Thanks for the reply but this is by no means money based, I am in good with 2 smiths that have been teaching me how to build rifles for the last couple of years so all I have in them is the parts and my time. I just don't want to tear up a good rifle that is not made anymore for a project of mine, I'd rather find it a new home than ruin something of historical value, I can find plenty of action that are in ok shape but the barrels are bent or the stocks are firewood. Again thanks for your reply. Later,

Kirk

Fella's I bought a M48A rifle with the intent of building a 6.5x55 hunting rifle, I bought 2 of them for a reasonable amount and one is a 308 that shoots great but now to the delima I am having, the other rifle is in real good shape with all matching numbers with the serial number being 653 so is this rifle something to not mess with or is it worth anything? I have loaded and shot 50 rounds thru it and it shoots well but it's not the 6.5x55 rifle I was wanting. There seems to be several folks on this site that know about the Mauser rifles so do you guys think I should just go ahead and build my project rifle or find a new home for this one and pick up another action? I hate to build a rifle like I am after with this one if it would be worth something as a collector so if it is recommended to leave intact what would a rifle like this be worth to sell? If I was into collecting I'd keep it but I can't see a rifle sitting around that might be worth something later down the road. Fella's I need some help my morrals are kicking in and don't want to do the wrong thing. Later,

Kirk Smith

Here's an article I found that might be of interest for those who shoot 8mm surplus.

http://www.turkmauser.com/turkmauser/ammo.htm

Does anyone know a source for the heavier Yugo 8mmSs type ammo? I'd like to get some.

TIA

DaMan

DaMan, you make a good point about the surplus ammo and yes the recoil is not bad at all and when reloading for this rifle I find it to shoot groups in the range of 2" with bags at 100 yards hence the reason to not want to tear it up! The main reason for the 6.5x55 is to build a hunting rifle for well everything (in Oklahoma) but the other reason would be the addition of a scope and to do this we would have to put some holes and bend a bolt handle. My fisrt Mauser rifle I built the barrel was in very bad shape and it did not have a stock so I didn't feel I was ruining anything this one I got without seeing it first and look at the dilema I'm in now. DaMan I DO know what you mean about why did I sell that gun, you would think after a couple times I'd figure it out! the Remington 788's one in 243 and the other in 222, the Dan Wesson 357, etc, etc. Later,

Kirk

ksmirk, something you might consider is putting an inexpensive low-powered extended eyerelief scope on a forward "scout mount". You can still use the "strippers" for rapid reloading and this makes for a pretty good deer hunting setup without spending a lot of money.

I'm going to do some testing of my M48 next week at 400-600 yds. with iron sights and Turk surplus ammo. I'll let you know how I do.

DaMan

Ksmirk, you said your M48A shoots pretty good. Why not just keep it and shoot it?



Good quality surplus (though corrosive) 8mm military surplus ammo is cheaper than shooting CCI .22 stingers. Can't beat that!



I too was contemplating getting my M48 rebarreled to .308 Win. But I took it out to the range and found it would consistently shoot groups 6" (and sometimes under) with the 154 gr. Turkish military surplus ammo (1935 vintage) at 300yds. It is as accurate as my M96 Swede and much less expensive to shoot.



Recoil wise. The 8mm M48/A isn't that bad. I wouldn't want to shoot 100s of rounds prone with it in one session without a shooting jacket.....but recoil isn't that bad. The metal buttplate looks wicked, but it's actually pretty wide and transferes the recoil over a wide area on the shoulder.



My advice........ keep it and shoot it "as is"! This rifle is worth more as a shooter than what you'll get by selling it. Otherwise, it's sure to be one of those ....."What possessed me to sell that gun?!!" -type of deals!



DaMan

I hate to say, it was better than what I gave for it! but not what I thought it was worth. I really hated to sell the rifle but it was not doing me any good sitting around, oh well I also sold my Glock 19 this weekend and got a real good price for it so I will have money in hand for the gunshow coming up in a couple of weeks. Thanks for all the help and suggestions. Later,

Kirk