Worn Lands

[troopcom]

I just acquired a Yugo Capture 98 from GB and the bore is very shiny, absolutely no rust whatsoever. Almost mirror shine. The only problem I see so far is that the lands are worn down until about 2" or so into the bore. The crown looks excellent with very strong rifling all the way to the muzzle end. Will this make the rifle an inaccurate shooter?
I have not yet fired it, just received it today. I have several boxes of old Yugo surplus, but I don't know if I can trust it to test the accuracy.
Any thoughts on this matter?

[Don H]

I think the only way to determine the rifle's accuracy is to shoot it. Just remember, even if the barrel were brand new, it's not meant to be a precision target rifle.

[Hardcase]

Shoot some of the surplus. If it's not accurate, try some commercial ammo. If that's not accurate, then it may be the rifle.

The worn rifling on the chamber end doesn't necessarily make it a bad shooter. You just won't know until you try.

[troopcom]

Thanks for the quick response guys!

[johnm1]

I have a Greek Mauser with the same issues. It hates the Turk Surplus but shoots commercial well enough. Shooting and testing is about all you can do.

[troopcom]

Like I said, If you look at it from the chamber end the lands are worn down, but looking at it from the muzzle end the rifling is crisp and sharp. The muzzle is pretty tight. Does anyone know of a gage to check the amount of wear?

[warningshot]

Drop that Mauser off at my place with some 8mm ammo. I'll take it out and test those worn out lands & grooves. It is real hard on me having to go to the range and shoot on your dime, but I'll manage, some how. Ha Ha.

Isn't half the fun of owning a milsurp rifle is seeing if it will shoot well at all?

Let us know...send pics.

[tobnpr]

Throat's burned out on it. Google "throat erosion".

My bet is that the barrel is toast. 2" of erosion is well, severe. That's a hell of jump for that bullet to make to the lands. I'd send a few rounds, but I wouldn't invest in a case of ammo for it yet...

Yes, gauges are made, but I don't think for that rifle.

http://www.fulton-armory.com/%5Cfaqs...%5CTEGauge.htm

[madcratebuilder]

the lands are worn down until about 2" or so into the bore.

No easy fix for that. It may possible shoot semi OK. Think about a replacement barrel. Some Yugo MOD98/48's did receive new barrels when they went through re-arsenal. These replacement barrels are slightly shorter than the originals, around .200 inch as I recall.

[troopcom]

As soon as I can get some off days I will take it out and test fire it. I will post pics of the target. What range should I shoot it at?
Also is the Yugo milsurp ammo any good to test it for accuracy? If not what is a good brand to test it with?

[Hardcase]

I'd say that the Yugo ammo is good enough to tell if you have a problem. It's not target ammo, but if the barrel is bad enough to cause a problem, the surplus ammo is good enough to show it.

[troopcom]

Update on a range report about the rifle I discussed in this thread.

I shot three sets of three shot groups at fifty yards to see how its grouping and one five shot group from 100 yards.
The ammo used was S & B 196 grain 8x57 JS brass case factory ammo.
All this was done using a Case Guard Shoulder Guard rifle rest. It's more stable than I could hold one on my own. Also note that this rifle has a thin front sight blade which I believe is supposed to be more precise. I consider myself a good shot and have had adequate marksmanship training.

1st three: 1 3/4" group
2nd three: 2 1/2" group vertical (could have been my fault messing with the elevation)
3rd three: 1 1/8" group (my best and last 50 yard group)

At 100 yards the five shot group was 3 1/2" with one flyer that opened the group to 5 1/2".

Any thoughts?
Is this good for a K98 mauser or do I need to get rid of it / rebarrel it?

[Don P]

1st three: 1 3/4" group
2nd three: 2 1/2" group vertical (could have been my fault messing with the elevation)
3rd three: 1 1/8" group (my best and last 50 yard group)

At 100 yards the five shot group was 3 1/2" with one flyer that opened the group to 5 1/2".

Any thoughts?
Is this good for a K98 mauser or do I need to get rid of it / rebarrel it?

All is good in your world. If your results are good enough in your eyes than stay away from mil-surp firearms. Looks like you have a good shooter for short money

[troopcom]

I'm gonna keep trying with different types of ammo to see which she will shoot the best. Next I will try with some Romanian surplus I had left over from when it was really cheap.(like 4.00 a box cheap!)

I was really hoping for at least 2 to 2.5 moa at 100 yards, and 1 moa or less at 50 yards.

[troopcom]

What are considered excellent groups, average groups, and poor groups for these rifles?

[publius]

I definitely wouldn't rebarrel. That's not bad at all and you don't want to alter it if at all possible.

[troopcom]

Yeah I don't want to have to rebarrel the rifle. I could probably try some privi loads to see how they group.

[tobnpr]

I was really hoping for at least 2 to 2.5 moa at 100 yards, and 1 moa or less at 50 yards.

You're talking group sizes, not minute of angle accuracy. Just sayin...
One inch groups at 50 yards is still 2 minutes of angle...whether at 50 yards, or 100...

[troopcom]

You're talking group sizes, not minute of angle accuracy. Just sayin...
One inch groups at 50 yards is still 2 minutes of angle...whether at 50 yards, or 100...

Thanks for educating me on that. Never really understood the whole MOA thing. Anyways is my groups great, average, or bad?

[Willie Sutton]

They are just fine for a military rifle with those sights.

Be happy, shoot it lots more, and worry 'bout it lots less.


Willie

.

[mapsjanhere]

4 MOA was considered acceptable for a WWII rifle. That's 4" at 100 yards, or 2 " at 50. You're in that ballpark with cheap ammo, hand loading will probably let you cut that in half.

[tobnpr]

Thanks for educating me on that. Never really understood the whole MOA thing.

No prob. There's a lot of misunderstanding on what the term means. Try a search, it comes up often. Won't re-hash it again, but just think of it as an angular unit of measurement that's essentially equivalent to 1", at 100 yards. So, a five inch, group at five hundred yards is one minute of angle, just like the same five shots into one inch at one hundred yards.

Now, what is considered a "group" is also debated.... most use five shots as the standard, some cheaters use three...

Don't ask me why four never comes up...

[troopcom]

Now, what is considered a "group" is also debated.... most use five shots as the standard, some cheaters use three...

Just learned something else. I always thought that the standard was a three shot group, not five. From now on I will do a five shot group. I hear of people all the time saying they an inch or less at 100 yards with iron sights. The more I shoot the more I think most are full of @#$%! I'm not saying that it is impossible, but most average shooters cannont do that with iron sights. I know I have not been able to and I own a Swiss K31. I have come close to an inch and a half with it and it is a really impressive rifle.
Thanks for all the replies they have been much incouragement. By the way I am going to get some reloading dies for the 8mm mauser and see how the handloads shoot. Any suggestions on a good load to start with would be appreciated, just send me a message.

[kraigwy]

Poor rifling on surplus military rifles is quite common. Caused by solders over cleaning them from the muzzle with jointed cleaning rods.

If it doesn't shoot to suite you you can always have the rifle counter bored.

That means the rifling is bored out down the muzzle to get past the worn Lands.

This often does fix accuracy problems.

This is also cheaper then replacing the barrel.

[troopcom]

Poor rifling on surplus military rifles is quite common. Caused by solders over cleaning them from the muzzle with jointed cleaning rods

Looking down the rifle bore from the muzzle, it looks perfect. It does swallow a bullet a little more than my other mausers of the same caliber. I don't know it the bullet test is a reliable one though. I guess some bores were probably manufactured larger than other ones.