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Posted: 6/11/2004 11:11:43 PM EDT
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Received my first C&R the other day so I thought I’d share the experience. I chose a Yugo M48A from Classic Arms, Inc. for my first shipment. I hadn’t read many reports about Classic Arms either good or bad, but I liked their prices. Their web page ad read: YUGO M48A These Hard Hitting 8mm,Rifles Are Very Similar To The K-98's Above. Though Not As Collectable, The M48 Is A Fantastic Choice As A 5 Rd Bolt Action Hunting Or Target Rifle.BluingIs 95 To 100% Wood Is Very Good, With Turned Down Bolts And Hooded Sights What A Deal. $89.95 I called and placed my order on a Tuesday and received my rifle in about a week. The rifle I got didn’t look to me to be of the quality described in the ad. The bluing looked to be about 70% and the stock was pretty beat up, the upper hand guard was completely splintered at the barrel band and useless. The bore was black and the cleaning rod and front sight hood were missing. I have seen a lot of pictures of other C&R Yugos and mine looked like crap in comparison. I decided to send it back for an exchange. While looking at the paperwork I found that they only charged me $69.95 for the rifle. I also found a catalog flier with the rest of the papers that described their Yugo M48A’s as “Ugly rifles, but good shooters. Fair to good & well worth $69.95”. This more closely described the rifle that the UPS man delivered to me. It appears that Classic substituted a lesser grade of rifle than they advertised on their website. I called the next morning and again talked to the salesperson. Her answer to the disparity between what I ordered and what I received was “ That’s all we had at the time”. I ask if there was any chance of getting a better rifle if I sent the original back. Her response was that it wouldn’t do any good, as they didn’t have any more Yugo Mausers in stock at all! Now I was convinced I received the bottom of the barrel, but I was not going to get any more compensation from Classic Arms, Inc. Their return policy includes a 20% restocking charge and that, including the totaled shipping charges was almost what the rifle cost. I decided to keep the rifle, but check Classic Arms, Inc off my C&R order list in the future. I checked their online ad later that day and it was changed: YUGO M48A These Hard Hitting 8mm,Rifles Are Very Similar To The K-98's Above. Though Not As Collectable, The M48 Is A Fantastic Choice As A 5 Rd Bolt Action Hunting Or Target Rifle. The ones we have left are ugly. Wait a minute , that should be UGLY. However they are good shooters and the price is right. $69.95 I disassembled the beast to remove the cosmo. I found first that it is an M48 instead of an M48A and all the numbers matched. The cosmo was ¼ inch thick in some spots but did it’s job as there was only a few small rust spots on the side of the mag well. I wasted a couple of oversized bore brushes and a hand full of patches in the initial barrel cleaning followed by a Sweets treatment. It took a while but the barrel came out looking pretty good. A quart of mineral spirits later all the metal was clean and then I followed up with a treatment of Gunk engine grease remover then a brake cleaner rinse. I steel wooled the blued parts and reblued with a couple applications of 4-40. I disassembled, cleaned and polished the bolt assembly and lubed everything up so that action is pretty smooth and the trigger crisp. Numrich listed a new upper handguard, but also stated it may not be in stock so I also bid on a stock set from E-bay . It turns out I lucked out on getting both items. As I just wanted a decent shooter in the first place I plan on replacing the handguard on the original stock, leaving the original finish alone and store it away then do a super refinish job on the stock coming from E-bay. Here’s a pic of the reworked metal sitting in the original stock that’s just been rinsed in mineral spirits. I’ll post the pics after the new stock is installed as well as a range report. All in all I think I’ll have an excellent shooting milsurp for a good price, just a little more work. I'm still not ordering from Classic Arms, Inc though!   |
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Looks good! I just got my M48 from Wholesale Guns & Ammo last week. I ordered a M48A for $89.99 but got a M48 insteadhe Sorry to hear you had a problem with Classic, I normally hear good things about them. I guess you just ordered at a bad time. |
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I hadn't heard any bad press on Classic myself, I was just pissed off that they would substitute a lesser product without at least a phone call as I have included my phone number on my C&R. Then there was the "too bad" attitude I got when I called about the order and the hasty change in the web page. Even then, if they had no more Yugo Mausers I would think the new ad would state "Out of Stock" as I was told on the phone. It doesn't. I just don't get a good feeling about these folks. YMMV. I tried gas on the metal and was impressed with the way it removed the cosmo. I just didn't want to end up with a Darwin Award next year.  I used mineral spirits and it worked as well as the gas with less explosive vapors. Mineral spirits really work well on the wood too, leaves it almost dry.I'll get to practice again when my K31 from AIM gets here next week. 
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Actually got mine when the never used ones were first imported. Looks like the damn thing was made in 2004 and shoots like a dream. It's actually one of my fav large caliber rifles. Most guys around here shoot the Turk and it's a fine ammo. My preferance is the Chezh which is damn hot but a nail driver. Buy some of the Turk so you can get the stripper clips and bandoliers. Tj |
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