotic/expensive (which Teak is!)? Definitely no.

I stand corrected. Whatever the wood is it is very dense and totally saturated with cosmoline. When I got the rifle I left the stock out in the Texas sun for several hours to leach out some of the cosmoline. 20 years later the stock still weeps oil when it gets hot at the range....

danielsand · 05-22-2015, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rolandtg

I stand corrected. Whatever the wood is it is very dense and totally saturated with cosmoline. When I got the rifle I left the stock out in the Texas sun for several hours to leach out some of the cosmoline. 20 years later the stock still weeps oil when it gets hot at the range....

I was present (in Yugoslavia) when some of these were put in reserves. I was shocked to see how they (Yugo conscripts) dunked the WHOLE rifle into the "tub" filled with warm cosmo. Once the rifle is dunked in (one at the time), it's pulled out, and for a good measure MORE cosmo is poured down the barrel with a ladle. Rifle is then put aside in the stack (stacked like cord wood) in the picture seen in Eric's post, and when the cosmo solidifies, rifles were wrapped in the paper, and crated five per crate.

I would LOVE to lay my hands on one of those nifty crates! They were made of birch, with compartments for all the accessories that came with the rifles (bayonets, slings, oilers, ammo pouches). The crate was plain wood inside, and OD painted on the outside, with white and yellow lettering. Rifles were separated from each other with built in spacers, and spacers had felt lining glued over the wood, where spacers made contact with rifles.

Very neat, secure, and efficient.

The best way to get cosmo out of the wood, is to take the action out of the stock, wrap it in the paper towels, place it in the black garbage bag, and put it on the roof of your house. For DAYS! Open the package daily, and replace the paper towels with clean ones. In a week or two, you'll have a cosmo free stock (depending on the climate, of course).

rolandtg · 05-22-2015, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danielsand

The best way to get cosmo out of the wood, is to take the action out of the stock, wrap it in the paper towels, place it in the black garbage bag, and put it on the roof of your house. For DAYS! Open the package daily, and replace the paper towels with clean ones. In a week or two, you'll have a cosmo free stock (depending on the climate, of course).

The rifle was new when I got it. It was a "Mitchell" gun purchased by my father. He never got to shoot it before he passed away.
Even though it had been cleaned by Mitchell I found the bolt so packed with cosmoline the firing pin wouldn't move!

Heh, It sounds like a good plan but I think in the Texas summer the stock might burst into flames if I left it on the roof!

danielsand · 05-22-2015, 06:15 PM

Here in SoCal we get up to 110F, and this method worked for me. For metal parts, .....boiling works great!

As far as "new" when it comes to Mitchell.......it was "refurbished" by Mitchell, and VERY pretty. Not "JNA original", but still a nice weapon. I hope you enjoy it, as much as I enjoy mine.

05-22-2015, 08:30 AM	#1
danielsand User Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: SoCal Posts: 137 Thanks: 52 Thanked 100 Times in 43 Posts	If some of you want to go into depth of the Yugoslavian weaponry, you should find a book "Yugoslavian and Serbian Mauser rifles" written by retired JNA Col. Branko Bogdanovic. Branko is active on several mil surp forums, and participates in discussions. After he retired from the military, he searched archives in Belgrade, and Zastava factory in Kragujevac, and wrote a very accurate book about these rifles. I never had a chance to read his book, and my knowledge on this subject comes from what I was told in school (in Yugoslavia), and my personal experience with most of the Yugo weaponry in the field. The parts of Branko's book I've seen posted on the Internet, and his information is VERY accurate. As far as TEAK stocks...........I don't know if any of you remember so called "Mitchell Mausers"? Mitchel is known for "embellishing" with fancy words (tales, half truths, and outright lies) everything they sell. They imported THOUSANDS of nice condition M48s, refurbished them, reblued, etc. and called them "Mitchell Mausers" with teak stocks!!! The teak tale then transferred to later imported weapons like M76, M70 and variants, and thousands of people believe yugo rifles have teak stocks! They don't. The wood is Yugoslavian Birch, and/or Elm. Both type of woods were used, and covered with BLO and cosmolene, they are indistinguishable from each other. American company by the name "Ironwood" produces replacement stocks for Yugo weaponry, and they made them out of Teak believing the tale started by Mitchell. Then they analized the wood closely (these people KNOW wood, that's their trade!), and couldn't tell the origin from the composition. To be honest,.....if you put one stock made from teak by Ironwood, next to Zastava original, you can't tell the difference! If it makes people feel good to believe their stocks are teak,....let it be. Teak is VERY expensive wood, and M48s (and everything else made in Zastava) were mas produced in the Communist country "on the budget". Quality? Yes. Exotic/expensive (which Teak is!)? Definitely no.

05-22-2015, 06:15 PM	#5
danielsand User Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: SoCal Posts: 137 Thanks: 52 Thanked 100 Times in 43 Posts	Here in SoCal we get up to 110F, and this method worked for me. For metal parts, .....boiling works great! As far as "new" when it comes to Mitchell.......it was "refurbished" by Mitchell, and VERY pretty. Not "JNA original", but still a nice weapon. I hope you enjoy it, as much as I enjoy mine.