Polish M48 Trainer .22lr "Baby Mosin"

[SurplusShooter]

Hi, I just won an auction for a WZ. M48 .221r military trainer. Apparently these rifles were used to train new recruits and supposedly the Polish "Boy Scouts" for military training. I am very excited because I like surplus rifles and rim-fires so this is the best of both worlds. It looks like it is unissued and looks just like my M38 Mosin Nagant and my 91/30(it reminds me of a 91/30 barrel and action in a M38/M44 stock). It is single shot and I would think this was to teach the importance of ammo conservation and marksmanship. The barrel is reasonably thick and it should be very accurate. I can not wait for it to arrive in a week or two. Dose any one else have one or know any thing about them?

 

[noelf2]

Awesome. I'm interested to see how it shoots.

 

[Capybara]

Very interesting gun. Would you tell how much you paid for it?

 

[SurplusShooter]

...

It will be $300 after the gun,shipping ,and ffl fees. It is the nicest example I have seen, so the fact that I may have over paid is mute by my desire for one. Plus they are drying up from what I hear and see as of lately. But maby another batch will come in you never know right. I think it will be a great shooter as well.

 

[Ignition Override]

Congratulations.
Just go to Surplusrifle (maybe also Gunboards) and there is a .22 Military Trainer forum on the main page, maybe near the top.
There are at least four topics right now on the M48.

My Romanian .22 Trainer is lots of fun, and the Polish Trainer appears to be a better, more accurate rifle. They are very popular with owners.

 

[Capybara]

Cool stuff, I don't think you overpaid too much. Mosins are the number one selling rifle right now, as they are the only cheap milsurp rifle and ammo left. I think you made a wise investment as those trainers are not dime a dozen and are rare, which means eventually, it will be worth much more than you bought it for and more buyers will be interested because they already have a 91/30.

 

[Avenger]

Those are great shooting rifles. The reason most basic trainers are single-shot is that the hardest part of teaching new shooters is acquiring a proper sight picture...the single shot requires them to reacquire the sights each time.

 

[4V50 Gary]

Nice looking Baby Mosin.

 

[SurplusShooter]

Well just got conformation my ffl called them, so now we wait.

 

[SurplusShooter]

Update... It arrived!

It arrived today and I am very happy with it its awesome. Here are the mandatory pictures.

It was made in 1954 in Poland as indicated by the receiver stamps.

It seems to have been bedded with burlap, although I am unsure of weather it was to avoid hand guard slippage or help accuracy.

This is the extractor/ejector it is a sled that sits flush with the chamber and when the bolt is retracted a certain amount it throughs the empty case a few inches away. It is quiet interesting.

 

[SurplusShooter]

Update cont.

Here is the bolt face there are no front locking lugs just two rear ones. But for a .22 its not necessary.

Here is the safety/decocking knob. It is similar to a mauser in that it is rotated to the 12 o'clock position for safe and the 9 o'clock position for fire. It also serves as a decocking knob to ease the firing pin forward if not firing the rifle. On a side note the trigger is very very smooth and very light.

Here is the rifle next to my M38 . The Wz. 48 is about 4 inches longer then the M38 but they are both around the same weight. The barrels are also about the same thickness, and sights are the same except the Wz. 48 sights is only graduated from 25-100 meters. Overall the rifle is in excellent condition with just two small dings and some minor bluing wear. I will be going to the range hopefully monday to shoot this rifle an will update accordingly. This rifle will make a fine addition to my rim-fire and milsurp collections.

 

[SurplusShooter]

Range Update.

Well I went to the range to day and all and all it was good. It was 65 degrees and sunny perfect. This rifle was a great buy and preformed better then expected The rifle preformed very well it is very accurate and fun to shoot. theses are my results from the 25 yard bench with cheap federal 40 grain solid point ammo. I can't wait to try it with some of the wolf match ammo, I think the groups would improve some what. Overall I would suggest any one who likes milsurps, rim-fires, or just interesting guns pick one up.