Frustrating day at the range

[TripleChris]

Brought my M24/47 all the way up to Hap Baker this morning. Had a bunch of Romanian milsurp to shoot, spent literally hours cleaning the gun, was all set. Get to the benchrest, chamber a round, squeeze the trigger.

Nothing.

When buying rifles older than your grandfather, make sure the firing pin hasn't had 2mm broken off the end of it. Ordered a replacement of gunbroker, another 34 bucks up in smoke. I am new so I will not mention who I got the Mauser from because I don't want to flame people when I have all of 3 posts, but its a business and the least they could have done is told me what I was purchasing was not in operating condition.

On the plus side, the range officer refunded me my 15 bucks because my rifle crapped out. Hap Baker has some awesome members as well, one guy offered to let me run rounds through his Glock because I wasted a trip up there. Can't say enough nice things about that place. Will def. be back when I get my M24/47 working.

 

[Drmsparks]

Nothing.

When buying rifles older than your grandfather, make sure the firing pin hasn't had 2mm broken off the end of it. Ordered a replacement of gunbroker, another 34 bucks up in smoke. I am new so I will not mention who I got the Mauser from because I don't want to flame people when I have all of 3 posts, but its a business and the least they could have done is told me what I was purchasing was not in operating condition.

Not to preach, but...

Are you sure they knew it was broken?

Have you told them the problem and given them a chance to make it right?

(insert parable about flies and honeypots)

BTW I just picked up a czech version and can't wait to get it to the range.

Drop me a pm if you are interested in a source of really nice ammo for that....

Welcome to the world of milsurps, sorry if the road is a little bumpy at first.!!!.

 

[Splitter]

Yeah, I would probably call the dealer and give them the opportunity to make it right.

You are right, Hap Baker is a great place to shoot when it's not too crowded . The RO's are good people as long as you follow the rules (and wait 2 seconds between rounds, that's the one that gets broken the most on the pistol range it seems).

The good news is that your gun will probably shoot great once you get pqast this glitch.

Splitter

 

[Russ D]

Damn I'm nly a few miles away and have a few extra Mauser pins. too bad I wasn't up there. I found a place in Md. that has Mauser pins for 15$. I had to push todays trip back till after dinner.

 

[TripleChris]

Damn I'm nly a few miles away and have a few extra Mauser pins. too bad I wasn't up there. I found a place in Md. that has Mauser pins for 15$. I had to push todays trip back till after dinner.

After poking around online I discovered that the pins from the 98k and most of its many clones are slightly longer than the Yugo pins. I needed to get a firing pin especially made for M24/47s and M48s. The difference is small, and I have heard from some folks that they used Turk or K98 replacement parts in a Yugo, but why take the chance?

 

[zombiehunter]

Yeah, but did you give the dealer a chance to make it right? It's rather important that you do that IMHO.

 

[TripleChris]

Yeah, but did you give the dealer a chance to make it right? It's rather important that you do that IMHO.

Which I why I made sure not to state who I got it from. Its not my place to spread negative word of mouth stuff on a public forum that a good percentage of this company's business frequents. I don't want to basically cost him business for what could be a simple fix. I am not smearing this company, but I do know this: Yugo firing pins are HARD to come by. The email I got back from the guy I bought the pin from, verbatim

Chris,

The U.S. Supply of Yugo Mauser Firing Pins, and possibly the world supply has completely dried up. It is possible that there might be one or two here and there that are from guns that were stripped down for parts, but none of the usual Milsurp Dealers have any, so you are right - they are very hard to find, and that is why I am converting Mauser 98 Pins to Yugo Pins.

Hence, my frustration at the "buyer beware" attitude the day I purchased the rifle. Throughout the transaction the seller could have informed me that the rifle was inoperable. Disassembly of a bolt at a busy gun show with other customers to be waited on is, well, unrealistic. Mauser bolts are not particularly fragile, so its unusual to assume in what is otherwise an excellent rifle with a bright, shiny bore that there was something wrong. Thats all. I am waiting to hear back from the company. Its a holiday weekend and I don't think they are ducking me or anything. If they make it right, I will be sure to give them a positive write up on MD Shooters for customer service. If not......

 

[TripleChris]

The company returned my call. They claimed they were unaware of the broken pin as they do not test fire inexpensive Yugo Mausers before selling them. It seems to be industry standard to sell em gunked up in Cosmoline, caveat emptor. I really am not upset, I think they provided good service as they promptly returned my call and offered to replace my pin with a 98k pin they had in stock. I informed them that it would not fit and that I had one on order, but thanked them for the offer.

Overall, I am happy they called and happy they offered a replacement part for free. The company tests fires their higher end restored rifles like Garands and sniper Mausers. Might as well give them a plug since they tried to help me out and I was on here bitching.

James River Manufacturing
410-242-6991

 

[trickg]

Dang - sorry that you didn't get to shoot your rifle, but it doesn't sound like the day was a complete bust - you did, after all, find a good place to go shoot and you met some good folks in the process, right?

I keep saying I'm going to get out to Hap Baker to shoot some of my rifles a bit, but I haven't managed to make it out there yet. I'm just glad that I've heard yet another positive review about the place.

 

[TripleChris]

Dang - sorry that you didn't get to shoot your rifle, but it doesn't sound like the day was a complete bust - you did, after all, find a good place to go shoot and you met some good folks in the process, right?

I keep saying I'm going to get out to Hap Baker to shoot some of my rifles a bit, but I haven't managed to make it out there yet. I'm just glad that I've heard yet another positive review about the place.

The people there were first class all the way. Of course, I went on a cold rainy saturday morning and there was a lane waiting for me. Head out on a packed day and people forced to wait may get a little snarky.

I will DEFINITELY be back. If I lived in Carroll County, I would purchase a membership.

 

[Boqueesha]

from my experience i enjoyed James River...they forgot to pack up the sling that came with my Mosin and responded to my email in about 10 minutes and shipped it back to me free of charge

 

[MikeH]

If I lived in Carroll County, I would purchase a membership.

I live two counties away, and yet I'm a member since 2005.

 

[240 towles]

have you tried NEW manufactured ammo? I got a turkish mauser, brought it all the way to ohio for a shoot. I was using surplus 1972 czech ammo. FTF every shot and every primer had a nice large dimple in it. took it home and tried a new core-Lokt round and it fired no problem. still dont know if its the rifle or the ammo, but i think its the ammo

 

[TripleChris]

have you tried NEW manufactured ammo? I got a turkish mauser, brought it all the way to ohio for a shoot. I was using surplus 1972 czech ammo. FTF every shot and every primer had a nice large dimple in it. took it home and tried a new core-Lokt round and it fired no problem. still dont know if its the rifle or the ammo, but i think its the ammo

Its the pin. When the new one arrives I can put up side by side pics. This Romy mil surp ammo is well reviewed and has been out of its spam can for less than 2 weeks, I opened it myself. None of the casings had marks on them from being struck by the pin. I am positive it is the firing pin and not the ammo.

 

[Jim Keenan]

FWIW, the Yugo M48 (and 24/47) receivers are shorter than the standard model 98 receiver used in the VZ-24 and German Mausers like the K.98k. So the bolts, firing pins, and firing pin springs are not interchangeable, though some other parts are. Also, some Mauser 98 scope mounts won't fit the M48.

Jim

 

[houserocker]

have you tried NEW manufactured ammo? I got a turkish mauser, brought it all the way to ohio for a shoot. I was using surplus 1972 czech ammo. FTF every shot and every primer had a nice large dimple in it. took it home and tried a new core-Lokt round and it fired no problem. still dont know if its the rifle or the ammo, but i think its the ammo

Check your firing pin protrusion. I had the same problem w/a K. Kale Turk and I blamed the Romanian ammo I was using. I checked the protrusion and found it a few hundreths off, so I followed this advice,http://carteach0.blogspot.com/2009/01/mauser-firing-pin-protrusion-solving.html and now my nasty old Turkish fires every time! Also clean the inside of that bolt real good to get all that rust and scale out. Mausers rule.

 

[TripleChris]

I really should have posted pics Monday when my pin came in the mail, but I was fiddling with the darn thing trying to get it to seat in the cocking sleeve correctly. By the time I filed the lugs down with a machinists file and assembled the bolt to make sure it worked right, I didn't much feel like taking it apart again.

The pin that came with the rifle had 2mm broken off the tip of the firing pin. That was pretty obvious once I disassembled it and found out what it was supposed to look like (This is my first Mauser).

I found two places to get a Yugo pin - a guy on gunbroker who custom machines them from K98 pins, and SARCO. Calling SARCO and getting thrrough seems impossible. I paid the 30 bucks and got the guy to make me one, it needed some minor adjustments but it seems to operate fine when cycling and dry firing the rifle. I will be at Hap Baker tomorrow when it opens to put my first rounds through the M24/47. I expect it to work perfectly.

All in all, it was educational - I can take the rifle down to component parts, including the trigger group, and re-assemble it with a flathead screwdriver and nothing else in under 5 mins. I learned more about Yugo Mausers than I ever thought I could because I got an inoperable one. Can't wait to see how it shoots!